The Hurt Locker “is a great film, an intelligent film, a film shot clearly so that we know exactly who everybody is and where they are and what they’re doing and why,” says Roger Ebert in a 7.8. review. “The camera work is at the service of the story. [Director] Kathryn Bigelow knows, unlike the pathetic Michael Bay, that you can’t build suspense with shots lasting one or two seconds.

“Frankly, I wonder if a lot of Transformer lovers would even be able to take Bigelow’s film. They may not be accustomed to powerful films that pound on their imaginations instead of their ears.

“We live in a depressing time for American movies. Half the nation seems hellbent on throwing itself at the horrible Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie’s fans inform me that I don’t ‘get it,’ that what they want is mindless violence and stuff blowing up real good. They like the explosions. It’s entertainment for the whole family. I get it all, all right. [Except] two years from now, no one will quite be able to remember its name.”