The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker follows an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad in Iraq. Kathryn Bigelow's film opens with the quote "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug" (Chris Hedges). Something Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) certainly would agree with. James is willing to put himself in danger to defuse the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) for the rush he receives. There is no overall story other than following the sergeant's squad (Anthony Mackie as Sgt. JT Sanborn and Brian Geraghty as SPC Owen Elridge) from setpiece to setpiece. As the group get closer and closer to their rotation back to America, James' reckless attitude towards his job causes the careful Sanborn to despise him.

The film's script by Mark Boal moves quickly, but not so quickly that character progression is ignored in favour of action. Bigelow's direction, shaky cameras and grainy picture suit perfectly the tone of the script. The acting is strong, especially Renner's performance though those of Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are solid, rather than spectacular. There are also memorable appearances from Guy Pearce as James' predecessor, Ralph Fiennes as a British PMC leader and David Morse as a colonel enamoured with James' methods and record.

The film leaves without ever precisely explaining why William James does what he does, just that he cannot function without it. And I wouldn't have it any other way, it is an annoying trait of many modern Hollywood films that ALL questions must be answered by the conclusion of the film.

In short, one of the best, original and thrilling war film for years. The Hurt Locker is well deserving of the plaudits it has been winning of late, unlike Bigelow's ex-husband James Cameron's "Avatar".

★★★★★