saw: the hurt locker
The critical plaudits have been somewhat overstated—more of a commentary on the state of movies set "over there" than on the particular merits of Kathryn Bigelow's contribution to the genre, although there are merits to be considered—authenticity, immediacy and restraint among them. It's just that we've seen these characters in this setting before, and not fucking the whole thing up isn't as exciting as bringing something new to the table. Nevertheless…. Grade: B