Admitedly, I was hard on The Kingdom when I first read about the plot, production, cast and crew. Sometimes, you just get things wrong … I was wrong about this movie. Its, rather decent .. I can now understand why it did rather poorly in the theaters but why it will do well as a rental.
The Kingdom is not a movie made for the theaters, its a production you have to sit through at home. You need to pay attention, and all the dialogue would have been very hard to follow with a room full of movie goers. The film got a bad rap because of its lack of action and focus upon a story.
We are trained to flick movies that tell a decent story, and flock to piles of garbage with huge explosions, lame one-liners and ridiculous plots. {Yes, I am referring to Die Hard 4 and Rush Hour 3… again}
The Plot : The Kingdom is an interesting story of terrorism, America and Saudi Arabia. The cultural differences, the similarities and .. granted.. a few needless gunfights thrown in at the end. A team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East. Producer Michael Carnahan has thrown the story together very well, and managed to keep my undivided attention the entire movie.
If you have followed any of my reviews, or previews, the past year you’ll know I am not a fan of Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner or Jason Bateman. Somehow though, I can’t say they were horrible in this movie, they did a decent job.
The Action : I would have been happier if they would have left Garner out of the battle scenes, I just don’t buy it. I can’t watch sexy actresses go into battle, it doesn’t work for me. I also didn’t find it necessary for Jamie Foxx’s character to have his obligitory ass-whooping scene he does in every movie. Silly, predictable.. but.. I suppose the producer was giving the fans what they wanted.. Jamie Foxx either singing, or fighting at some point.
The movie starts strong, and is the main source of the action. We are welcomed to the movie with an enormous explosion on a US base, situated on Saudi soil. The base is for US workers and their families.. which is targetted by terrorists.
Favorite Scenes : All the action takes place in the beginning, but the SUV chase scene was decent, although a tad… hollywood.
The Verdict : Watch it! The Kingdom is so in tune to todays issues in the middle east, that you’ll enjoy it from start to finish.
Tags: Action 2007, Chris Cooper, Drama 2007, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Thriller 2007, War 2007
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