Its desert setting and brawny action sequences recall The Road Warrior. That sense of humor makes Three Kings seem manic, chaotic even. And that's the point. At ground zero, where one soldier points a gun at another and then kills, war is not about military objectives or political imperatives or spinning the news accounts. War is about individuals hoping that they won't be the ones shot, the ones bleeding to death in the sand.
Battle is fast as a speeding bullet, intense, absurd, surreal.
Russell makes his movie that way, building it on a search for buried treasure. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze portray soldiers who find a map while searching Iraqi prisoners, a map that shows them where a stash of gold bullion, stolen from Kuwait by Iraq, is hidden. They decide to take a chance on finding it and going home rich. Within this bold, high-speed treasure hunt, Russell tells the intricate story of a people's rebellion against a dictator and the limits of greed and loyalty. And though the movie is a searing indictment of U.S. policy, it is never preachy.