Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Universal really likes this movie, and they’re doing a lot of early word-of-mouth screenings for it. They must be working, too, because we keep getting reviews each time this one is shown to an audience, and they all sound pretty enthusiastic about what they’ve seen.

Like this one, for example...

I just got back from an advanced screening in the Bay Area of The Kingdom, a new movie from director Peter Berg. It stars Jennifer Garner, Jaimee Foxx, Jason Bateman, and Chris Cooper as a team of FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia after a series of suicide bombers strike a softball game, eliciting a massacre.

I got the tickets through Blockbuster and will keep this brief since I don't like the long, meandering reviews I normally read on the site.

Story: The movie starts with a flashy credits sequence to condense the history of Saudi Arabia into a four minute montage, followed by the massacre that sets the story in motion. The story follows Jamie Fox, the de facto head of the team with his attempt to get permission to go find out what happened and assembles the team. The firs half of the movie plods along to a degree, taking its time and I did shift in my seat a few times. Once they arrive in Riyadd, the movie begins to get really interesting and picks up.

Acting: One of the reasons I saw the movie, honestly, was because Jason Bateman is in it since I'm an Arrested Development mark. I single him in the movie because to a degree, he gets the most to do as the dry comic relief of the movie. He helps break the tension and got a lot of laughs out of the audience. The rest of the cast is fine, although it isn't really a huge actors showcase, nor are they given the big oscar moments to shine in. Jamie Fox does his schtick as the intense, caring leader, Chris Cooper filling in the holes, and Jennifer Garner doing a lot of frowns and attempts at crying. She spends half the movie with a sour puss on her face and although she still looks good with it, it's not the most emotive role she's ever had. Jamie Fox and Garner aren't given a whole lot to do, but they do their roles well.

Direction: Peter Berg seems to have taken some cues from Paul Greengrass and Alfonso Cuaron since he directs most of the movie hand held, especially in the action scenes. It's used to great effect in the last 30 minutes of the movie. The documentary approach can work but has the danger of being overkill, and many war movies I've seen have fallen victim to this. The action in this movie is very gritty and gruesome, the best comparison I can make is to the eternally underrated Munich. There are a few times when the handheld doesn't work that well, mainly in unsteady closeups where it becomes a nuisance, but there is a lot of restraint, and it works.

Overall, I really liked the movie. The first act could've been tightened up a bit more but for a political thriller/action/war movie, it does its job well. Smarter people than I can elaborate on all the relationships and themes present in the movie, yadda yadda yadda, but I'm giving my rough thoughts. I'd give this an easy thumbs up and comes out in September.

8/10
Fuzzy Boots

”FuzzyBoots,” eh? Not the most macho of nicknames, but then again, it’s no less inherently ridiculous than our next spy’s moniker:

Hey Guys,

I have another review for you.

I attended a screening of The Kingdom at the AMC River East in Chicago last night. The theater was at about 70% capacity, which seems about right since the marketing has been limited except for a few trailers that have popped up over the past year.

The Kingdom is the latest film by director/ sometimes actor, Peter Berg. I have always been a fan of Berg since his early acting days as Dexter Rutecki in one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Aspen Extremes. This was the skiing movie that had the genius poster tagline of “Top Gun on the Ski Slopes!” You can only imagine the greatness within. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

Anyways, I had been highly anticipating The Kingdom based on the trailer alone, which looked liked a tense thriller about terrorism in the Middle East. The cast also looked superb with Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Gardner, Chris Cooper, and the always funny Jason Bateman (this guys needs a lot more work like this). Thankfully, the movie lived up to promising trailer and exceptional cast.

The opening credit sequence alone really pulled me into the movie. Berg basically gives the audience a quick history lesson in Saudi-US relations using real footage, newscasts, and crazy cgi. The camera never stops moving during this sequence with images morphing into one another and contrasting real footage with cgi re-enactments. Before you know what you are really looking at, Berg shows a striking image of 9/11. It was at this point that the whole audience kind of woke up and started to really become engaged.

After the credit sequence ends with the main title we are immediately thrust into a devastating terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Saudi Arabia . Berg doesn’t pull any punches or use any fancy quick cuts to hide the violence. There are numerous scenes of American men, women and children being gun down by rapid machine gun fire. Gruesome stuff to watch, so be careful when choosing who to bring along to this movie.

Pretty soon we are introduced to our main characters and the story picks up. The whole film is shot exactly the same way Berg filmed the movie and pilot of Friday Night Lights. The score is also exactly the same as the tv show. This worked for me as I am a huge fan of the Friday Night Lights tv show. Berg obviously is also b/c he not only shot The Kingdom in the same way, but cast numerous actors from the show. It was nice to see Coach and Lyla in a couple of scenes.

When our contingent of FBI investigators reach the Kingdom, the movie focuses on their investigation of who orchestrated the terrorist attack. The cast really did have great chemistry together, especially Foxx and the Saudi police chief assigned to assist the Americans. Bateman of course got all the best comedic lines and constantly had the audience in stitches. Piven also showed up for a couple scenes, which is always welcome.

The movie moves along with the investigation until BAM, the Americans are attacked and basically fighting for their lives in a country that doesn’t want them. The movie becomes a full on action pic at this point. It is very reminiscent of the awesome action sequence in Clear and Present Danger where the quartet of US Suburbans are trapped in a Columbian alleyway with rpgs flying in every direction. The action sequence in The Kingdom begins on a highway and ends up in Saudi apartment building. Berg stages the action very well and keeps the intensity pumping. We even get a brutal fight scene between Jennifer Gardner and one of the terrorist. This little scuff was brutal in its depiction of violence and is only believable b/c we as an audience have seen Jennifer Gardner kick plenty of ass on tv.

Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. The audience was actually cheering throughout some scenes, but the film ends in a very somber mood. Berg really is a talented director, whom I am looking forward to see what he does next. Check it out when you get a chance.

DarthEnder