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Dec 08, 2015 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

In September 2006, three members of a British army squad depart their camp near the Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan. Their mission ought to be simple enough—disrupt a Taliban roadblock. However, they never make it. The soldiers unwittingly wander into an active mine field in a dried up riverbed. An unexpected blast claims one man’s leg. Soon, nearly two-dozen soldiers arrive as part of a doomed rescue mission that results in scores of casualties, all without a single human enemy present.

Kilo Two Bravo is almost unsustainably tense from start to finish. Director Paul Katis spares little in depicting the physical and emotional traumas of war, while cementing his audience to the edge of its seat. From the first, unanticipated explosion onward, there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to run or look. Suddenly, such a beautiful, expansive Afghan mountain region becomes the smallest, most claustrophobic, terrifying place in the world. Katis’ ensemble cast perfectly conveys the sense that a mere inch represents the difference between life and death, and their directly wisely refrains from foreshadowing when the next catastrophe will hit. With each subsequent horrifying and unexpected mine blast, the situation grows graver, and the cast steps up to the plate, consistently delivering riveting, tense, sympathetic performances across the board.

Katis and screenwriter Tom Williams’ film is an arguably anti-war depiction of true events, yet one that expertly eschews the mawkish or sanctimonious didacticism such films frequently espouse. It isn’t overtly preachy, nor does it rely upon flashy battle sequences or melodrama to highlight the unnecessary horrors and pain of war. Rather, Katis and Williams craft their point upon the foundation of relatable, human characters—all based on the men who actually experienced this harrowing day over nine years ago—and the needlessly unfortunate situation they find themselves in. Collectively—and not to sound jingoistic—the men of that ill-fated squad are heroes, not for charging gallantly into battle or liberating internment camps, but for their unwavering commitment to one another, their save or die trying approach to their comrades. By spending a heart-pumping hour and 42-minutes with them, and by suffering the sympathy pains of each mine blast, we experience first-hand how some of the worst parts of mankind can bring out the best in people.

kajakimovie.com

Author rating: 6.5/10