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News Art & Culture DVD review: The Hurt Locker
News Art & Culture DVD review: The Hurt Locker
| DVD review: The Hurt Locker |
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| Written by Owen Meade | |
| Tuesday, 02 February 2010 | |
 After a long hiatus, director Kathryn Bigelow returns with The Hurt Locker, an edge-of-your seat, nerve-shredding thriller and a welcome change from the sequence of poorly executed Iraq War films. Alternating between scenes of supreme tension and subtle observations of the intense psychological demands affecting soldiers both individually and collectively on the frontline, the Hurt Locker is as emotionally involving as it is volatile and action-packed.
Whereas the majority of Iraq War films have tackled both political and combative narrative strands, The Hurt Locker puts aside any temptations to sermonize with a focus that combines both tense action sequences with acute character observation. Choosing to entirely omit the political context for the war, Bigelow centres the action on the desolate city streets, following a team of US bomb-disposal experts attempting to diffuse the tension, and devices that litter Baghdad’s highways. Focusing on the relationship between a newly-drafted Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), whose unconventional methods and risk-taking strategies evoke near hysteria in his subordinates, we see his colleagues battling to rein him in against the backdrop of unrelenting insurgent threats. Gradually however, his methods and fearless attitude win James the respect of his team members. Ultimately, this growing affection and admiration elicits intimate displays of camaraderie, trust, and loyalty from the previously suspicious individuals. The cast of predominantly unknown actors are exceptional, Renner particularly impressive as the brawny protagonist. Don’t expect memorable contributions from marquee names Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce, whose cameos are fleeting at most. The fact that any political posturing is specifically avoided positions The Hurt Locker as not necessarily an Iraq War film as such. Ultimately, it’s a poignant reminder that, no matter what the context, war is, and always will be, a test of the mental attrition of men banded together, equally fearful and reliant on the addictive impulses of coping with life in the firing line.  The Hurt Locker is out on DVD and Blu Ray on December 28. RRP: £19.99 (Blu Ray: £24.99) |
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