Put the lazy comparisons to the Bourne films to one side, Green Zone is a smart and well-thought-out action film with a biting political edge. It may take some pot-shots at easy targets along the way, but it's served up with real passion.

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) grows increasingly concerned about the presence of his men in Central Iraq following the fall of Saddam. The 'war' so far has been a breeze and yet he seems to be one the few asking questions about the lack of WMD which military intelligence has said remains the ultimate goal. The press and high ranking officials are sunning themselves in the opulent palaces around the country as Miller's men continue to enter risky situations on their behalf. The Officer soon comes to the attention of two men with very different agendas, Defense Intelligence agent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) wants to wrap up the investigations and provide a satisfactory conclusion to the war, one which will work well on the evening news bulletins. Career CIA station chief Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) on the other hand has many of the concerns that Miller has expressed and tries to recruit him to get to the bottom of the WMD misinformation. All the while a Wall Street Journal reporter (Ryan) holds further information which could blow the case wide-open. At the centre there are plots by Saddam's men to play the long game and regain control and a notebook which might hold the answer to the secrets that caused the war in the first place.

Having been the subject of some truly terrible movies, the Iraq war and global conflict against terrorism should have been an open goal for liberal Hollywood. Instead their eagerness to 'stick the knife in' over a clearly irresponsible and delusional misadventure has only served to show up the lack of writing talent working in the US today. Green Zone is based on a book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which did a wonderful job of capuring the chaos in Baghdad as the Baathist regime fell. The film opts for a different focus but the scenes of general confusion and sense of American triumphalism are a welcome aspect of continuity.

The MacGuffin device used in the film may well annoy some as in reality the question of Dodgy dossiers and fraudulent claims remain unanswered, but who really expected a film to provide resolution to that when years of tribunals and panels have failed to come up with the goods? What it does do however is set up a phenomenal series of man on the ground missions for Damon to show his athletic prowess. Miller is a well-trained officer, ready for action but constantly thinking of the consequences of his endeavors as well as the reasons that have brought him there in the first place. He is hounded by an equally determined Poundstone attack dog in the form of rough and ready Jason Isaacs and the pair square of in one of the finest action sequences seen for many a year.

The claustrophobic streets and markets of Iraq would not really be the setting of a typical car chase so Greengrass expertly translate that well-worn formula to give us an exhilarating white-knuckle foot-race which is worth the price of admission on its own. It shows off exactly what everyone has to offer, from the director's ground-level filming style to the uncompromising methods of the star. It a sublime blend of seamless special effects and highly trained professionals working in harmony.

This is a smart film which has something to say and says it. As noted, it takes a few short-cuts and glosses over a few points that really should be addressed (but probably not here) and for my money works as well as Oscar winner The Hurt Locker in all departments.

Rating: ****

Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla,
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Brian Helgeland (written by) Rajiv Chandrasekaran (book)
Release Date: 12 March 2010
Runtime: 115 min
Certificate: 15

Review: Cassam Looch