Adam Kuhn & The Movies: The Kingdom
Synopsis: FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) has just received the assignment of his career: assemble an elite team (Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman) and go to Riyadh to hunt down and capture the terrorist mastermind behind a deadly attack on Americans working in Saudi Arabia. The feds have only one week to infiltrate and cripple a cell bent on jihad to western society.
No training could prepare Fleury and his team for the disorienting culture shock they face once inside this scorching foreign land–a byzantine maze of profiteering politicians and storefront terrorists. Bound by handlers who refuse to play ball with the U.S., the agents quickly find the local law enforcement more hindrance than help and soon grow uncertain of anybody’s allegiance.
But when a sympathetic Saudi police captain helps them navigate Riyadh politics and investigate the true cause of the attack, Fleury finds an unexpected comrade-in-arms. In their lightning fast attempt to crack the case, the partners’ search leads them straight to the killers’ front door. Now in a fight for their own lives, two teams on opposite sides of the war on terror won’t stop until justice is found in The Kingdom.
My Take: I like Jamie Fox, he’s a great actor and he really shines in this film. However, what really strikes out at you is the imagery of the Saudi culture. Culture shock is putting it mildly – the scenic content of the film is completely foreign to the concepts of typical American society. The cinematography in this flick is excellent.
There is plenty of action in this movie, but it is perfectly balanced with a well thought-out plot that carves its way through obstacles of culture and terrorism tactics. It’s hard to identify with the Saudi citizens, you’ll certainly find yourself endorsing the Americans, but this film isn’t as biased towards the American effort as one may expect. The Saudi way of life is different – the writer, director, and actors do a great job of blurring the lines of moral righteousness in this respect.
This is a great flick and one that ties in very well with current events in the middle-east. The film makes a statement that will define our nation and the globalization of all nations for years to come.
My Beefs: The only criticism I’m going to dish out here has to do with Hollywood explosions. It seems like the average American movie watcher has an undying love for huge explosive fireballs. Bombs don’t work like that. There is no huge fireball, just a burst of immense energy that devastates everything in its path, the only signs of the explosion being a large and thick dust cloud, scattered debris, and low frequency sound reverberations from the explosion. Want an example? Check out this clip from the largest Mythbusters explosion of a cement truck:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=woP9o6fY8fQ[/youtube]
Kuhnometer: 9 / 11
Trailer:
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