The Kingdom Review
by Sean Lynch
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What strange powers an Oscar can have. One minute, you're the horny friend in Booty Call - the
next you're taking on roles that Denzel Washington would kill
for.
It's
been an amazing journey for Jamie Foxx, a man so full of arrogance that
he makes Kanye West look like the shy kid in pre-school. So,
admittedly, it takes at least half-an-hour to warm to Foxx as
something more than a giant douche before The Kingdom can really kick in.
It's
a bit of an odd mix of a film, treading water somewhere between a
political statement and a popcorn blockbuster - and for the most part
(if you ignore the muddled political diatribe) it works a treat.
After a flashy animated introduction and brief history recap, The Kingdom hits the ground running when a terrorist bomb detonates inside a
Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sparking an international
incident. While the powers that be debate equations of
territorial authority, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Foxx) assembles an elite team of agents, negotiating a secret
five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing (and the death of a fellow FBI comrade).
Upon
landing in the desert kingdom, Fleury and his team soon discover
the Saudi authorities aren't too impressed with the American interruption
and are soon plagued by red tape and protocol. But before long, things get out of hand in a big way.
There's a lot to like about The Kingdom.
The action sequences are superb and will keep you on the edge of your
seat throughout the entire flick (at the screening I attended, one
particular fight scene at the film's pinnacle ended with a rapturous
applause from the cinema audience), and the cinematography looks superb
too. There's some lovely tender moments, as well as occasional light
relief (and thankfully, without ever resorting to cheesy Schwarzenegger
Commando type puns).
The
cast, too, add great weight to the film. It's an interesting bit of
casting actually - a first - which pays off in spades, with the
ensemble comprising a selection of TV's best (Arrested Development's Jason Bateman, Alias' Jennifer Garner, Entourages' Jeremy Piven).
There
is an element of guilt that seems to come with enjoying the action
within a film that is about real life terrorism, and if anything that seems to
be the major drawback to The Kingdom. It aims for Rambo-like
fun, but once it hits home that this sort stuff is a day to day
threat, morality seems to ruin the popcorn fun of it all.
Admittedly,
there are attempts by director Peter Berg to give both sides of the
story - but it ultimately ends up being more Pro-American "let's blow
some faceless terrorists away" fare that we've come to expect. However,
we do come to understand that everyone is simply fighting for their
beliefs - and depressingly - that it's not a problem that can be solved
by simply "Killing the Big Bad Guy".
Revenge is the world's greatest threat - not just a single enemy, and sadly that's the world we are now living in. 4 out
of 5 The Kingdom
Australian
release: 4th October,
2007
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven
Director: Peter Berg
Website: Click
here.
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