Just an action film?

Sunday for me was a fantastic day. Usually a day of growing tension as I prepare for my busy Monday and a realisation that my spare time is coming to an end, I instead spent the day doing something I love doing: watching movies!

The first of my movies was the Oscar hyped and nominated The Hurt Locker. Due to the immense press coverage, particularly of its director who might become the first ever female winner of a best director Oscar, I had a strong expectation of the film and thus expected to be disappointed. How wrong I could be! The film was an intense ride from start to finish with each scene similar but fresh and the acting perfectly underplayed. The direction itself was spectacular: Kathryn Bigelow deserves all the praise she has received and was able to make a war film that was gripping throughout. The characters had enough depth and there was a strong enough story arc to keep it all together.

However, despite my enjoyment of the film, I struggle to see how it can be a favourite for the best film Oscar. That is, traditionally action films have not been in the running for this honour and it has instead gone to films of a more topical or thought provoking nature. This is not to say the film is not topical: its relevance as a revision of initial views of the Iraq conflict and changing attitudes towards the US’s current wars is clear. However, the film lacks the though provoking aspects of other was films such as Full Metal Jacket or The Thin Red Line. While these films may lack the emotional intensity of The Hurt Locker, they make up for it for their scathing critique of war and its impact on humans. The best one could say about The Hurt Locker is that it demonstrates the addictive nature of war and its pointlessness but this is neither particularly insightful nor deeply developed within any of the characters.

Overall, The Hurt Locker is a great action film that captures the intensity and emotional rollercoaster that it is to live in Iraq. From the pervading sense of potential menace from every ‘innocent’ bystander to the emotional trough experienced after a mission, Bigelow has captured this experience like few people have done before her. For this she deserves the best director Oscar but please give the best film Oscar to a more thought provoking film such as Up in the Air, A Single Man or The Road (not sure if this last one is even nominated).

My second film experience yesterday was Shutter Island by Oscar legend and winner Martin Scorsese. I was a big fan of his Oscar winning film The Departed and had waited with some impatience as week after week I saw the trailers for his new thriller. My enthusiasm however was dampened when film reviews and even The Movie Show started criticising the film. Despite this I went in with a sense that this could be a strong follow up to The Departed, particularly as he teamed once again with leading man Leonardo DiCaprio.

My initial sense of this film was laughter. Strange I know, considering it was a thriller, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the overdone background music that almost hammed up the sense of dread one was meant to feel on reaching the island. The hammed up atmosphere unfortunately continued as DiCaprio’s character seemed so unstable you wondered how he could ever become a federal marshal in the first place. Moreover, Mark Ruffalo was underused in his support role and he seemed to do more good in taking up space as podgy detective than displaying any investigative skills. Apart from that, Kingsley was brilliant as usual and the rest of the cast gave good performances that reeked of secrecy and dread. This all bode well for most of the film and despite some plot holes, for instance access to supposedly well guarded areas of the island, the film built a good momentum that had it set up for a strong finish.

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM AND WISH TO STOP READING NOW!










However, the ending was atrocious! It stunk almost as much as Spielberg’s ending to the last Indiana Jones film in which aliens are the answer but not quite. The twist that DiCaprio was a patient all along and it was an elaborate hoax to try and cure him seemed a cop out to make a neat ending. Granted that this ending made sense, it explained DiCaprio’s odd behaviour and some of the plot holes; however it failed in the satisfying ending stakes. Endings like this always reek of a lack of imagination or an impatience to finish the script. The film could have easily ended with the conspiracy being uncovered or even DiCaprio being sacrificed to save the conspiracy but making it all a big hoax was just plain wrong.

All in all it was a great way to spend a Sunday. With only a few Oscar films left to see, hopefully next weekend will be one for A Single Man and a Crazy Horse.