Intense

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 2012)

Infuriated, confused and scared - these are just some of the emotions that I had after watching the movie, which I'm sure were just some of the emotions director Paul Greengrass was trying to instill in the viewer. Greengrass really captured the realism, the fear, and the panic of the United 93 in a taut, intense and compact 111 minutes, which is much less time needed by most films these days to even reach the final act. Greengrass' use of hand-held camera does 2 things: one, brings the viewer into the action, so you feel like you're watching events unfold from their point of view. Two, the shaky camera enhances the feelings of confusion and fear. Interestingly, an entire cast of unknowns helps to underline the point that the passengers were all strangers to each other (and to us), but as the movie progresses a few of the passengers really stand out and you know them as "the guy with the cap" or "the woman with the glasses", which is pretty realistic if you think about it: in times of desperation and intense pressure, you probably won't go through the proper introductions and you'll bond with each other and recognise each other by appearance. United 93 was an incredibly smart and taut treatise on the terrible and ill-fated flight; it doesn't take sides or point fingers, but it does try to tell an honest and brave story from all perspectives.