Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
1.5/4
"The Kingdom" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/06/2012
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack on an American civilian compound in Saudi Arabia, Jamie Foxx and his team of FBI investigators invite themselves over to solve the crime. What we have here is your typical stranger in a strange land cop film relocated to the middle east. The CSI style investigators wobbly cam their way through the story bringing enlightenment to the ignorant, backward Saudis and deal out swift justice, American style ie blow the shit out of everybody with a towel on their head. I'm sorry, but this was the biggest load of simplistic, patronizing gung ho bullshit I've seen this side of a Rambo film, and dressing it up in pseudo-documentary cinematography does not change the fact. It makes no attempt to show the motivations or culture of the Saudis and even the US …
Rating of
3/4
A Thoughtful, Underrated War Film
Franz Patrick - wrote on 02/09/2008
People easily label this as an action film but behind the shotguns and grenades lies great sadness. Although the action sequences are jaw-dropping, I found myself deeply touched by the deep silences between the characters, especially at the end of the film. Sure, the film provokes anger and pro-war sentiments but I think all of that is merely the surface. By the time the credits started rolling, I realized that the message is that both ends of the war are losing no matter what. Both sides have families dying and both sides have their own agendas. The one thing that they have in common is their hands are tainted with blood and there is no going back. I think everyone did a good job in this picture. It must not have been easy to tackle a film like this, nor is it hard to swallow. The …
Rating of
N/A
The Kingdom: Action film issues cultural challenge
thyst07 - wrote on 10/19/2007
The Kingdom, directed by Peter Burg, is everything that viewers expect from an action-packed, violent, crime-solving film- and a lot that they won't expect. Amidst a riveting crime investigation with plenty of danger and edge-of-your-seat thrills, The Kingdom also carries powerful cultural messages about diversity by challenging stereotypes about race, gender, and Middle-Eastern culture.
In the film, a terrorist attack on an American compound in Saudi Arabia kills over 100 men, women, and children. FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) manages to get himself and his team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman) into Saudi Arabia to investigate the scene. With only five days to solve the crime, they find that they are unwelcome and their investigative efforts are …
Rating of
2/4
KILL THEM ALL!!
Allison - wrote on 09/18/2007
Wow, someone wanted to make another Syriana, but with more stuff being blown up. The difference was instead of George Clooney's fingernails missing at the end of the movie, mine were. However, it was after the movie. I was so bored with the discussion after that I started picking my fingernails.
My favorite Chris Cooper movies are those where he is unrecognizable due to his character being off the wall. When I recognized him, I knew this movie was in serious trouble.
You could tell the writer was smart, but you could also tell that the audience didn't care and just wanted to see stuff blown up.
It was a little emotional. In fact a sequence in the beginning really choked me up. But refused to let the "bandaids on mouth scene" (You'll know it when you see it) get to …
