Jeremy Renner Shines In This Gripping War Movie.

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2014)

Little marketing was used in the U.K. I only ended up seeing "The Hurt Locker" at the time of its release mid-August, because a friend paid for my ticket and eventually as we all know it went on to win huge at the Oscars.
"The Hurt Locker", is based on accounts of Mark Boal, a freelance journalist who was embedded with an American bomb squad in the War in Iraq for two weeks in 2004. I can't really say that the script will be what draws people towards the film, but rather the situations and the performances. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are a highly engrossing trio of soldiers, who in some way all have different goals. Some are chasing vague battle high's, whereas some just want the job done and to be on their way. Whether their time there has made a difference to the situation or not, it turns out some soldiers never fully leave the battlefield.
The only thing left to say is that Kathryn Bigelow shoots from far and close, to day and night superbly. She rightfully deserves the Oscar for 1. A superb character study, 2. A tense thriller when it comes to those bomb disposal scenes.
Final Verdict: "The Hurt Locker" is a great film. Never holding back in showing some of the more dire situations in a modern War environment, and there's a unique and different tension to every bomb disarmed (Or not). 8/10.