yamijaurus:
"And it was all planned well in advance, probably months, these are professionals. Everything you saw was like a chess game, everything that was done was to put the big "Checkmate" on Styles. eriously, years of cut and dry, liniar plots have mind numbed you people into zombies expected to be force fed the plot and not have to think. If you DO NOT think about what you see in this movie you WILL NOT get it, and you will end up like the other hopeless morons in flamersville ranting that the movie sucks because your IQ of 2 can't figure it out.
Okay, so if these guys are such professionals, I'd like to know what they achieved by their elaborate, complex and months in advance planned rumble in the jungle.
West has gone to Styles with his information on drugs, but Styles does nothing. That would be pretty strong indication towards his involvement in drug trafficing, no? And Section 8 thinks that Styles will get West murdered in the jungle; so West takes with him to the exercise four undercover Section 8 members and two other cadets who he thinks or knows will try to kill him.
Something (which isn't clearly explained in this movie) happens in there. Pike (as Dunbar) runs alone, six hours late, to pick-up point with Mueller shooting at him - but Pike gets him. Remember, Styles sees it, so it really happens opposed to those many false flashbacks.
Making that show to Styles had to be part of Section 8's plan to "Checkmate" Styles. After all, jungle is full of them, and all has been planned ahead, so Muellers beeing there can't just be a coincidence - they have planned all this, and they know that Mueller is part of conspiracy.
Because this film has no plot-holes and is wholly coherent, Section 8 has decided that Pike needs to impersonate Dunbar, and Kendall must follow this scheme. So Hardy (who has been in the jungle and knows what happened there) and Osborne interrogate them, and are told a web of lies.
And all these complex schemes to get masterminds behind drug trafficing. Guess what? Kendall gives Vilmer easily, and would propably done the same if, for example, would have been questioned without all that complex scheming. And Styles? Section 8 does not get any evidence against him. That's right, all this boring gimmicky for nothing. Sure, he poisons Kendell, but there's no evidence. Hardy just walks to his office and says he's on to him. Styles loses it, and tries to kill him (which, by the way, would have succeeded haven't Osborne sneaked outside and seen the whole thing. Quite elaborate.) The thing is: a) Hardy could have done it without the whole thing in the jungle; maybe Styles would have lost his guts anyway and tried to bribe and/or kill him, or maybe he would keep his cool and walk out of it, OR b) even after the jungle thing Styles would have got away if he would just deny everything. And even if evidence was left of the poisoning - that was Section 8s plan? To get Styles to kill Kendell, so they could nail him for that? And again, everything in the jungle and confused identities for that?
If one want's to reason with this film, there are two choises: 1) Section 8 blew it. They somehow screwed up in the jungle, and improvised (without any sense, I might add) all the wrong identities and all that other stuff useless solving the case. 2) They put the whole show up to see if Osborne was suitable for Section 8 by solving the case-without-any-sense. Yea, she did it. And I just saw a movie which had illogical twists because it was about underground, top-secret group of drug enforcers recruiting new member.
Well, at least "Basic" made me think. And more I think about it, the more I want to forget it.
So if you saw this movie and didn't like it, maybe it was because you realized that you just 98 minutes of twists for twists sake. This was a gimmick-film; all flashy surface to confuse audience, but beneath it - no substance. IMHO.
Reality isn't what it used to be...
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k_skjelbred
9 years ago
Finally, someone making some sense ;) Thank you, that actually gave me closure.
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paul-3137
8 years ago
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=27570216
Very close, but, the whole operation was supposed to be resolved in the jungle.
First of all, I watched it twice, back to back. Its a hot mess of a movie and I agree with the above, flat out lying to the viewer is *beep* and they layered too many versions on the viewer for it to be untangled, it would have been better with only one version of the jungle scene being shown but y'know; John McTiernan = Gun Fights & jungle.
The first version of it we see, is exactly what happened from Kendall's point of view, he told the truth, you just need to swap Dunbar & Pike.
The operation went wrong when Kendall woke up and intervened in the apprehension of Mueller.
The rest of the revisits to the jungle scene are the lies that were told to try to uncover the drug deals.
Once the jungle operation went south and Mueller got killed, they realised they would have to go back to the base to try to entrap Styles as noone had fessed up yet and they didn't have any evidence.
That's why there is a hasty set up and pretty loose plan to try to get the major players. It literally doesn't matter what Pike says in the first scene, which is why he won't talk. The whole point is that Kendall who is in hospital doesn't know what he said, and therefore tells the truth (as far as he knows it), giving up Vilmer.
Hardy didn't want Osborne in the room to begin with, she bullies her way in, but it didn't change anything, all the games in there were for her benefit only.
Then Hardy finds out that Vilmer & Osbourne had dated for 2 years, which means he starts quizzing her trying to find out if she was also aware or in on the operation.
Hardy is convinced Osbourne is clear after they confront Vilmer.
Hardy didn't know Kendall had been poisoned, he freaks out.
No plot holes apart from Kendall writing an '8' on Osbournes hand, did he see Hardy in the Jungle? Is section 8 common knowledge? I doubt it.
I think it's just a macguffin to get Osbourne & Hardy back on track, as is Hardy picking up on Vilmers saying that Ray Dunbar is black.
Hardy needed to rescue Dunbar from the transport, that scene was also a mess, the propeller part was Hardy telling Dunbar a new narrative to tell in order to bring the coke into the story but that whole part of the narrative was choppy, if you'll excuse a double pun.
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