The Kingdom (2007): The best movie of the year?

Director Peter Berg's latest effort, The Kingdom, is a high-intensity action drama that succeeds on all levels. And by that, I mean it blows away most of the competition as being one of the year's best so far. The film, about an FBI team who goes to Saudi Arabia to find out who is behind a devastating terrorist attack, boasts a star-studded cast and gritty imagery throughout. It also marks another large cinematic jump for director Peter Berg, who shows he has improved mightily from the less-than-stellar Very Bad Things less than ten years ago.

Berg's visuals are a feast for the viewers' eyes. The handheld camera work, which has proven to be a successful style in films such as Babel and Syriana, never distracts from the action. Particularly, the visual direction in the film's non-stop 30-minute concluding sequence will leave you with your mouth open. Easily, the sequence has some of the most engaging shootout action since Black Hawk Down.

Read the full The Kingdom movie review.

New The Kingdom Trailer (and a review)

No, not a review of The Kingdom! A review of The Kingdom trailer. And not the first trailer, but the third. Remember way back when, when The Kingdom was set to open in the spring? That first trailer was absolutely awesome, the perfect balance of action and drama albeit with a cheesy sentimental bit at the beginning (with the little kid telling father Jamie Foxx that he's one of the good guys - everything's relative, people!).

The second trailer was so-so, and now the third is a definite step up - but still not nearly as good as the first one. This one for some reason shies away from showing much of the event that triggers the whole movie, and instead focuses more on the action. It feels a bit more chaotic, which is fine, but it lacks the dramatic tension that the first one captured so well.

Yet, once again, it shows Jennifer Garner flitching at the sight of people getting blown up - she's a terrorism expert, and she's flinching at a video? Is it because she's a girl? I bet Jamie Foxx doesn't flinch.

All in all, I'm excited about The Kingdom, but the release date push and the evolving trailers have me questioning whether the studio received a drama and then asked for some edits to make it more action-oriented. Uh-oh!