A word of advice for those of you checking out this film. It is not another "Bourne" movie. Green Zone took on topics much closer to reality than a super soldier who lost his memory.Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is sent out to find weapons of mass destruction in the provinces of Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. When the intell he and his troops receive fail to uncover anything, Roy sets out to discover why. The answers he finds lead him into a world of lies and cover-ups perpetrated by factions within the U.S. Government.
It is rare to find a film that not only provides excellent action but also has the courage to make a meaningful statement, Green Zone is one of those films. Director Paul Greengrass delivered the same kind of frenetic, hand-held camera shot action pieces audiences have grown accustomed to seeing from his previous work on the last two "Bourne" films. Matt Damon was solid as Roy Miller, a soldier whose singular focus on discovering the truth about the weapons of mass destruction propelled the story and kept the film moving. But where Green Zone distinguished itself from other action thrillers set during the second Iraqi conflict was in its portrayal of the U.S. Government. Inspired by true events or not the film painted quite an unflattering picture of certain Government agencies. Those agencies, the CIA and Defense Intelligence, bickered amongst themselves as each attempted to weld power and create an Iraq that they could control. The question of if the United States even had real intell to justify invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam was posited in the film as well, further pushing American viewers out of their comfort zones of believing their Government had nothing but the noblest of intention when freeing the Iraqi people. Clearly this depiction of events might upset some viewers but one has to admire the statement both Greengrass and Damon were trying to make. Green Zone was not just some action film filled with funs and explosions but a complex war thriller with loftier aims of making the audience face some truths they might not have wanted to.
Grade: B
your statement is unamerican, therefore its wrong... seriously more movies lately like syriana have taken steps to portray american gov factions as acting w/ ulterior motives. many action films fail in this aspect by making the villain a single, despicable american traitor with flimsy reasons for his/her actions. better when movies simply show that some people abuse power n act for wrong reasons, even if the end is desirable.
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent point Raj, and that's why Green Zone is a notch above the rest. It's hard to believe a major flim studio would distribute something that could be seen as "un-American."
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