Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 177 Ratings

  • Starring: Matt Damon
  • Summary: During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission. Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth. (Universal Pictures) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 38
  2. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    Dec 14, 2010
    100
    An expensive flop and the latest Iraq movie to be shunned by the mass audience, Green Zone was still the year's most visceral, thrilling entertainment.
  2. The cast is strong, and Damon is a dependable center for all this, a classic American good guy wanting to know what's rotten and why.
  3. Christopher Rouse's rapid-fire editing nervously stitches the stunts, chases, fights and confrontations together. It's a remarkable film.
  4. With Green Zone, though, the malaise has finally hit me. So while Damon's Miller uncovers the (inconvenient) truth of why the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, all I want to know is: How does he suggest we get out?

See all 38 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 58 out of 85
  2. Negative: 17 out of 85
  1. 10
    Paul Greengrass up until around 2001 no one knew whom this Irish up and coming director was that is until he directed the second of the three Bourne films "The Bourne Supremacy"(2004) that became the highest grossing film for the series at that point. one of Greengrass' most critically acclaimed films following on the heels of his universally acclaimed "Bloody Sunday"(2002). Three years later Greengrass directed one of the last decades most acclaimed and most controversial films "United 93"(2006) based on the true story of the heroism of the passengers and there tragic death when they forced the plane into a nose dive causing it to crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The film was a massive critical success but meet with extreme criticism form audiences alike over its touchy source material. The year after Greengrass and actor Matt Damon re-teamed to star and direct the third(and possibly final installment) of the hugely successful Bourne series with the "Bourne Ultimatum"(2007) which proved to be the highest grossing and biggest critically acclaimed hit of the series bringing a crashing final close to the saga of Jason Bourne. For nearly three years Greengrass was working on a new project that while may lack the enthusiasm of his early works is no less thought provoking or thrilling as his earlier works. This film is one of his best and a film that not only gives you the views of why we go to war but if the reasons we do go to war are really for the right reasons. When I first heard of Paul Greengrass' "Green Zone" back in late 2009 I can say that I was extremely excited to see Greengrass and Damon back together again making a big action picture again I could almost picture how this film would have played out in my head(no thanks to my limitless imagination). I saw Damon playing a solider fighting against another Government conspiracy involving some sort of political assassination or cover up that he exposed. I was eager with anticipation however, when I found out the release date of this film my anticipation dwindled. It dwindled not because I found out the film might not be as good as it appears but it dwindled because I would have to wait three months into 2010 to see one of my most anticipated films of 2010. After nearly two months of waiting I finally was able to see Paul Greengrass' "Green Zoneâ Expand
  2. 8
    In my opinion Green Zone is a good movie. It features more a political aspect compared to other movies in its genre, so if you watch Green Zone expecting an action packed-thriller then you will be slightly disappointed. Instead it focuses on important issues that cause you think about the world we live in today and our involvement in the war abroad. In Green Zone, the movie shines a light on the US government and its involvement in Iraq. More closely its search for "weapons of mass destruction". With Matt Damon as the protagonist, he begins to question his chain of command, and the mission at hand. With an underlying political aspect, the plot unravels and at the end, your wanting more. Expand
  3. The movie is realistically constructed compared to those war movies that spent millions of dollars with famed stars labeled in it. But problem with "Green Zone" is, they take things too seriously. Expand
  4. MarkM
    3
    I really wanted to like this film. I'm as liberal as anyone but this was way over the top in my opinion. "Wish fulfillment" is the best diagnosis of what went wrong here--with crappy dialog and overly simplistic, one-dimensional characters (poor Greg Kinnear) it felt like a 12-year-old writing a historical-fiction war story for a creative writing assignment. Normally like Ebert, but he was way, way too kind to this film. Entirely forgettable film meant to cheaply evoke frustration over a national tragedy for commercial gain. Expand

See all 85 User Reviews

Trailers