“The Hurt Locker” brings the tenacity and ferocity of the Iraqi occupation home to Americans. By: Nate Corley
– Staff Writer –
In an empty marketplace in Baghdad three American soldiers investigate a report of an explosive device.
After the device has been identified the team tries to use a robot to detonate the explosive however dues ex machine intervenes and the robot fails.
Two of the soldiers pack their comrade into a modern “bomb suit” as the temperature in the market reaches above a sweltering one hundred degrees.
“The Hurt Locker” brings the tenacity and ferocity of the Iraqi occupation home to Americans.
The film follows the daily tasks of an explosive ordinance disposal squad as they fight wave after wave of improvised explosive devices that plague the Baghdad area.
The squad consists of three members, Staff Sgt. Matthew Thompson (Guy Pearce) who is killed by an explosion in the opening sequence of the film, Sgt. 1st Class William James (Jeremy Renner) who is the replacement for Thompson, Sgt. J. T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).
The film follows the new squad through the rest of their tour of duty in Baghdad.
The Hurt Locker was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six, among those were Best Picture and Best Director. The film is the lowest grossing movie to ever with the Academy award for Best Picture.
The film does a good job of bringing an unpopular war back into Americans eyes by showing the hardships that our soldiers endure in a constantly hostile country. The film rates an easy four and a half out of five stars for its never ending series of spine gripping, teeth clenching events that leaves the audience with sand in their hair and dust on their clothes.
