The KINGDOM is Coming...Are You Ready for It?

Working for a newspaper has its perks. Like snagging a couple of 2-for-1 movie premiere tickets to watch some of the latest blockbusters before others can watch it. It's like beat-the-box-offfice, only this one you don't have to stand in line overnight just to get tickets; it's given to you sometimes a day or two in advance or, in my case with the free premiere ticket passes I got this evening, it was announced by our receptionist over the PA system just before 5 o'clock this
afternoon.

SPOILER WARNING!!!! If you haven't seen this movie yet, don't bother reading past here if you don't want to find out what happened in the movie.

The Kingdom movie premiere ticket passes

Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman -- what an ensemble. Now really, this movie could've been done without Sydney Bristow (aka Jennifer Garner), but I think they needed to get a woman in on all the action since, hey, this is the FBI.

OK, before I go way off tangent here, here's a brief synopsis of what the The Kingdom is about (info courtesy of The Kingdom site and Universal Pictures):

When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an iternational incident is ignited. While diplomats slowly debate equations of territorialism, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) quickly assembles an elite team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman) and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, Fleury and his team discover Saudi authorities suspicious and unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter. Hamstrung by protocol-and with the clock ticking on their five days-the FBI agents find their expertise worthless without the trust of their Saudi counterparts, who want to locate the terrorist in their homeland on their own terms. Fleury's crew finds a like-minded partner in Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhoum), 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. With these unlikely allies sharing a propulsive commitment to crack the case, the team is led to the killer's front door in a blistering do-or-die confrontation. Now in a fight for their own lives, strangers united by one mission won't stop until justice is found in The Kingdom.

I came in to the theater not knowing the full extent of what this movie was about, but I had a gist of it having seen a preview of it once (can't remember exactly when I saw it as I rarely go out and watch newly released movies in theaters). But all I needed to know (aside from the obvious pull that was Jamie Foxx helming the lead) was that this movie was promised to be action-packed, edge-of-your-seat kinda movie. And besides, I wanted to see how western movie makers will show Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For someone who lived and went to school in Riyadh (I spent one year studying in Al-Khobar and two and a half years studying in Riyadh before my family emmigrated) and know what knda country it is -- not a lot of westerners get the chance to actually live in Saudi Arabia unless they're a.) contract workers or b.) they're military.

I was expecting the filmmakers to pepper each scene with the stereotypical Arabian desert kinda feel, like what they did in The Three Kings or in recent Gulf War-based movies; all of those movies were shot mainly in the desert, so really, there was no need for the filmmakers to justify the look and feel of the place aside from the obvious fact that everyone was in an open desert with the sun beating down on them.

I was impressed with the opening scene after all the blurb explaining the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. It was a nice bit of history lesson there, capping it off with the 9/11 attack in New York.

Director Peter Berg handled running the two scenes (one in Riyadh and one in DC) flawlessly. People were enjoying an afternoon game of baseball in the park at a Western compound while the terrorists were plotting their demise. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) was in a show-and-tell session at his son's school. It was a serene, typical quiet school day affair; no worries wrinkling everyone's day. Then all of a sudden boom! Chaos ensued over in the Middle East, a distressed phone call came to Fleury's phone and that started the rollercoaster ride that was the 110 minutes of movie.

At one point during the movie I turned to my companion (who was my Mom and since we both know what life was like in KSA, I know she'd appreciate and empathize with some of the characters and situations there) and asked: Do you think they'll release this in Saudi?

Her answer?

Mom wasn't sure, but she said most probably not.

The movie depicted both a pro and anti Saudi alliance, depending on how you view it when you watch the movie.

I, on the other hand, agreed with her. The situation in the movie cut too close to home and, in as much as a lot of people these days are into watching movies about terrorists and good triumphing over evil, the ending of the movie only explained the root of the whole "war": REVENGE, plain and simple.

Now I don't want to spoil too much of what happened in the movie; it's up to you (if you choose to watch it) to figure out what I meant and how I figured it was all about revenge and what fuelled the said revenge.

I walked in to the theater, sat down and waited a few minutes before the movie started rolling. When the movie first started it was 7:00 pm; when it ended it was ten minutes to 9 in the evening. I didn't even know the movie was that long. It was a fast-paced movie and you might get bored with the yakkity-yak at the beginning, but pay close attention to what was being said and exchanged -- especially when Fleury and his team first set foot in Saudi soil -- as some of it will play out in the end regardless of you understanding what the dialogue was (it was delivered in Arabic with no subtitles).

I was told by a co-worker of mine that the last 20 minutes of the movie was the best. And she was right! I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. And the dramatic scene nearing the end was something I was already anticipating (and nope, I wasn't forewarned of what was to happen, but the way the character was played up and moulded throughout gave it sorta away IMO).

I recommend you go and see this movie. Just make sure you sit at the very top and very back of the theater. And hopefully you don't have motion sickness coz the camera kept on moving around a lot, giving the audience the feeling that they were really there running, ducking and whatnot along with the actors.