The Siege
3/4
Starring: Denzel Washington, Annette Benning, Bruce Willis, Tony Shaloub, Sami Bouajila
Rated R for Violence, Language and Brief Nudity
"The Siege" came out almost three years before the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. The filmmakers made a film that asked difficult questions about what we are willing to do to protect our freedom from an enemy that is as impossible to track as it is to see. They had no idea they were making a film that was chillingly relevant. Consider what happened after the Boston Marathon bombings a month and a half ago, which resulted in the city being locked down.
The US Army has captured a known terrorist named Sheik Achmed Bin Talal (Ahmed Bin Larby). After diffusing a false terrorist attack, FBI Agent Anthony "Hub" Hubbard (Washington) receives a fax with a page that says "RELEASE HIM." He doesn't know who it pertains to, and since the no one was injured and the only damage don was blue paint splattered all over the inside of a bus, Hub doesn't pursue it with much vigor. Then a duplicate situation occurs and this time it's real, and it ends in death. More terror attacks occur with increasing frequency and magnitude. Eventually, the president declares martial law, and General William Devereaux (Willis) rules New York City with an iron fist.
I'll give Edward Zwick for giving the topic it's due. Terrorism is a complex issue, and Zwick examines it from all sides. The infighting between the divisions of government, the nature of modern terrorism, how terrorist cells operate independently, and so on. This is all thought-provoking stuff, but unfortunately it causes the pacing to lag.
"The Siege" is intense and suspenseful. There's no doubt about that. What it doesn't have is desperation. Sure the characters are desperate, but I never felt it. It doesn't come off the screen and make you grip your armrest. "The Dark Knight," which was released ten years later, did this sort of thing to a much better effect. In Nolan's movie, you felt helpless at the Joker's grasp, and that anything could happen at any time. That doesn't happen here. The film is too overstuffed, and Zwick isn't able to streamline it like Nolan did.
The acting is solid, although no one gives any Oscar-worthy performances. Washington, Benning, and Willis are all capable actors, and they do their jobs. We understand them, and in the case of the first two, get on their side. In Willis's case, we disagree with him, but understand why he does what he does.
I'm going to recommend the film because it does what it sets out to do: create a suspenseful two hours. It asks difficult questions and has the good sense to provide answers while allowing us to think about our own feelings about them. It's not perfect, but it is compelling cinema.
Starring: Denzel Washington, Annette Benning, Bruce Willis, Tony Shaloub, Sami Bouajila
Rated R for Violence, Language and Brief Nudity
"The Siege" came out almost three years before the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. The filmmakers made a film that asked difficult questions about what we are willing to do to protect our freedom from an enemy that is as impossible to track as it is to see. They had no idea they were making a film that was chillingly relevant. Consider what happened after the Boston Marathon bombings a month and a half ago, which resulted in the city being locked down.
The US Army has captured a known terrorist named Sheik Achmed Bin Talal (Ahmed Bin Larby). After diffusing a false terrorist attack, FBI Agent Anthony "Hub" Hubbard (Washington) receives a fax with a page that says "RELEASE HIM." He doesn't know who it pertains to, and since the no one was injured and the only damage don was blue paint splattered all over the inside of a bus, Hub doesn't pursue it with much vigor. Then a duplicate situation occurs and this time it's real, and it ends in death. More terror attacks occur with increasing frequency and magnitude. Eventually, the president declares martial law, and General William Devereaux (Willis) rules New York City with an iron fist.
I'll give Edward Zwick for giving the topic it's due. Terrorism is a complex issue, and Zwick examines it from all sides. The infighting between the divisions of government, the nature of modern terrorism, how terrorist cells operate independently, and so on. This is all thought-provoking stuff, but unfortunately it causes the pacing to lag.
"The Siege" is intense and suspenseful. There's no doubt about that. What it doesn't have is desperation. Sure the characters are desperate, but I never felt it. It doesn't come off the screen and make you grip your armrest. "The Dark Knight," which was released ten years later, did this sort of thing to a much better effect. In Nolan's movie, you felt helpless at the Joker's grasp, and that anything could happen at any time. That doesn't happen here. The film is too overstuffed, and Zwick isn't able to streamline it like Nolan did.
The acting is solid, although no one gives any Oscar-worthy performances. Washington, Benning, and Willis are all capable actors, and they do their jobs. We understand them, and in the case of the first two, get on their side. In Willis's case, we disagree with him, but understand why he does what he does.
I'm going to recommend the film because it does what it sets out to do: create a suspenseful two hours. It asks difficult questions and has the good sense to provide answers while allowing us to think about our own feelings about them. It's not perfect, but it is compelling cinema.
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