Dull first hour gives way to a more engaging final third

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 2006)

I have to say that I was surprised when I first heard that this film was being made as while there have been countless films based on real life tragedies, the events of 9/11 only happened five years ago, and I side with those who think it was too early to have the plight of the victims turned into a film. However, everything controversial is of interest me and so I decided that I would watch the film. This sort of film is on the back foot from the beginning, as the writers don't have the element of surprise where the plot is concerned, and so have to rely on other means to ensure that the film is interesting. United 93 is something like a dramatised documentary, and recounts the events leading up to the crash of the fourth plane; the only one that didn't hit its target. I can't say how realistic the dramatisation is as I wasn't there and haven't seen any documentaries on the disaster, but basically what we have is a plane full of passengers deciding to take on the terrorists and attempt to regain control of the hijacked plane.
The first hour of this movie is really rather boring, as we mostly centre on various organisations as the tragedy of the planes hitting the world trade centre escalates through America. I see this as a movie of two halves; we have the moot first hour, and then the engaging and climatic final third, in which the action changes to the plane of the title. In terms of cinema, what happens on the plane isn't all that exciting; and there are better and more entertaining disaster films than this one. Of course, the fact that it's a real life drama has to be accounted for, and it is not the action but the underlying hope that makes the final third of the film such a good watch. Even though we know how it is going to end, director Paul Greengrass manages to make sure that the audience are hoping that everything will turn out well alongside the doomed cast of characters. The reason I cannot give this film a high rating, therefore, is because I didn't like two thirds of the film. The events of 9/11 was one of the greatest tragedies of the last one hundred years, and so this film has a lot riding on its shoulders. Did United 93 do the tragedy justice? Overall, I don't think so.