hough not entirely unoriginal, Peter Berg’s “The Kingdom” draws heavily on the visual styles and editing techniques seen in many of producer Michael Mann’s projects. Mimicking the intense carnage and nail-biting action of “Collateral” and “Miami Vice,” but with heavy political undertones and a sweltering Saudi Arabian setting, “The Kingdom” attempts to play havoc with the audience’s beliefs and political standings, all while mesmerizing with dizzying camerawork. By the conclusion, however, mixed messages and opposing viewpoints leave the film safely on the wrong side of the Oscar-worthy line that the distributors hoped would be worth the original delay in its theatrical release date.

An elite team of U.S counter-terrorism investigators craftily negotiate their way into the Middle East, where they hope to uncover the malicious mastermind behind a deadly suicide-bombing attack. Immediately met with unfriendly bureaucracy and cultural hostility, Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), and Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) must enlist the help of a local police officer as they edge dangerously closer to the terrorists. As the tagline suggests, their greatest nemesis will be an inexplicable ideology: “How do you stop an enemy who isn’t afraid to die?”

The highly stylized introduction to the film summarizes much of the tantalizing technical aspects subjected to audiences during this hyper-paced, modern war story. Frenzied handheld camera movements and quick, choppy cuts from frame to frame occasionally disorient the viewer, but it definitely lends to immediacy and gut-wrenching tension. If it doesn’t incite a headache, it will certainly keep viewers at the edges of their seats as the graphic violence and numbing dilemmas amplify political and moral turbulence.

And violence is one the most controversial and thought-provoking aspects presented in “The Kingdom.” Is the explicit nature of the bloodshed realism or exploitation? During the opening scene, audiences are shown horrendous acts of terrorism, clearly denoting the evil antagonists and the righteous protagonists who will heroically combat them. Later in the film, however, the American agents sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombings are inclined to use equally merciless and intemperate tactics to carve their way through a hostile city where one of their own has been captured. While ruthless revenge is seemingly justified, and violence is displayed as expedient, it seems that Berg has laid out conflicting messages about the derivation of terror.

When the audience cheers during moments of spectacular action and daring shootouts as the villains succumb to superior FBI training (and perhaps luck), it is even more paradoxical that at the onset, terrorism and violence are so undividedly condemned. Toward the explosive finale, the mayhem is grandly intensified, making it evident that true heroes cannot avoid the use of gunfire and motives of retribution to gain the upper hand. Though early sequences ask the audience to sympathize with the innocent Middle Easterners caught in the war, the final lingering shot generates a contradictory, sour taste of general hatred, not triumphant victory.

The prominent ethical and political themes of the film may shift suddenly from time to time, but the pacing and action never let up. Astonishing sound effects bring the audience directly into the middle of a bullet-laden sortie or within a grenade toss of missile explosions. Add to that Danny Elfman’s riveting score, and few films can compare to the immersive magnitude of heart-pounding battle sequences and freeway car chases (shot in the scorching heat of Arizona). For once, the agitated editing serves to rattle the viewer at key points of chaos rather than solely to distract from inferior choreography.

But the ferocity and bravado of the action scenes drastically overshadow any deeper meanings that “The Kingdom” may have hoped to impart. Whatever Berg’s ultimate message about the conflict in the Middle East, the audience will likely only remember how visually stunning it was to witness the bad guys getting their comeuppance and the good guys saving the day. Translated into real scenarios, it would be a small win for the United States – but in the world of “The Kingdom,” heroes are larger than life and always proficient at wielding machineguns. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

– Mike Massie