TrekSucksHard
12-01-2007, 07:21 AM
The one common thing when it comes to American war movies is its patriotism- depending on who makes them, they either hit you on the head like a sledgehammer (John Wayne's THE GREEN BERETS) or make it a bit more subtle behind character interactions (like Speilberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) but nevertheless, if you peel back the stock characters and action sequences, you will find the true message of the film on how obvious the patriotism is.
The opening sequences and unfolding storyline of THE KINGDOM is as simple as it gets- an attack against civilians and local police protecting them in Saudi Arabia (it actually seems strange that only Americans get killed- having been to Saudi Arabia I do know that Western compounds usually have mixed nationalities living in them so this alone makes it somewhat implausible) brings into play an FBI team headed by Agent Fleury (Jaime Foxx), a no-nonsense patriotic die-hard who just happens to talk like a Crips gang member more than an FBI agent. His team includes Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman- all of them happen to be loudmouths who spew ironic jokes and cuss at every opportunity to prove how tough they are. Jeremy Piven reprises his Ari Gold character in ENTOURAGE as a smooth talking US diplomat. There really isn't much characterization other than a few scenes with Fleury's kid in which Foxx portrays him as a family man but otherwise is a boy scout willing to go all out to find the terrorists.
By hook or by crook, Fluery gets his team to Saudi Arabia (despite opposition by politicos and the Saudi government- but these plot lines are never fully resolved) and proceeds to take on the terrorists in their own turf. That's pretty much as far as the story goes- the rest are action set pieces with lots of gunfire and explosions.
Now as far as the patriotic message of this movie, it seems to imply that the police and military of Saudi Arabia are either too corrupt and downright incompetent (despite the addition of a sympathetic colonel attached to Foxx's team) to take on their terrorists and the only solution to winning the war on terrorism is to put the Americans in charge of everything. Unfortunately the movie's message has been drowned out by the reality of Iraq and Afghanistan- if this movie was made back in 2001 it would have been a massive hit but its lukewarm box office returns is indicative that Americans now realize that the gung-ho "it's us or them" attitude is not the answer.
Overall I give this movie 4 out of 10. Lack of compelling characters and an unrealistic storyline which only neocons would appreciate drags it down. The action sequences are adequate but not enough to save this turd.
The opening sequences and unfolding storyline of THE KINGDOM is as simple as it gets- an attack against civilians and local police protecting them in Saudi Arabia (it actually seems strange that only Americans get killed- having been to Saudi Arabia I do know that Western compounds usually have mixed nationalities living in them so this alone makes it somewhat implausible) brings into play an FBI team headed by Agent Fleury (Jaime Foxx), a no-nonsense patriotic die-hard who just happens to talk like a Crips gang member more than an FBI agent. His team includes Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman- all of them happen to be loudmouths who spew ironic jokes and cuss at every opportunity to prove how tough they are. Jeremy Piven reprises his Ari Gold character in ENTOURAGE as a smooth talking US diplomat. There really isn't much characterization other than a few scenes with Fleury's kid in which Foxx portrays him as a family man but otherwise is a boy scout willing to go all out to find the terrorists.
By hook or by crook, Fluery gets his team to Saudi Arabia (despite opposition by politicos and the Saudi government- but these plot lines are never fully resolved) and proceeds to take on the terrorists in their own turf. That's pretty much as far as the story goes- the rest are action set pieces with lots of gunfire and explosions.
Now as far as the patriotic message of this movie, it seems to imply that the police and military of Saudi Arabia are either too corrupt and downright incompetent (despite the addition of a sympathetic colonel attached to Foxx's team) to take on their terrorists and the only solution to winning the war on terrorism is to put the Americans in charge of everything. Unfortunately the movie's message has been drowned out by the reality of Iraq and Afghanistan- if this movie was made back in 2001 it would have been a massive hit but its lukewarm box office returns is indicative that Americans now realize that the gung-ho "it's us or them" attitude is not the answer.
Overall I give this movie 4 out of 10. Lack of compelling characters and an unrealistic storyline which only neocons would appreciate drags it down. The action sequences are adequate but not enough to save this turd.