The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is an attention gripping film from start to finish. Though at times predictable, the film keeps you attached to the screen and the story. Not a second of the film is wasted--the fast scenes give you an adrenalin rush and the slow scenes tell you a story beyond each character's facade. Jeremy Renner plays the daring and risk-seeking Sergeant William James who is a specialist at disposing explosives. James is a great character in that he is mysterious and slightly unlikeable but he is so good at what he does that he wins everyone over with his skills.

The cinematography is raw and journalistic which adds to reality to the film. At the end, I began to appreciate the work that real soldiers are doing for the safety of our country.

P.S. I was quite surprised by the fact that the film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, a female director (who is the ex-wife of James Cameron). Throughout the movie, I did not get the sense that the film was directed by a female. In my film studies class, we had talk about the gaze of the camera which is usually presented in the male point of view aka the Male Gaze. I would expect the film to have a different feel if it had a female director. I thought this was just a topic worth mentioning and exploring.