Peter Berg’s “The Kingdom” draws heavily on the visual styles and editing techniques witnessed in many of producer Michael Mann’s later films. Mimicking the intense violence and nail-biting action of 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. By the conclusion, however, mixed messages and conflicting viewpoints on violence leave the film safely on the wrong side of the Oscar-worthy line that the producers hoped would be worth the original delay in its 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.

The highly stylized introduction to the film summarizes much of the tantalizing technical aspects that the audience is subjected to during this fast-paced 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 suspense. If it doesn’t incite a headache, it will certainly keep you at the edge of your seat as the violence and stirring dilemmas build up political and moral turbulence.

Violence in “The Kingdom” is by far the most controversial and thought-provoking aspect of the film. Is the graphic nature of the violence realism or exploitation? During the opening scene we are presented with horrendous and graphic acts of terrorism, and are persuaded to abhor the antagonists and root for the FBI. 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 revenge is seemingly justified, and violence is displayed as utterly 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 conflicting that at the onset, terrorism and violence is so undividedly condemned. Toward the explosive conclusion, the mayhem is spectacularly amplified, and it is clear that true heroes use gunfire and motives of revenge to save the day. Early sequences ask the audience to feel sympathy for the innocent Middle Easterners caught in the war, but at the resolution, the last lingering shot of the film leaves a conflicting, sour taste of general hatred wafting about.

The prominent moral 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 gunfire-laden sortie and within a grenade toss of missile explosions. Add to that Danny Elfman’s riveting score, and few films compare to the suspense and awe evoked from the 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, and everything within the scene appears tumultuously laced with tension.

While poignancy and political messages are occasionally made all too apparent, the intensity and bravado of the action scenes rapidly overshadow any deeper meanings that “The Kingdom” attempts to evoke. Whatever Berg’s ultimate message about the war in the Middle East, the audience is likely to only remember how visually stunning it was to witness the bad guy getting his comeuppance and the good guys saving the day. Translated to realism it would be a small win for the United States, but in the world of “The Kingdom”, heroes are larger than life and always trained to effectively wield a machinegun. And we’re all okay with that.

- Mike Massie