War Affects Everyone Differently

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2014)

"The Hurt Locker" is an action packed war film that follows an Army bomb squad that is called in to detonate IEDs in the Iraqi War. Within the first 10 minutes of the film, you see just how dangerous their job is. After losing their "expert" bomb detonator on a mission, Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are left to cope with losing one of their closest friends and be prepared to have a completely different leader. Specialist Eldridge and Sergeant Sanborn were in for a rude awakening when they met their new leader, Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) that has taken over as the lead detonator since the passing of their previous leader. Upon their first mission, the two see just how different their new "bomb expert" is. It's quickly noticed that Sergeant First Class James is the best of the best and very arrogant in the way he does things. The film has a very common theme that proves how war has different affects on those involved. Some will thrive off of the action; others will feel guilty being alive, while others will want to change their life for the better when they finally land home.
As the film progresses, you follow the soldiers from scene to scene where they are required to investigate and detonate any bombs. You can quickly see throughout the entire film how Specialist Eldridge and Sgt. Sanborn do not approve of Sergeant First Class James approach to disarming the bombs. To Sgt. First Class James, disarming bombs was almost like a game. He would do it carelessly and many times put his teammates at risk. As you can imagine, tension is high while in a war zone but even more intense when dealing with detonating bombs and having your life put at risk by a crewmember. The director, Kathryn Bigelow, does a great job of making the audience feel like they are apart of the action. The filmmaker does an outstanding job with different angles and point of views with seamless editing. Throughout the movie you are literally on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next. The angles rotate between the views of the solider looking around to what the solider is actually seeing. Along with the angles and seamless editing between the shots, the sound is unreal. You can literally hear everything going on as if you were on the battlefield yourself. You can hear everything from the soldiers walking, to the guns being shot off, to the squeaking of a cars trunk, you can literally hear it all around you at all times which makes you feel like you are part of the action and give you a perspective as to why these soldiers feel the way they do about war.
The film is just like many other movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" where those on the battlefield can take the job so differently. In "The Hurt Locker" you follow a solider who feels guilty that his leader was killed in combat and feels like he could have prevented that from happening; constantly asking himself why is he still alive, he should be the one dead. To another solider who has realized through this experience that he is ready to go home and have a family and live the "American Dream." To someone who thrives off the suspense and challenge of being a bomb detonator and is something he always wants to do even if that means leaving his wife and kid behind. War isn't for everyone but for some it's a "drug" that they cant get away from. While wars are never a good thing, sometimes its what keeps certain individuals sane. The film is very insightful and action packed from start to finish. It is definitely a film I would recommend to all moviegoers that love and action packed, suspense thriller.