This is a great movie with a good cast of actors but it is ultimately brought down by cliches, predictability and a rushed ending. Could have been much better. It remains a movie worth watching though.

One of the most emotional war time movies I've seen in a while. Not emotional in the way most movies are but the emotions that it inflicts on the viewer. The acting is great and the cast was a perfect fit. Jennifer Garner truly knows how to kick...
[+] Read Full Review

One of the most emotional war time movies I've seen in a while. Not emotional in the way most movies are but the emotions that it inflicts on the viewer. The acting is great and the cast was a perfect fit. Jennifer Garner truly knows how to kick ass. Jamie Foxx was just awesome in this movie. I thought this movie was great.

I thought that 'The Kingdom' would be a typical Hollywood movie where a major US army team with the FBI entered the middle east killing everyone and everything in sight, in order to get back a hostage. This movie does have it's amazing gun-fight...
[+] Read Full Review

I thought that 'The Kingdom' would be a typical Hollywood movie where a major US army team with the FBI entered the middle east killing everyone and everything in sight, in order to get back a hostage. This movie does have it's amazing gun-fight scenes but it shows reality in a great way. The ending was extremely meaninful, even if not in a way we wish it was. I am glad it was not a typcial hollywood ending where everyone lives happily ever after.

Great movie!

A good movie that tells a somwhat good story action ok acting is fine the movie get 4 stars from me

"The Kingdom", directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, is by no means your typical action movie.

The trailers for the film are so full explosions that one would think that's all there was to the film. However, there...
[+] Read Full Review

"The Kingdom", directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, is by no means your typical action movie.

The trailers for the film are so full explosions that one would think that's all there was to the film. However, there is much more than expensive stunts and gunshots to this movie.

"The Kingdom" takes place in Saudi Arabia and immediately begins with an impressive action sequence on an American civilian compound.

Terrorists successfully attack the compound, which looks frighteningly similar to a typical American suburb.

The explosions are intense and the "embedded journalist" viewpoint used in shooting is extremely effective.

This single action scene sets the pace for the whole movie, which rarely has any downtime.

The FBI, in charge of investigating terrorism, forms an elite team to find and capture the terrorists responsible for the bombing. The movie takes a good 30 minutes to actually get the team to the Middle East.

It drags the viewer through fast cuts of dialogue across every conceivable office on Capitol Hill.

While it attests to the quick-tongue world of Washington, D.C., it serves more to confuse the audience than to inform.

Out of this political clout comes the elite FBI team. The four-member squad is led by Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx). Fleury is teamed up with Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner) and Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman).

Foxx's character takes center stage as the charismatic leader that has a hard time accepting "no" for an answer.

Foxx delivers a well-rounded performance. His character, though cliché, is delivered in such a way that it makes it seem new and fresh.

The other three actors also do a fine job, but fall victim to their supporting roles, becoming standing pieces intended solely to support Foxx.

What each actor truly does, though, is make each character entirely believable, even in situations that are not.

Sadly, the movie really doesn't become enjoyable until the team leaves for Saudi Arabia.

The viewer is immediately placed in the scene through great camera work that truly makes a person forget they are in a movie theater.

This contrast of cultures is embodied in the conflict between Foxx's character and the Saudi Arabian colonel, Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who has the task of protecting the FBI team.

The movie focuses on the two and how they come to terms with their cultural differences. This makes "The Kingdom" more like a character piece than an action movie.

Foxx and Barhom have such great chemistry that it's easy to forget they are reading from a script. This isn't to say that the movie forgets it's an action blockbuster however.

The action sequences are brutal and realistic. A typical car chase is turned upside down by the amazing directing, almost placing the viewer in the driver's seat as bullets fly by.

The tension builds everywhere the team travels, the camera occasionally breaking from a scene to wander, as if to force the viewer to be cautious.

While the movie gives a small peek into life in the Middle East, whispering moral and ethical questions to the audience, it keeps an overall neutral stance.

Aided by a great script and equally impressive acting, "The Kingdom" delivers more bang than your typical action movie, if only hindered by the small, yet still present, Hollywood formula.

Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner lead the way, teaming up with a Saudi Policeman, to find those responsible for a terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Saudi Arabia in what couldn't be a more modern setting. The majority of the film...
[+] Read Full Review

Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner lead the way, teaming up with a Saudi Policeman, to find those responsible for a terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Saudi Arabia in what couldn't be a more modern setting. The majority of the film plays out a gripping crime drama, but really goes for it with the action scenes as well. An exciting and intense must-see.

The Kingdom was a really well done movie. Granted it has its "Hollywood" moments but lets face it, what movie doesn't. Though what this movie has that others tend to not have is reality. The Kingdom shows you how the world is in the...
[+] Read Full Review

The Kingdom was a really well done movie. Granted it has its "Hollywood" moments but lets face it, what movie doesn't. Though what this movie has that others tend to not have is reality. The Kingdom shows you how the world is in the middle east and also shows what are government department, like the FBI, go through when being in those countries. It's not enough to get a report by the day from whatever news channel you watch, you have to see it and I think this movie does a really good job at showing you that. The actors are really good in it you'll see a lot of familiar faces. All in all the film is really good and it has a lot of action in it and a must see for anybody.

Quite good - excellent action and a very creative exposition at the start. Loved the FBI team, even if the "powers that be" were a bit cliche. Didn't see the second bomb coming at all. The cinematography was beautifully done -...
[+] Read Full Review

Quite good - excellent action and a very creative exposition at the start. Loved the FBI team, even if the "powers that be" were a bit cliche. Didn't see the second bomb coming at all. The cinematography was beautifully done - disturbingly realistic. The climactic kidnapping of the agent was edge-of-your-seat stuff, and who knew that Jason Bateman could turn in a performance like this? Unlike most movie-damsels-in-distress, he fought back like a man who knew he was about to be killed. I have one criticism - the ending was disappointing. Regardless of whether or not the filmmakers were trying to tell us that this war would never end, they should never put the same words coming out of the mouths of terrorists as they do the mouths of people who fight terrorism. These do not equate.

The Kingdom is basically 'CSI: Saudi Arabia' but also mixed with politics and history of Saudi Arabia and America. All of the action in the commercial is mostly toward the end and a little bit in the beginning so don't be expecting a big action...
[+] Read Full Review

The Kingdom is basically 'CSI: Saudi Arabia' but also mixed with politics and history of Saudi Arabia and America. All of the action in the commercial is mostly toward the end and a little bit in the beginning so don't be expecting a big action movie (that in any way does not mean it is a bad thing). Seeing as how I like history and what is going on in the world, the no-action-just-mostly-talking in most of the movie was interesting and not boring. This is a postive movie but not a must-see.