THE KINGDOM Review
This movie won’t come out in theaters until September 28th. But Rama’s SCREEN went to the screening and here is the early review of THE KINGDOM. I think it’s fair to say that this movie closes summer blockbuster season and opens for the Oscar-worthy movies season. And it’s great way to start it. When a movie has all star cast in it, that could mean either two things:… The movie’s going to be a downer or it’s going to be one of the best you’ve seen in quite some time. Fortunately for us we have The Bourne Ultimatum and The Kingdom to remind us that thrillers are back and kickin’ it. But unlike ‘Bourne’ movies, we won’t have to be dizzy from all the shaky hand-held camera work while watching this new Jamie Foxx flick.
A U.S. compound in Saudi Arabia has been attacked by terrorist. An elite team of FBI agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman) is sent to the place to help investigate. They face difficulties of culture and politics but eventually earn the trust and friendship of a local officer who helps them make their five-day visit ends with results.
This is an excellent first-rate action/thriller. It has an interesting interaction between U.S. and Saudi government and how different both cultures are. The dialogue’s smart and full of political intrigue that just keeps the mind thinking and the heart on the edge. They went the distance to give us the view of Saudi Arabia that give home to allies and enemies.
THE KINGDOM does have enough violent and strong language to keep younger audience at home instead of the theaters watching this, but for those of you who love movies that get you going in intense suspense with surprises on every corner, this is definitely the movie for you to watch.
There’s an excellent scene, which I thought was really well done, where the vehicle’s trapped in the middle of a small town and all of a sudden weapons and rocket launchers just come out of nowhere, you’d never guess what big firepower they might have next all for attacking purposes.
The investigation part in the middle of this movie does feel a bit drawn out at times, it’s kinda like CSI but about terrorism instead of crime of passion murders. But THE KINGDOM has enough humor and punch lines that often would break the tension and seriousness and keep the audience entertained. This movie helps this summer goes out in a bang.
Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) who also made a cameo appearance in this movie,– you could see him as one of the guys who had a question in the briefing room at the beginning– managed to combine all elements and present them in both violent and preachy ways. You can argue on whether or not Matthew Michael Carnahan’s script tells of a story that’s pro-American and Anti-Muslim.
But I see it not so much as that as it is about how two sides can be good and bad at the same time. Evil or not, generally a father would love his own family/people first and foremost just as much as the next person and would only think of what’s best for them even if it means killing those he thinks is a threat to what is considered the right way to live.
It’s an endless violent cycle that will keep on going, resulting in people killing people, because of what we tell and teach our kids and one another. Is anybody the better side, is anybody the higher value?
Maybe the problem will stop when no one initiates the first attack.
The movies does bring out a point I agree with,…
anyone who can sleep knowing that he/she has killed innocent children is someone who doesn’t deserve to live.
*Place the cursor on the picture below to check my rating for this film.
Related Articles:
* Many Clips from the movie THE KINGDOM
-THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM Review
- The Bourne Spoof!
- SUNSHINE Review
2 Comments so far
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The cast seems kind of odd…but the subject looks good. hollywood has been asleep at the wheels with its movie subjects since 9/11. i hate to admit it, but too many people get most of their info from movies. hollywood should acknowledge that and provide some movies that are actually worth seeing more often. i can only think of one movie that addresses terrorism (but having nothing to do with 9/11 itself) that has been made since 9/11. that movie is syriana and it sucked big time.
Of course there may be other movies that are slipping my mind, but I am not aware of them. Of course there are documentaries and a couple foreign films (Paradise Now was good) but hollywood may as well be trapped in the 90s.
of course i may be speaking too soon. this movie could still very much suck. You gave it 5 stars though and i doubt our opinions could be that far off.
Ok i will admit i wrote the last comment with only reading the first to paragraphs in your review. I went back and read the third one and started the forth, but I had to stop. I usually don’t read reviews because I don’t want to ruin anything. I like that you said we have both enemies and friends in Saudi Arabia. This means that the movie has to be somewhere on the right track. So many people seem to think that Saudi Arabia is our enemy. They are not. There are people there who hate us, but the establishment there is just as much our friend as anywhere else in the Muslim world.
Anyways…I hope it is a good movie, and as accurate and informative as can be.