Green Zone (2010) (R)
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan
Daddy Says:
From the director of the last two Bourne movies, and with Matt Damon (the star of the Bourne movies) playing the lead, and with a trailer that makes it seem like this could be just like the Bourne movies, I'd say most people were expecting to see another Bourne movie when they went to see Green Zone. And unless I'm mistaken, I'd say most of them left disappointed. Bourne, this ain't.
Green Zone has Matt Damon playing a rogue U.S. Army officer in Iraq, getting faulty intelligence reports on the whereabouts of those illusive Weapons of Mass Destruction we were led to believe existed. Damon's soldier cares about the men in his platoon and doesn't want to send them into an unstable area, under the constant threat of sniper fire, on the words of an undisclosed source. A chance meeting sends him on the right path, but will he be able to get the truth to see the light of day?
I really wanted to like this movie a lot, but it just doesn't have the same dramatic impact of the Bourne movies. I know it's also not fair to compare it to those movies, but as I said above, that's the way it was marketed, so they're inviting the comparison. The action scenes are all shot with the by-now standard handheld "shaky cam", which can be effective when done properly, or can be nausea-inducing and confusing when done improperly, like was done here.
The script could have used some work too, as we are introduced to a number of characters which are not well written. They're like thumbnail sketches of real people. The film also takes on the interesting subject of why we invaded Iraq to begin with, but it never really tackles the subject with any great depth.
Rating for Green Zone: **3/4.
Daughter Says:
I feel in love with Matt Damon straight off the bat, when I saw him in the Bourne series. I thought he could do no wrong. Well I think that statement is still sort of true, but for this movie it might not be so.
Green Zone was just not as good as the Bourne series and I was sure that it might at least come close. Overall there wasn’t really anything wrong with Green Zone. I just didn’t really care for it. I was lost through the whole movie. I didn’t know who I was supposed to root for in this film. Another confusing part was who was the bad guy. To me it was supposed to be the other side, but in this case the problem was also on our side.
This movie is definitely not like any other war movie I have ever seen. I usually know exactly who to cheer for and who to dislike, but not in this case. Maybe my problem is I had too high expectations. Being in love with Damon and thinking he is an amazing actor (don’t get me wrong he is), but even he couldn’t save this movie. I don’t even know how they got the name of the film. Apparently it was where the story took place, but it didn’t seem to be about what I thought this movie was about. I was sure that Green Zone was about the war in Iraq, but there was very little shooting. Most of it was searching and looking for the right path to take; Republican or Democrat?
So if you ask me, I don’t think this movie was all that great. I wouldn’t recommend it for the great war movies of all time. There have definitely been better movies than Green Zone. I would put this on my list of if I didn’t have anything else better to do and wanted to watch a movie that made me think, then get this one. But I probably won’t ever watch Green Zone twice. It just wasn’t good enough to watch a thousand times over.
Rating for Green Zone: **.
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan
Daddy Says:
From the director of the last two Bourne movies, and with Matt Damon (the star of the Bourne movies) playing the lead, and with a trailer that makes it seem like this could be just like the Bourne movies, I'd say most people were expecting to see another Bourne movie when they went to see Green Zone. And unless I'm mistaken, I'd say most of them left disappointed. Bourne, this ain't.
Green Zone has Matt Damon playing a rogue U.S. Army officer in Iraq, getting faulty intelligence reports on the whereabouts of those illusive Weapons of Mass Destruction we were led to believe existed. Damon's soldier cares about the men in his platoon and doesn't want to send them into an unstable area, under the constant threat of sniper fire, on the words of an undisclosed source. A chance meeting sends him on the right path, but will he be able to get the truth to see the light of day?
I really wanted to like this movie a lot, but it just doesn't have the same dramatic impact of the Bourne movies. I know it's also not fair to compare it to those movies, but as I said above, that's the way it was marketed, so they're inviting the comparison. The action scenes are all shot with the by-now standard handheld "shaky cam", which can be effective when done properly, or can be nausea-inducing and confusing when done improperly, like was done here.
The script could have used some work too, as we are introduced to a number of characters which are not well written. They're like thumbnail sketches of real people. The film also takes on the interesting subject of why we invaded Iraq to begin with, but it never really tackles the subject with any great depth.
Rating for Green Zone: **3/4.
Daughter Says:
I feel in love with Matt Damon straight off the bat, when I saw him in the Bourne series. I thought he could do no wrong. Well I think that statement is still sort of true, but for this movie it might not be so.
Green Zone was just not as good as the Bourne series and I was sure that it might at least come close. Overall there wasn’t really anything wrong with Green Zone. I just didn’t really care for it. I was lost through the whole movie. I didn’t know who I was supposed to root for in this film. Another confusing part was who was the bad guy. To me it was supposed to be the other side, but in this case the problem was also on our side.
This movie is definitely not like any other war movie I have ever seen. I usually know exactly who to cheer for and who to dislike, but not in this case. Maybe my problem is I had too high expectations. Being in love with Damon and thinking he is an amazing actor (don’t get me wrong he is), but even he couldn’t save this movie. I don’t even know how they got the name of the film. Apparently it was where the story took place, but it didn’t seem to be about what I thought this movie was about. I was sure that Green Zone was about the war in Iraq, but there was very little shooting. Most of it was searching and looking for the right path to take; Republican or Democrat?
So if you ask me, I don’t think this movie was all that great. I wouldn’t recommend it for the great war movies of all time. There have definitely been better movies than Green Zone. I would put this on my list of if I didn’t have anything else better to do and wanted to watch a movie that made me think, then get this one. But I probably won’t ever watch Green Zone twice. It just wasn’t good enough to watch a thousand times over.
Rating for Green Zone: **.
This movie tried to be “politically” correct. It hinted at a one man conspiracy to get the US involved in a war with Iraq, but never covered why he would do that. They had a “John Wayne” character that they watered down and left on the sidelines, so you couldn’t like or dislike him. As Matt’s character, Miller, walks (yes, walks!!) through this movie, he loses sight of his men and leading them. He goes “rogue” at one point and basically walks away from the men that he supposedly wants to protect. He is mean to an Iraqi that just wants to help. Then without a real understanding between the two, the Iraqi continues to help Miller. This movie hints at a lot of things, but seemed to be afraid to actually take a stand. Maybe that is the way we all feel about war, we want to trust our government to do the right thing and yet we are afraid our government is run by idiots with secret agendas. And maybe it is.
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