Bourne Team Hunts WMD, Gets Political in Green Zone

Matt Damon reunites with director Paul Greengrass in Green Zone, and critics say the thriller, set in the early days of the Iraq war, packs all the punch of the Bourne films, though some felt its politics were a little heavy-handed.

• Green Zone "is somewhere between a blockbuster and a tract—a traction movie," writes Wesley Morris for the Boston Globe. "It whizzes and bangs and sizzles as it chases the truth like a dog off its leash.

• Matt Damon is superb as a chief warrant officer hunting fruitlessly for WMDs, but the movie is "rather tawdry," with a climax "as ludicrous as any Jack Bauer adventure," complains David Edelstein at New York.
• Greengrass and his trademark shaky, handheld camera have made a "tense, smart, thriller, "but if the phrase 'Bush lied, people died' is likely to upset you, so will this film," warns Luke Thompson at E! Online.
• There's "a bit of preachiness" in Green Zone, but the strong cast and outstanding direction make for an "intelligent, tough, and gripping" thriller, writes Joe Neumaier at the New York Daily News.

(More Green Zone stories.)