Don’t fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all.
Originally published at Superfriends Universe
The Stats
The Director: Peter Berg
The Cast: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven
The Release Date: 2007
The Runtime: 110 Minutes
The Plot
After a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia kills one of their own, four FBI agents head to foreign territory and try to investigate what truly went down
The Lowdown
In the post 9/11 world there have been a good deal of films released about terrorism. Some movies take it really seriously and are depressing as hell. Others take the pure action route. The Kingdom falls somewhere in the middle. This film succeeds in being both a political “message” kind of movie, but also has some pretty sweet action sequences.
On top of that, though, the film is also a “police procedural” as well. Once the FBI agents get to Saudi Arabia, it follows their process and investigation to find out just what the hell blew up their friend, and who was responsible for it. And it tops it all off with an incredible action/chase sequence that is incredibly suspenseful. One of the agents is kidnapped and is about to be executed on camera… can the rest of the team get there in time to save him? Pretty tense shit right there.
The film is incredibly well cast as well. Foxx really dials down his normal tendencies to over perform and delivers a really kind of stoic, bad-ass performance. Chirs Cooper and Jason Bateman are pretty much great in anything they do. Jennifer Garner isn’t great, she’s not bad, but not great either. However, she’s hot… so can you really complain? The only real complaint about the cast is Jeremy Piven who is playing the same character he plays in everything he’s ever done.
Don’t be afraid that this movie is going to preach to you. It won’t. At the end of the day it does have a “message,” but it’s not over the top. But if that kind of stuff does bother you, you still get a really good action thriller.
