Green Zone | 2010
Genre: War/Action
Author : Srivathsa
Director: Paul Greengrass
Synopsis: “Green Zone” doesn’t quite falter ,but dissapoints
Let me brief about Paul Greengrass, the director of “Green Zone” a bit before we
move into the actual review of the movie. Paul Greengrass is an Academy Award nominated
director, who is known for his docu style movie making. Hi previous films include
“Bloody Sunday”, “Bourne Supremacy”, “Bourne Ultimatum” and the nerve rattling “United
93” , for which he was nominated for the Oscars. By Now, those who never knew about
him, but knew his movies would have known his style of direction. He often precisely
hits the target. Alas! He wasn’t that precise this time around.
“Green Zone” , based on the novel “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” by Rajiv Chandrasekaran,
is a movie about intelligence agency (US) gone wrong in Baghdad, Iraq. The protagonist
played by Matt Damon, is a Chief Warrant officer, Roy Miller. Miller digs up into
this faulty intelligence and tries to find the real problem with what seems to be
so screwed up. All is well. The movie is thrilling, the movie is well cinematographed,
but the patchy stock characters and the ever similar Baghdad war is where the movie
falters.
Unlike a mediocre movie, “Green Zone” tends to keep you glued to the screen. It
gives that guilty sense of pleasure, but in real, “Bourne” was more satisfying and
appealing. The inner look into the political issues, are not very viceral and the
story gets almost into it, but it’s not quite. There are intense shots, a trademark
of Greengrass like the wonderfully shot “Black Hawk” scene. That ain’t enough.
Hollywood can keep away a bit from the Baghdad warfare. I know there is a lot that
can be made out of that. But honestly, it bores me to see too much of it. We’ve
seen too much of it, and too soon.
Although not the best of his attempts, “Green Zone” is only a good movie, which
can be a proxy for “The Hurt Locker” or if you want it to be Greengrass, go for
the “Bourne” again