which tracks 38 days with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Baghdad, is not a treatise on the war any more than Point Break was a disquisition on the FBI or the Soviet-sub drama K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) was a position paper on the Cold War. Like many of Bigelow's films, it's an adrenaline-fueled immersion course in how people adapt to physical and psychological extremes. Athletic without being concussive, Bigelow's chases, fights, and battles strive for maximum you-are-there immediacy, frequently through the use of point-of-view shots—not for nothing does the director prefer the term experiential over action—while still prizing fluidity and spatial coherence (unlike so many summertime blockbusters). Pick any scene at random from among Bigelow's films and it's possible to mistake it for a high-grade Jerry Bruckheimer... [read full story]
