5 DAYS OF WAR

Expectations lessen drastically whenever Renny Harlin's name is attached as the director of any given movie. He's made a few good movies but he's mostly made crap. And so I wasn't sure what to expect with his new one, 5 Days Of War, which follows the perspective of two war-journalists caught in the Russio-Georgian War of 2008 (remember when the Russians invaded?). I'm happy to report that this is Harlin's best film (imo) to date. I'll do away with the negatives quickly and say that there are a few sparse moments of tackiness, the occasional bravado and a heightened soundtrack.... However, i think they're easily overlooked because Harlin has captured this war zone really well. The sense of emergency and desperation are prevelant and the SFX are amazing. The film doesn't shy away from the ugliness with quite a lot of barbaric and horrific stuff shown on screen and it amounts to an effective look into one of our more current accounts of war. I read that the film was partially funded by a faction of the Georgian government and so there is an obvious bias... but you can't help but see this more as a plea for the outside world to hear them. There is still conflict going on and the western world is still turning a blind eye. Renny Harlin DOES have some good films in him... hopefully this is the first of more.

---