Did I watch the correct movie?

Rating: 1/10 (7 May 2010)

After watching this movie, I actually had to check twice whether or not I saw the correct one. Either critics have suddenly forgotten everything that the movie industry has produced until now, OR there are other interests at stake. And considering who the director is (a woman - no offense to all), I suppose it's safe to assume that the second option is the correct one.
What I cannot understand is the public reaction. I'm used to people judging extremely poor movies as "fabulous", but this is a bit too much. The vast majority of people appeared to like the movie for qualities that simply weren't there. There is no suspense (unless, of course, by suspense you understand a guy casually disarming crude bombs in a manner so disconnected from everything else, that you feel as if he is literally taking a walk through the park), very little action (there are, admittedly, two or three moments in which one may think "Yeah, action time!", but they are overshadowed by the fact that less than 30 seconds later, one cannot but say "What? That was it?"), absolutely no character development (by the time I got to the sniper scene, I couldn't have cared less if the main characters had shifted to the English sniper crew) and so little realism (I mean, come on! One three-man crew perfectly disarming bombs, doing security sweeps, clearing buildings, blasting UODs, sniping and pursuit/recon, all this while seemingly not giving a damn about any form of supervision, orders or chain of command? Anyone who buys into that is either a mindless troglodyte or has been paid to buy into it) that it makes the movie a joke way past its laughing time.
Admittedly, the first 10 minutes (right up to the first bomb explosion) were good. I expected that if the movie went that way, it would be at least decent. It didn't. The new guy comes in to replace the dead guy, they disarm bombs, sit hours at a time in a sniper situation in the middle of the day in the middle of the damn desert with one (one!) pouch of juice for at least 4 other persons, without sending any man to check the status of their marks (which had been dead all that time, by the way), they disarm more bombs, they are then overcome with guilt (though it is impossible to understand why), and so on and so forth... And all this time we have a countdown... When the movie reaches the end, where the countdown is reset and we realize the movie is actually coming to an end, the only feeling any normal person can get is relief that it finally ended.
The shaky-cam idea was actually not that bad. Except for 2 scenes in which one can't distinguish anything due to the motion blur (but I didn't expect it to be flawless, anyway), it is quite enjoyable (it is one of the few things that kept me from throwing the movie in the trashcan). However, the acting is, in most parts, so visibly fake in a completely senseless way, that it is annoying.
I fail to see what people see in this movie... it is simply a BAD movie. And to compare it to war/conflict movies, even with the Rambo series (which has been awarded numerous razzies over the years) is an insult to cinematography and to the public.
If this is the best war movie that the cinema industry can offer, I'm not impressed. And shame on all "professional critics" who have sucked up to the obvious feminist statement of this movie's release.