Green Zone

I always thought of Matt Damon as one of those Hollywood golden boys, part of the elite, riding on the coattails of fame. But here I am, rethinking everything. Damon’s performance in Green Zone really shows he’s got way more range than just being Jason Bourne. It reminds me of how I used to feel about Leonardo DiCaprio before he started proving everyone wrong and showing just how great he can be. It’s funny how these American actors, when they really let loose, can pull off something incredible. I honestly hope Damon keeps pushing himself like this because he’s showing the world he’s a serious actor. Green Zone is an absolute thrill ride, and even though it relies heavily on Damon’s performance, it’s clear he's ready to step up and shine. This movie is easily one of the best war films about Iraq, and it’s no surprise, given it’s directed by one of the top directors in the game. These guys have given us a raw, unfiltered look at what war is really like, how everything falls apart. If we got more movies like this, I’d be thrilled. (05.10.2010)

The film consists of very disturbing moral implications of the war in Iraq on the basis of a rather interesting thriller, which takes advantage of all the qualities from Greengrass's tested abilities to set a hard pace. The wooden acting of Damon is just the tip of the iceberg of missed opportunities and issues that could and should have gone much deeper - to his detriment, Greengrass tried to find a gap between the non-participation and rawness of United 93 and Jason Bourne. Green Zone is not nearly as impressive as the former and not nearly as fun as the latter. It’s simply...green. (15.06.2010)

A word that is often used in connection with cinema is "disappointment." I think I know why, but I’m not going to share it. Fears that Greengrass and Damon would merely swap running around the world's capitals for the dusty roads of Iraq have not come to fruition. Leaning on one spectacular screw-up by the Bush administration and Helgeland's script, they’ve created a compelling, rather conversational thriller that is given momentum by the restless cinematography and Powell's pulsating score. Expecting an action geyser is not worth it because Green Zone is, despite all the impressive set design, a rather modest film with no ambition to entertain, and yet is not at all afraid to point fingers at specific people. It’s based on the lesson that was the motto of a certain spirits advertisement: "There’s always a reason." (10.06.2010)

Technically speaking, it’s a flawless political-military thriller (not combat action), but to me it’s the weakest viewer experience that I’ve ever had with Greengrass. I get what Green Zone probably wants to say, but I believe they could have got more out of the premise. Given the level of the game the creators are playing, I can’t say the script is good enough – the deus ex machina character of Freddy is especially awful. But I’m not disappointed, because the genre (which I’m not a big fan of) didn’t lead me to expect much. (10.06.2010)

It would not be dignified to compare this movie to the Jason Bourne series. Let’s overlook the fact that Green Zone does not have Bourne’s entertaining drive, has no compelling music, and takes place from beginning to end in a location that looks like a single dark construction site and tells us nothing about its characters. It is easier to compare it with Ridley Scott’s thematically related Body of Lies, which I rated with three stars and which entertained me more. Green Zone is just a black-and-white militaristic exercise with a directing style that has been applied more successfully and with more vivid colors in other movies. (11.06.2010)