A surprising usurp prompts an epic question…
Artwork by Anna Becker
This reporter, as well as many viewers of the 82nd Academy Awards, stared open-mouthed at the TV as The Hurt Locker took the Best Picture Oscar over the box-office sensation Avatar.
Stunned, I gaped blankly at the screen as my brain refused to accept what my ears had just heard. After several minutes, the only thing I could say was, “What?!” How could this have happened, when Avatar raked in the most viewers, cash, and attention since Star Wars? Looking past the hilarious and ironic side note that the director of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, is the ex-wife of James Cameron, director of Avatar, I just had to know how this could have happened. Luckily for me, the night before the Oscars I had acquired one of the last copies of The Hurt Locker from Blockbuster. Now, I simply had to watch this movie, and see how it could have stolen the Oscar from Avatar.
When the closing credits for The Hurt Locker rolled, I knew exactly why it beat Avatar.
This is simply, without any doubt whatsoever, the best movie I have seen all year. It is a suspenseful, thrill-a-minute, knock-your-socks-off roller coaster ride from start to finish. Set in current day Iraq, the movie follows an elite U.S. Army bomb disposal team in their last days before they return home.
A typical army grunt in post-invasion Iraq has to worry about distinguishing friend from foe, not running into an ambush, and not getting killed. The Explosive Ordnance Dispsoal (EOD) unit within the Army’s Bravo Company has to worry about all of that and not blowing themselves, other soldiers, and a bunch of civilians into oblivion. The very first scene where a team inspects a possible bomb with a Mars Rover-ish robot is powerful and suspenseful. On a random side note, I had to chuckle to myself as the robot reminded me of Wall-E in the desert. Anyway, when it is clear a bomb is present, the team leader dons a bulky bomb protection suit, designed to minimize the effect of the blast. However, when the team loses their team leader, Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) becomes the replacement, accompanying the solid, by-the-book Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie, Notorious) and the conflicted Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty, I Know Who Killed Me).
After Sanborn and Eldridge are introduced to their new team leader, they are shipped out to diffuse another bomb. Throwing all caution to the wind, Sergeant James instantly orders to be suited up instead of investigating with the robot, butting heads with Sanborn in the process. Their job is to maintain cover of their bomb-suited commander, and keep him in the know about circumstances unaware to him. James ignores his team, acting irresponsibly, as if he has nothing to lose. Since they are very close to the day they ship out, Sanborn is rightly upset at James’ recklessness. Now usually, I would find something that the director overlooked, something that lacked in the story, or something that was just plain silly, and make a joke about it. However, this movie is as airtight as a submarine, and the only thing I can disapprove of is how James makes Indiana Jones look timid. I mean, even superheroes have at least SOME kind of desire for self-preservation, but not Sergeant James, which is a tiny bit silly.
When the team is called to diffuse a bomb at the United Nations building in Baghdad, James ignores his compatriot’s concerns of three men on a roof filming the scene, proceeding to remove his bomb suit and his headset, claiming if he’s going to die, he might as well go out comfortable. Hey, makes sense to me. If the suit isn’t going to protect you, why bother? Yet as the tension rises, and James struggles with the bomb, Sanborn attempts to persuade James to return to radio contact. What was James’ response? Giving Sanborn the Bird. That alone made me collapse into a fit of laughter, momentarily taking the yoke of suspense off of my shoulders; but that was merely a quick rest from this adrenaline rush. Though James is successful in his endeavor, Sanborn punches him in the face, warning him to never remove his headset again.
However choppy the initial meeting is, the team grows closer over a number of extreme situations, including an intense sniper battle, a “body bomb” inside the body of a young boy, and a foolhardy search for the detonators of a bomb that ends in Eldridge being shipped home. Each and every scene left me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, with my heart pounding, though my absolute favorite scene was the sniper battle fought over at least a mile of open ground. That scene is the first time the team begins to trust one another, and I bit my nails down to stubs while watching.
The brilliance of the story is surprisingly not the suspenseful moments of wire cutting, sweat, and adrenaline leaking out of the ears of anyone who watches, but the subtle development of each character. Each member of the team has a small storyline, but each story leaves a different psychological impression. Eldridge is obsessing over the fact that if he pulled the trigger he could have saved his first team leader, while James develops a father-son relationship with a boy who sells DVDs to the soldiers. The emotion of each individual is so radiant that it struck me to my very core. I, to say the least, was blown away. When the ending finally rolls around, it is arguably the most dominant and lasting scene of the movie, just as every movie ending should be. It involves a suicide bomber, and I don’t dare say more, as ruining the ending would haunt me for the rest of my days.
I absolutely love this movie, and after seeing it, it’s so much better than Avatar it’s utterly ridiculous that The Hurt Locker didn’t get as much attention as it should have in the box office. First of all, it’s completely original; not the adaptation of Pocahontas with Star Wars and Smurfs that Avatar might be considered to be. Never before has there been a movie about the men who risk their lives daily to render weapons of unimaginable destruction useless, and I always love to see originality. Secondly, though the visuals of Avatar are breathtaking, I was actually more impressed by the camera angles of The Hurt Locker, which are less distracting color and more gritty realism. It almost looks like the footage of a reporter. Third, the storyline of The Hurt Locker is so much better, with much more interesting scenes, character development, and dialogue, that watching Avatar again will induce a grimace.
Avatar was a visual masterpiece, but its dialogue was so chock full of clichés, I half expected Luke Skywalker and the Disney Princesses to jump out and save the day. Comparing Avatar to The Hurt Locker is like comparing a beautiful piece of abstract art to the Mona Lisa. The abstract piece is visually engaging, but at the end of the day, you have no idea what’s really going on, while the Mona Lisa is real, gorgeous, and introspective. I completely understand, and agree with, the Academy.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
