Three Kings will never equal a full house, that is, a full movie house. Not that it's a bad movie, it's not. In some ways it was excellent and even innovative such as in the firefight scenes in which everything entered slow motion when a bullet was fired only to resume normal speed when that bullet struck its target. That was absolutely excellent camera work and direction as was the subsequent effect showing what happens to a human body from the inside once a bullet hits it. The suspense level was also maintained through the movie with characters dying that I thought would live and vice versa until it was impossible to guess what would happen next. The acting was good and the characters, with the exception of George Clooney's character, were very realistic.But despite all of that the movie was just not as good as I expected it to be. For one thing, as I mentioned, the strongest actor in the film, Mr. Clooney, had a very uninteresting, somewhat cliched character. He played the tough as nails, but good-hearted soldier who has become cynical and disenchanted with military and its current war. And while the suspense level and lack of predictability were refreshing the movie still had a frantic, running in place feel as though a lot of energy was being used with nothing really being accomplished. And finally, the regular flashbacks to the main characters civilian lives gave the movie a cheesy, television movie of the week feel.
Still though it's a movie worth seeing, but I'd wait for it to hit the second run theatres or even video instead of paying a king's ransom to do so.
Average Grade: C
