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Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return to the propulsive action and visceral editing of the Bourne films -- but a cliched script and stock characters keep those methods from being as effective this time around.Read critic reviews
Watch Green Zone with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV.
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Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his team of inspectors are on a mission in 2003 to find Iraq's reported stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Traveling from one dangerous site to another, Miller and his team fail to find any chemical agents or other weapons. Instead, they discover an elaborate coverup in which the most-elusive weapon is truth.
Paul Greengrass has made some terrific films in his career as a director. When he collaborates with Matt Damon, he always manages to create something entertaining and worth seeing. Green Zone is a highly entertaining action thriller set during the Iraq War. This is a well acted film that has a very good plot that makes this a very entertaining film from start to finish. The film focuses on an Army officer who hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction, and comes out empty handed due to faulty intelligence reports. This is a tense film that is yet another strong directorial outing for Greengrass, who always knows how to create something memorable with his movies. Green Zone is a fine movie that has a strong cast that deliver some terrific performances. If you're looking for affine thriller, then give this one a shot, it definitely is an engaging picture that will grab your attention. Matt Damon is terrific in the role of Roy Miller, the army officer hunting for the WMD's. Paul Greengrass is a terrific filmmaker and he always picks some terrific ideas for movies. This is yet another well crafted film from a great director, and this is a must see for action fans. This is a tense ride from start to finish and it overcomes its flaws by delivering a well layered plot with great acting and tense, thrilling scenes that will keep you hooked till the final frame. Whenever Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon get together they make something special, and the result is displayed clearly in this well executed action thriller. I found that this film was a bit underrated and it deserves to be seen by film fans everywhere, and it ranks among the directors best works.
Super Reviewer
Oct 01, 2012
Not as good as I hoped for there was allot of story and not enough action to keep me entertained apart from the final scene but even that was pretty average, It could of been much better or maybe it's beacause i'm an action junkie and want too much from films, At the end of day an ok film that will either bore you or entertain your mind but not your action fix.
Super Reviewer
Apr 09, 2012
The camera work was terrible. Everything was shaky and disorienting. I could not believe how bad the direction was for this movie. The only saving grace for Green Zone was Matt Damon. His acting is always superb. However, the story was completely boring. The acting was on point for most of the actors. However, I still felt sleepy throughout the movie. Even though it picked up in the middle, the movie ended on a low note. Overall, a rehash of The Bourne Identity with a war twist.
Super Reviewer
Dec 29, 2011
On top of being the greatest actor alive, Leonardo DiCaprio is a heck of an active activist, but it seems as though Matt Damon has got him beat when it comes to taking action with his environmentalism. Actually, come to think of it, going around, beating polluters into submission doesn't seem like it's making much progress, seeing as he was only able to get "one" zone to go green. "'Green' Zone"; get it? ...Hey, it's either that, or "The Bourne Locker", so do to my bad joke what they did with the camera during an action sequence in this: just run with it. I had to specifically mention the behavior of the camera during the action, because if I was to just leave it at "do to my bad joke what they did with the camera", then all two of my readers would start having seizures, just like the cameraman did when he wasn't filmming this crazy action. Okay, now, I understand that they're using these type of shaky, handheld cameras for the sake of realism, but from the bottom of my heart, I have these genuine words to say: ...I don't care; this shaky cam idea stinks! Now, I know that I sound like I'm nitpicking, but this type of gratuitous, third-person shaky cam overwhelms and drowns out the resonance of a scenario, making the film rather unengaging; and it doesn't help that the story is a mess to begin with.
This film has an awesome, quite effective hook, if you want to call it that, because hooks usually make you interested in what's going to happen next. No, the film is totally devoid of intrigue, but its compellingness is diluted by storytelling that's lacking in resonance, not just because the messy camerawork heavily damages our intimacy with the scenario, but because the storytelling is a big mess. Now, I always complain about mystery-thrillers not slowing down enough to collect themselves, but really, that problem can be found in any fast-pace film with substance, as we can clearly see here. However, it's even worse here, because this film actually does have slow spots, but the film is moving and progressing way too fast, that even the slow spots are with a tone of such hypertension, that the self-collection is ultimately rendered ineffective. You have to pay extra, super attenion to this film, because the level of engagement is so up and down, and story development is so bumpy, that after a while, the film becomes convoluted, yet, even then, I couldn't tell you why, because this film should be totally predictable, given the cliches. Now, the genericism isn't as bad at the consensus would lead you to believe, but there's still enough of it to keep you from getting refreshed, only exacerbating the lack of investment. There's still enough quality and substance value in the story that it could never even fall to mediocre, but it could come close to it; yet with all of my complaints, this film is far from mediocre, and while it can never be genuinely good, it's still got enough of the goods to keep it going through and through.
As I said, the film is too fast-pace, and that certainly isn't helped by the awesome score, which is so well-orchestrated, to slick and so entertaining, that it only makes the pacing faster, but boy, it certainly keeps you awake, almost as much as the solid action sequences. Now, this isn't stellar warfare, partially because you've little investment the story that the action is progressing, but once you're caught in the heat of the battle, you can't look away. Granted, you might just be tense during the action, because the filmming is so messy that you're struggling to figure out what in the world's happening, but eitherway, you're wondering what crazy stuff is gonna go down next, especially during that awesome final battle at the climax. Still, there's no getting around a lack of substance behind the action, but it's not like the action is devoid of it, because no matter how messy the film is, there's always some degree of invetment to have, if, for nothing else, then Matt Damon, who's quite the presence. Now, he's not quite Jason Bourne, where if you hand him a bomb to disarm, he'd probably swallow the bomb and disarm it with his rib cage, so that if it does go off, everyone around Bourne will be safe from the blast, at the cost of Bourne's dignity, because it would probably only make him gassy. Man, I've got to stop making these jokes and actually watch more than just snippets of the "Bourne" films, so I actually have some idea of what in the world I'm talking about; but then again, that bomb disarming joke wouldn't make any sense if I was talking about Jason Statham, because there's no way that bomb wouldn't be scared to the point of being disarmed if the Stathman were to glance at it. Well, eitherway, Damon isn't on that level, but he's still pretty hardcore in this film, having a strong, authoritative presence, yet with a down-to-earth charisma that keeps you drawn to his character, even at his lowest, making him one of the key reasons why this film hangs in there.
They say "Every bit of war is a battle"... or at least that's why I think that's say, but if that is what they say, then they're not kidding, because even the films about modern war are messy and familiar, particularly this one, which is overly fast in its progression that it's level of substance takes a heavy blow; but the film always catches back its wind, thanks to the solid action and strong leading presence of Matt Damon, ultimately leaving "Green Zone" to stand as a generally entertaining warfare thriller.
2.5/5 - Fair
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