Thursday, February 9, 2017

Kajaki (2014)


IMDb plot summary: Kajaki Dam 2006. A company of young British soldiers encounter an unexpected, terrifying enemy. A dried-out river bed, and under every step the possibility of an anti-personnel mine. A mine that could cost you your leg - or your life.
Directed by Paul Katis. Starring David Elliot, Mark Stanley, Scott Kyle, and Benjamin O'Mahony.

I've never served in the military so I have no actual experience on which to base this observation, but this seemed like a very realistic depiction of this kind of disaster scenario. It's a smart script, really bringing a sense of naturalism to these characters and this situation so nothing feels jarring or out of place. Impressively, for a movie that spends so much of its time waiting for something to happen, we only ever feel impatient with the characters, never at them. It manages to keep up the tension from beginning to end, even when our protagonists are literally unable to move from where they're standing. My only real complaint is that when the final conclusion arrives, it seems a little anticlimactic, but overall it's a very solid thriller and worth checking out.

4 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Kajaki > Closer to the Moon
Kajaki > Yojimbo
Kajaki < Kramer vs. Kramer
Kajaki < Seven Samurai
Kajaki < Mars Attacks!
Kajaki < To Kill a Mockingbird
Kajaki < Cloud Atlas
Kajaki > The Impossible
Kajaki > Gone in 60 Seconds
Kajaki < Zootopia

Final spot: #627 out of 2572.

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