Green Zone [Blu-ray] [Region Free]

I thought this was a good roller coaster of a film - However I did not try to read too much into it, I just treated it as another Matt Damon blockbuster vehicle. In this regard it worked for me. If you are looking for an epic film on a scale of Apocalypse Now or Platoon etc then this is not for you. If however you are looking for something to relax to on a Saturday night it works pretty well.

Much has been made of this film versus 'The Hurt Locker'. I watched them back to back and to be honest, other than the fact that they feature and are set in Iraq, I found them two very different films.

If you like slick, thriller style, movies then I think this will work for you. If you are looking for something that perhaps digs deeper than that then I am not sure if this is what you are looking for.

I hope this review was of use to you:)

I was looking forward to this film, like everyone else I enjoyed the Bourne films. This really is no Bourne 3 or 4 depending on how you count them (Doug Liman rather than Greengrass directed the first one).

There is the signature shakey camera work which must have made the CGI pretty difficult to do, and does detract from what could have been some epic looking scenes, for example driving under the famous crossed scimitars.

There are various problems, the characterisation is paper thin, Damon basically acts impassive, Gleason is a welcome addition but does not have much to do. There is no one much we care for or about. Despite being set in Iraq, there are only a couple of Iraqi characters who get to do more than say a few lines, this does not feel like a film about war or Iraq, it feels like a film about a heroic American putting the world to rights.

I suspect that pressures of making an expensive film meant toning down any criticism of US foreign policy, and for non US audiences the film is likely to come across as trite and facile. Even the most conservative of audiences are likely to wonder why exactly Damon is chasing about everywhere. The plot ties itself in knots as it is obvious that no matter how bad the couple of American bad apples that are solely responsible for everything are, Damon is never likely to shoot either of them. Although one of them does look awfully like Bono, which is should be grounds enough for shooting him.

The treatment of the native Iraqi seems particularly insensitive, they just seem to be there to provide some local colour, and get shot. The fact that an Iraqi prisoner is tortured and beaten to death does not seem to unduly disturb anyone, similarly the indiscriminate bombing of a city or innocent citizens near riot for lack of water.

This is not a trashy A-Team put your brain in neutral film, instead it trivialises what should be a major concern for this century, how to effect regime change in a humane manner.

This is an ill judged and insensitive film, it is not surprising that it it has failed to find a significant audience.

I'd been wanting to see this film for years and just got around to it, interesting subject matter, Greengrass and Damon, expected to like it. I was quite disappointed. The film takes a fairly factual beginning point at the end of the (official) Iraq invasion in 2003 and then spins off into a story of rival factions of the US government fighting for different visions of Iraq's future and over the truth about WMD intel. Although I found these topics interesting, the film's attempt to wrap them into a 'these are the good guys fighting for truth, these are the bad guys' narrative seems a bit simplistic and all about wish fulfilment from those who were opposed to the invasion. I have broad sympathy with these aims, however trying to implant this into a film just hasn't worked here for me, you have soldiers acting unrealistically, some are going to find it quite confusing, over-long, and bottom line just not very entertaining.