Not Another Bourne Flick

The Green Zone (2010)
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Brendan Gleeson,Greg Kinnear

The Green Zone looks and feels like the last two Bourne Identity movies. And why shouldn’t it? Matt Damon, the star of the series, is in the lead. Paul Greengrass, the master of cinema-verite violence is the man behind the camera. However, it is anything but The Bourne films. As opposed to the snappy, tight, well-written screenplay by Tony Gilroy, this movie seems to be nothing but one giant, mindless chase scene, with vague references to revisionist thought on the American invasion of Iraq. Brian Hegeland’s screenplay falls flat on all fronts; lacking any semblance of character development, plot development, or really any kind of thing in terms of a truly cohesive story. Many different auteurs have used genre pieces to make comments on various socio-political issues. However, in the case of The Green Zone, Greengrass’ effort is mediocre at best.
Judging by the topic and the style of this movie, it seems as if it should be a slam-dunk for Greengrass. The man who shot to prominence with Bloody Sunday, a pseudo-documentary about the infamous Irish massacre, and then shot into the stratosphere with The Bourne Supremacy, has shown the perfect amount of dexterity and showmanship in the past. He was able to take a potentially divisive story like United 93 and turn it into one of the most compelling movies of 2006.
The Green Zone cannot be saved by the intricately orchestrated action sequences or the interminable chase sequence at the end of the film. While the thirteen year old boy and me wanted to jump and cheer each time something blew up, I could not find myself really caring much about what was going on. Near the climax I found myself wondering, “why do I care that he’s being shot? “ or “why do I care about any of this at all?” Unfortunately, The Green Zone does not supply the viewer with any sort of revelations about the Iraq war, nor does it supply any kind of commentary on the conflict. In the end, it is nothing more than a trumped up action film that happens to be set in Iraq.