Critic Reviews
Hurt Locker, The (2009) Rank 5 Reviews
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Entertainment Weekly
The Army bomb-disposal specialist so memorably played by Jeremy Renner in the extraordinary battlefield drama The Hurt Locker operates with the swagger of a hothead in a job that depends on cool. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Entertainment Weekly
efilmcritic.com
Like its hero, the movie needs its adrenaline fix, but never at the expense of the drama that keeps the anedcotal narrative going. It comes by its thrills honestly, never losing sight of the potential cost in lives. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at efilmcritic.com
Film Jerk
Bigelow has successfully built a vision of war rarely seen on screen, a visceral nearly first person perspective of war where the rush of combat is a welcomed relief. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Film Jerk
Reeling Reviews
This is a must see film. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Reeling Reviews
Reeling Reviews
...this is without a doubt director Kathryn Bigelow's best film to date, one which should be Oscar nominated in every category it's eligible for. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Reeling Reviews
Combustible Celluloid
It's not too soon to declare The Hurt Locker a masterpiece from this gifted and underrated director. But it's the kind of popcorn masterpiece that people might actually like to see. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Combustible Celluloid
E! Online
If you're a cinematic thrill-seeker, this portrayal of the real deal is just the fix you've been looking for. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at E! Online
MSNBC
The kind of uncompromising movie that any politician who claims to support the troops while extending the war and cutting funds for veterans' benefits (or any chickenhawk pundit who pooh-poohs the ongoing effects of PTSD) should be forced to see. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at MSNBC
New York Daily News
The film opens and closes with an unnecessarily heavy hand, but everything in between is edge-of-your-seat, burrow-into-your-brain stuff. And what you'll remember most will be Renner's remarkably complex commander. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at New York Daily News
Shared Darkness
Through it all, there are set piece moments of exquisitely fine-tuned pressure-cooker tension, executed by Bigelow with a steely precision and skill that matches her protagonist's on-screen bomb-defusing talents. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Shared Darkness
ColeSmithey.com
Director Kathryn Bigelow's powerful Iraq war drama begins with the premise that "war is a drug," and proves that postulate with a thoughtful character study of Staff Sergeant William James, a bomb specialist played by Jeremy Renner. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at ColeSmithey.com
npr.org
That said, the adrenaline quotient is supplied only partly by the script. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at npr.org
Cinema Blend
He ignores protocols, refuses to use the relatively safe robots, preferring instead to suit up and walk straight into danger where, he disarms the bomb and gets the whole thing over with. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Cinema Blend
Brian Orndorf
Bigelow, best known as the director of "Point Break" and "Strange Days," approaches "Hurt Locker" like the ultimate suspense piece. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Brian Orndorf
AskMen.com
The very first explosion rattles the earth and the movie continues thereafter to rattle your mind. Inspired by screenwriter/journalist Mark Boal's experience with a special bomb disposal unit, The Hurt Locker is the Iraq War film we've been waiting for. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at AskMen.com
nickschager.com
The Hurt Locker is no different, save for the fact that it does so within the context of the Iraq War, a conflict that's largely been treated by Hollywood with ponderous moralizing. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at nickschager.com
USA TODAY
The Hurt Locker wisely probes the distinction between bravery and bravado and is sure to spur discussion on the subject. It is a hauntingly memorable film that is as visually riveting as it is emotionally intense. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at USA TODAY
ReelViews
The Hurt Locker may be the first movie set against the backdrop of the Iraq War with absolutely no political agenda. The film doesn't care if the invasion and occupation are right or wrong or moral or immoral. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at ReelViews
Los Angeles Times
The film starts with a celebrated quote from the book "War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges: "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Los Angeles Times
Rolling Stone
Here's the Iraq War movie for those who don't like Iraq War movies. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Rolling Stone
The Onion A.V. Club
For the first hour or more, The Hurt Locker boldly forsakes any conventional narrative hook beyond the ongoing tensions between these men and the terrifying grind of defusing bombs day after day. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
MTV Reviews
The three lead actors are a convincing team; and Renner, last seen in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," is a quiet revelation (and, as of here, a star). ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at MTV Reviews
Slant Magazine
Yet rather than the bloodlust that such a concept might suggest, what's striking about William is his calm. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Slant Magazine
EmanuelLevy.com
I disagree with critics of "Hurt Locker," who charge that the film lacks politics or a broader social context. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at EmanuelLevy.com
Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
It is this attention to character development that makes The Hurt Locker an effective Iraq war drama that opens our eyes to another dimension of the soldiers stationed there. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Deep Focus
An affectionate but ambiguous tribute to the career soldier that's free of condescension, cynicism, or jingoism. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Deep Focus
Metromix.com
Think being a soldier is dangerous enough? The hazards never end for the volunteer members of the Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Metromix.com
filmcritic.com
The focus here is on one of the U.S. Army's bomb disposal units, which is staffed by three men given the most fatalistic of tasks: Defusing the bombs. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at filmcritic.com
The New York Times
If The Hurt Locker is not the best action movie of the summer, I'll blow up my car. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The New York Times
Comingsoon.net
The sad truth is that many Americans seem to have forgotten we're still at war in Iraq and there are brave soldiers over there fighting and dying to try to maintain peace, and moviegoers just don't seem to be interested in their stories going by the hit o ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Comingsoon.net
Star Tribune
Intimate and intense, 'The Hurt Locker' is the best Iraq war film yet. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Star Tribune
NY Press Review
Bigelow's focus on male psychology won't satisfy anti-war protestors, who have been curiously becalmed during the Obama administration. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at NY Press Review
ViewLondon
Initially, James wins over Sandborne and Eldritch through his astonishing acts of bravery, but after just two weeks of James-induced stress, they are seriously considering "accidentally" killing him. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at ViewLondon
Time Out New York
Renner, whose half-muscled pudginess calls to mind Fassbinder circa Fox and His Friends, gets inside James's skin in ways that a more seasoned celebrity could not. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Time Out New York
Slate
By keeping its scale miniature instead of epic (there are no combat scenes in the traditional sense), The Hurt Locker keeps its audience in a constant state of tension without risking battle fatigue. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Slate
The Hollywood Reporter
The definitive film about the U.S. involvement in Iraq has yet to be made, and "The Hurt Locker" doesn't aspire to compete in the category. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The Hollywood Reporter
The Globe and Mail
With one of the most exciting and possibly longest horse-chase gun battles committed to celluloid, this Korean spaghetti western is both an exotic treat and an old-fashioned rollicking action pic. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The Globe and Mail
Reel Film Reviews
Director Kathryn Bigelow's first film in six years, The Hurt Locker follows three American soldiers (Jeremy Renner's cocky James, Anthony Mackie's pragmatic Sanborn, and Brian Geraghty's jittery Owen) as they encounter a series of perilous situations duri ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Reel Film Reviews
Empire Weekly
Just when you'd given up on an interesting take from Hollywood on the Iraq War, Kathryn Bigelow brings a three-man bomb squad where Sergeant J.T. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Empire Weekly
NJ.com
And the closer he walks to it, the closer he drags all of them to it too, risking their lives along with his. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at NJ.com
Village Voice
Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker is a full-throttle body shock of a movie. It gets inside you like a virus, puts your nerves in a blender, and twists your guts into a Gordian knot. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Village Voice
Variety
The major problem with the script by journalist Mark Boal, who was embedded with a bomb squad in Baghdad four years ago, is that it's unclear where the drama in "Locker" really lies. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Variety
Salon.com
In the end, Bigelow's point of view is what's most interesting about The Hurt Locker. The picture's strength lies in the details she focuses on. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Salon.com
Time Out Film
Renner, whose half-muscled pudginess calls to mind Fassbinder circa Fox and His Friends, gets inside James's skin in ways that a more seasoned celebrity could not. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Time Out Film
Paste Magazine
A funny thing happens somewhere in the middle of Bigelow's variations on the theme: The threat of being blown to bits starts to feel routine, almost dull. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Paste Magazine
The Movie Boy
A raw and unnerving thriller that gets its impact from taut, intimate suspense scenes low on bombast and high on the potential costs of military duty. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The Movie Boy
ScreenDaily.com
In reality, the lack of known faces works in The Hurt Locker's favour, but whether audiences can be persuaded to take the risk is another matter and the all-male cast and testosterone-fuelled subject matter restricts the demographic. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at ScreenDaily.com
New York Post
"We didn't have to go out looking for trouble to get your adrenaline fix," says one soldier. True. That's why enlisted troops take orders from older officers instead of running around organizing suicide missions with no supervision whatsoever. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at New York Post
rocchireport.com
The Hurt Locker looks and feels like a terrific action film, but there's a piece of art ticking away within it that goes off inside your head and your heart while you're watching. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at rocchireport.com
TIME.com
The U.S. Army bomb disposal unit has three men: an intelligence officer, the specialist who covers the scene with his rifle and the staff sergeant who walks up to the device and tries to turn it off. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at TIME.com
New York Magazine
One of Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal's few missteps comes right at the start: an onscreen quote from journalist Chris Hedges to the effect that war is a drug, "a potent and often lethal addiction. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at New York Magazine
Hollywood & Fine
As he says to Sanborn and Eldridge afterwards, what fun is the job if you play it safe? How do you know you're alive unless you confront death and walk away still breathing? ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at Hollywood & Fine
The New Yorker
As Eldridge and Sanborn jerk their guns this way and that at a bomb scene, Bigelow, working with the great cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, jerks the camera around, too. ...read the complete Hurt Locker movie review at The New Yorker
User Reviews
User Review Summary
based on (2) reviews
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by aravind08 on July 17, 2009 ,
I very like this movie, because here the action story and many scene contain the thrilling, most of people like this type of movie, nice say ...
by cicero0000 on July 16, 2009 Half Moon Bay, California
Not only a terrific war movie, but a must-see film that nails the Iraq War specifically. This story of a bomb squad is much more suspense than action, and shows us how this desert battle, with unseen enemies and danger at every moment, is different from ...
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