The Case for a Green Light

Well, there has been one recent major difference of opinion over Alice in Wonderland; now, will I get the same dissension following the judgement of the Green Zone?

JudgeNot the NotKate dismissed this as an action flick (and so spurned the film), and she was entirely correct: Matt Damon,as Miller, and his band of minions run, drive and shoot around a ruined Baghdad shortly after the US invasion of Iraq, tracking down elusive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and the odd high ranking official left over from Saddam’s regime. Tensions are high, with the invaders hailed both as heroes and villains, and the lack of WMD evidence despite numerous leads is beginning to leave a bad taste in the mouths of some. The film is all set before the justification for the invasion changed, and calls into question the role (complicity?) of the media and competing branches and objectives of the US government, with the military not always blindly following orders.

But that is to say the film is a deep and cynical analysis of the whole affair, which it is not. Matt Damon’s character touches on all these things, trying to find the truth and being appalled by what he does find, but there isn’t a huge amount of analysis behind what brought everyone to this point, nor a huge amount of character development for anyone. But it does set a very compelling background to a series of awesomely executed car chases, macho posturing and armed engagements. JudgeNot the NotKate would not have been amused.

Damon has proved he can do action and righteous indignation with the Bourne series, so he is great here, and as he is the only real character out there, he is a great actor to carry a film. There other roles are fairly minor and stereotypical (Greg Kinnear is eminently hittable as a slimy government official; Brendan Gleeson is a gruff and experienced CIA agent; and Jason Isaacs loses the white wig and super clipped English of Malfoy Snr but keeps the bad attitude and finds a monstrous Merv moustache to go with it), but it doesn’t really matter – the film is not one of surprises; at least for those who were not wholehearted supporters of the Iraqi invasion.

Not much else to say really, although I doubt the final scene would ever have played out well for Matt Damon’s character in reality. I did enjoy it though.

Verdict: Things go boom in a cynical Green Zone world with just a dash or two of idealism. Fun. 7 non-existent WMDs out of 10.