Reviewed by Alicia Glass

Review Rating: 8.5

The story of three highly trained Army Bomb Squad Unit soldiers and their trials on patrol in Baghdad.

This is a much better movie than I thought it would be, especially considering it’s a modern Army movie in one of those Arab countries that we’re so tired of. The story starts off with a bang, quite literally, as Guy Pearce introduces the two main male lead characters as his subordinates and soon thereafter gets himself blown to bits. A bit like Drew Barrymore dying in the first few minutes of Scream, it’s entirely unexpected, but sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

So we have Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant James, the newly brought in team leader who seems to be an adrenaline junkie and doesn’t understand the whole backup and team concepts. Anthony Mackie stars as Sergeant Sanborn, second to the lead Sergeant, stoic in his duty and firm in his convictions, until it all goes to hell. And Brian Geraghty delivers a fine performance as Specialist Eldridge, the obviously suffering and troubled third member of the team. As the three main characters travel through the harsh world their duty sends them, we get a very real sense of what it’s like to be over there as a soldier and how it takes its toll, every day.

Lets hear it for our Bomb Boys!