Green Zone (DVD)

Hot on the heels of Kathryn Bigelow’s critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning smash, The Hurt Locker, is Green Zone, director Paul Greengrass’ attempt to fuse the shenanigans of the Bourne trilogy with the political controversy surrounding Iraq’s supposed WMD program.

Taken from Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book, Matt Damon headlines as chief Roy Miller, a man who questions the intel that is leading him in search of the supposed Iraqi weapons, and decides to go rogue. Conflict arises via Greg Kinnear’s slippery suit, and support only shows its face in the form of Brendan Gleeson’s agency man and Amy Ryan’s reporter. Meanwhile, Jason Isaac’s tough Special Forces man is closing in on Roy…

It goes without saying that Greengrass is one of the most exciting, politically astute helmers around at the moment, and there’s no-one better than Damon at projecting decency and determination is what is essentially a stock role. The issue Green Zone faces is, much like the real-life hunt for WMDs, that it ends up chasing its own tail by reaching sanctimonious, unremarkable conclusions that many of us no doubt will have reached already. Unlike Greengrass’ Bourne movies, which operated in an entirely fictional universe and weren’t constrained by real-life scenarios, the political aspect to Green Zone feels redundant, laying out its exposition-heavy agenda awkwardly via mouthpiece characters like Ryan’s dogged reporter.

Where it does succeed admirably is in the realm of action. Greengrass is a master at lacerating, shaky-cam chaos, dropping us right in it from the start with a wealthy Iraqi family fleeing their home at the onset of the invasion. The scope then widens as the camera soars up to the skyline to reveal Baghdad in flames. As a reconstruction, it’s jaw-dropping, a tremendous, physical achievement, and the finale, where several different axis of action crash in on each other, is astonishing.
 
The film is helped immensely by the visceral, committed performances that deserve credit for largely flying under the radar and playing second fiddle to Greengrass’ tightly wound focus on tension. As ever, Oliver Wood’s photography, darting in and out of alleyways and buildings, may seem slipshod and irritating, but it’s always subject to a precise rhythm and momentum, and regular Greegrass collaborator John Powell’s heavily percussive score ramps up the tension in the latter stages. It’s just a pity that whereas Bourne derived its very intelligence from an underlying subtext (the pervasive security cameras; a pan up a model American flag in Ultimatum), here the message, very much foregrounded, never quite meshes with the action. The brains are there, but it’s the brawn that we remember.

Overall Verdict: Typically nail-biting stuff from Greengrass and Damon but here it never translates into anything truly revelatory. Less than successful as a cautionary tale then, but there’s more than enough expertly staged action to keep viewers gripped.

Special Features:
Commentary with Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon
'Matt Damon: Ready for action' Featurette
'Inside the Green Zone' Featurette
Deleted Scenes with Commentary from Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon

Reviewer: Sean Wilson