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The Kingdom...a compelling watch

Hi All,

I had watched the movie 'The Kingdom' on TV a couple of weeks back and since then I have been itching to write a review/post about it. The movie started close to midnight and went on well past 1 am. The fact that I was glued to the idiot box all that time and didn’t even dare to switch channels, lest I miss a few seconds of the film, should be sufficient to convey the intensity of the movie.

'The Kingdom' is based on a semi fictional plot on the bombings of the residential quarters of foreign workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The blast leaves the many dead and several more injured. The America Diaspora is devastated and furious. It doesn’t help that the atrocity was carried out by men masquerading as Saudi policemen. The monarchy, understanding the gravity of the situation, promises action but at the same time utilizes ambiguous laws to prevent American sleuths from investigating this carnage.

But remember this is an American movie and the Americans always win...:). So in comes the FBI with all their men [and women] and their gear only to find that the maximum role they will be allowed to play will be that of mute spectators to the whole spectacle. During a dinner with the Saudi prince, the FBI lead successfully persuades the prince to allow them to play a more proactive role. From this point onwards, the team realizes apart from the burden of collecting and deciphering evidence they also have become soft targets themselves.

The movie is action packed pretty much throughout the entire duration. The car chases are pretty exhilarating and will certainly ensure adrenalin courses through your body the same way blood does. Exchanges with terrorists are decent enough to satiate the goriness quotient of any typical Hollywood movie.

The film doesn’t leave you wanting from the emotional aspect as well. The scene where a father narrates to the visiting FBI team on how his son was trying to put back his mother jaws using a band-aids tugs your heart and touches the sorrowful aspect of terrorism. For a moment you are able to relate this to the loss of innocent lives as 26/11 unfolded. The film also smacks the conservative attitude of the monarchy through the example of a female character being denied invitation from the prince due to her gender.
The movie ends with promise of more revenge from both the sides. I would certainly recommend this movie any weekend watch.

P.S. I have taken the liberty to describe a good portion of the film in this post as it was released 2 years back and hence any description would not amount to a 'spoiler'.

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Comments

VENNILLA said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
December 11, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Chandrika Shubham said…
After reading your blog, I decided to watch Kingdom on next weekend. :)

Best wishes.
December 12, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Sun said…
Hi Friend.. This is Vijay here.. Ur doing a good job.. Shall we exchange links...
December 14, 2009 at 2:29 PM
~PakKaramu~ said…
Happy new year to you
January 1, 2010 at 8:15 PM
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