They've basically been relegated to tourists, and have to fight the Saudi system which isn't allowing them to do anything much at all.  However, their "keeper", a Saudi Col. Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) turns out to be just as much the cop as the FBI agents, and helps them to get access and privileges they wouldn't otherwise have.

Through this access, and through good old fashioned police work they discover the identity of the bomber, and eventually kill a few of his subordinates.   This little actions proves "good enough" for everyone on both sides, and as they're on their way out of the country, are attacked on the freeway.  All hell breaks loose as one of their own is captured by the terrorists and they follow them back to their safehouse, where the real shooting begins.

Really I'm on the fence as to whether I'd classify this as a "war movie" in the traditional sense, but being as how the face of combat is changing, I think I have no other choice.  Really about two-thirds of the movie is more detective story and political commentary than war flick, and it doesn't heat up until the last one-third.

In that one third there are a lot of intense gun battles, although its unfortunate that director Peter Berg chose to go the "lets not count the bullets" route, and it gets a little silly at times, with Fleury and Al Ghazi just spraying everything in sight.  Especially when contrasted with Sykes outside appearing to maintain some sort of discipline....  The freeway bombing scene is a spectacular sight, though, and if you get the DVD be sure to check out the "making of" that scene.

As violent as the film is at times, Berg manages to show a lot of restraint most of the time, as it could have been a lot more graphic than it is, especially during the bombing scenes.  That's probably for the best here.

Foxx actually manages to be believable (contrast with Jarhead), and Garner, Cooper, and Bateman prove their worth as actors.  I'm not a huge Jennifer Garner fan, but I actually thought she was pretty good here.  Even better is relative unknown Ashrof Barhom.  I found his portrayal of the "I'm just like you" officer to be excellent indeed.

Granted that there are political overtones that cannot be ignored, especially in light of the opening "timeline" scenes, which I guess serve to illustrate why the Middle East is pissed at the US.  Really it doesn't have much to do with the plot of the film.  The ending also is a little message laden compared with the rest of the film, but is unfortunately and probably quite accurate.

All-in-all I was pleasantly surprised by The Kingdom, but still a little bit disappointed.  I guess I was expecting more than a mostly-detective story, and still I liked it quite well!  I expect in the future we'll be seeing a lot more movies like this, which don't so much focus on "traditional" combat, but rather the "criminal" element with which we deal in this age.

Technorati Tags: war movie review, the kingdom, 2007, terrorism, saudi arabia, jamie foxx, jennifer garner, chris cooper, jason bateman, ashraf barhom