Le Royaume

When a devastating terrorist attack occurs in Saudi Arabia resulting in the death of an American federal agent and several civilians, the FBI is reluctant to conduct their own investigation from fear of severing international relations with an uncooperative Saudi government. Foxx is the head of the bureau's Rapid Action team; accompanied by fellow agents Cooper (an explosives expert), and Garner (a forensic specialist), he leads an "unofficial" expedition to the site to try and seek out the guilty party. Political thriller has a realistic setup and three capable leads, but unfortunately the film rambles, and reduces itself to a revenge flick on its way to an action-packed climax that feels desperately contrived. The story is interesting but never convincing, especially the ending which is hollow and sentimental. **

I went into this movie hoping it wouldn't be a cheap shot at either the US Government or the people in the Middle East and I wasn't disappointed. The introduction that outlines the history between Saudi Arabia and the United States alone proves as much: no matter how intense that action was (and it was very much so), the movie itself was a fairly level-headed look at the current situation. You are drawn into the action from the very beginning, but from there it does not sink into an FBI team shooting up Saudis. There is actually an INVESTIGATION, with political interests in the background all the while. An excellent action movie with more than a little thought put into it, but not for the faint of heart.

The plot is twisting and the movie overall spectacular, although this Jason Bourne style story cannot be taken too seriously, in my opinion. The director, just to make the product more real and grab the attention, tries to add complexity and depth but the level reminds somehow the one of episodic TV. There are a few surprises, some forensic elements and the flick bears some resemblance to Syriana, that was a well done film. Action is undeniably spectacular but Jennifer Garner is not that believable and conceptual flaws are present in the plot. The finale is tear jerker but makes sense eventually, since it's not so far from reality..

Tense film packs intrigue, action , thrills, suspense and an stirring final . Thrilling and exciting movie about terrorism , foreign policy critical and geopolitical issues . After a terrorist bombing on an USA oil company compound in Saudi Arab caused a slaughter , the FBI chief (Richard Jenkins) against the opinion of the General Prosecutor (Danny Huston) sends some crack agents a dangerous mission .FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) quickly assembles an elite team ( Chris Cooper ,Jennifer Garner , Jason Bateman) and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madmen behind the bombing , not withstanding the protests of slimy diplomat (Jeremy Piven). They are actively involved in discover the terrorist cell , as the Jihadis are executing a massacre , and planning others and eluding authorities for some time . As they enter Saudi Arab the crew meets colonel Faris ( Ashraf ) like-minded partner and together they scheme to solve it . The CIA agents supported by the Saudi Colonel who helps them navigate royal politics and unlock the secrets of the crime scene and the workings of an extremist cell bent on further destruction , all of them plot to chase relentlessly the mastermind terrorist . The group find their expertise worthless without the trust of their Saudi counterparts, who want to locate the terrorist in their homeland on their own terms . However they form a shaky alliance to break the terrorist ring whose objective is the bombing civilian targets .

Story's core is interesting and script is dense with information and use of interesting messages to add weight to drama, furthermore is packed with moving ending scenes as when the team is attacked on the highway and when the crew is led to the killer's front door in a blistering do-or-die confrontation. The ultra-brisk editing and rapid images movement leaves little time to consider some inadequacies. The picture takes parts from ¨Syriana¨ ( by Steven Soderbergh with George Clooney) about the dangerous terrorism Arab ; ¨Black Hawk down¨ (by Ridley Scott) in which US military involved into action on a foreign country ; Spy game ¨(2001, by Tony Scott with Brad Pitt and Robert Redford ) concerning the spy-world and ¨Body of lies ¨ (2008 by Ridley Scott with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe ) about sophisticated methods of the international terrorism . The intrepid Jamie Foxx , the veteran Chris Cooper and the only female Jennifer Garner are good as intelligent , brave super-agents and Jeremy Piven's cool displaying a brief performance. The film contains colorful , glimmer cinematography , predominating of yellow tones , by Mauro Fiore . Rousing and vibrant musical score by Danny Elfman with some Arab overtones. The motion picture is well realized by Peter Berg. Rating : Above average, well worth watching.

There is much to like in The Kingdom. Nice performances, a slightly-new take on the buddy-cop story, Jennifer Garner's upper lip, and some excellent action set pieces. However, halfway through watching it, it occurred to me that it would in fact have been a much more interesting film if none of the stars were in it. Which was little odd, because I am very fond indeed of Jennifer Garner's upper lip.

The plot is this: There is a big terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. Some FBI agents led by Jamie Foxx, fast talk and bamboozle their way into the country to investigate, where they team up with two Saudi cops. There then follows a small amount of detective work, some interesting political manoeuvring and two really rather well-done shoot outs.

Now, I like Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper and Jennifer Garner('s upper lip) who play the FBI agents, and although all three do the best they can with the material they are given, no effort is made to make their characters interesting. What's worse, although they aren't interesting, they are nevertheless vastly superior to everyone else. Thus nearly every single advance in the case is made by these three. They are the ones who solve everything.

The two Saudi cops, on the other hand, are interesting characters. Two good cops working in a corrupt, brutal system. Trying to solve a horrific crime whilst faced with hostility from their fellow officers and political interference from above. What's more, they're human. They have weaknesses and fears. They make mistakes.

And that's what occurred to me. I thought to myself that this film would almost certainly be more interesting and entertaining if the whole idea about the FBI agents had been removed, and instead, we'd just been following the wily but unfailingly polite Colonel Al Ghazi and his loyal sidekick Sergeant Haytham as they tried to solve the crime. Instead, once the FBI turn up, these two get relegated to standing to one side and looking suitably impressed every time one of the names-above-the-title stars does something brilliant.

Right at the start of the film, Jennifer Garner's character (ably assisted by her upper lip) makes a comment about how if the Saudi's allowed the FBI into the country to investigate the crime, it could prove to be enormously destructive. If only the film makers had listened to her.

It's not that the Kingdom is a bad film. In fact, it's actually a rather good film. I just think that if they'd dropped the stars, it could have been much better.