Great performances. Great direction. The writing was solid. The intensity is there. The relevancy is obviously there. All the ingredients were present and accounted for, so this movie should be absolutely great, right?
Meh. (Spoilers after the jump)
What was the point? Was the point of the entire film to show that Jeremy Renner’s character was a reckless asshole? Because I’m pretty sure we learn that in his second scene, no more than a half hour into the movie. If the movie is intended to be a character study of Renner’s Will James (which is what I took from it), we learn pretty much everything we learn about him by the mid-point of the movie, then have it all reiterated a few times.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie as I watched it. The performances were completely engrossing, the tension palpable, the film feeling far shorter than its 131 minute run time. But as I think back at what I saw, I can’t help but feel that there wasn’t a point that made the film worth it. Give me war commentary. Give me a complete character arc. Make me love and/or hate a character. Make something stick with me.
Maybe I expected too much from the film. I wanted to see something epic, a movie I’ll always remember… instead, all I’m taking from it is that I can now say I’ve seen the movie that took Best Picture over UP, DISTRICT 9 and AVATAR.
