World Trade Center (2006)

The day that I am writing this review is September 11th, 2011. Exactly ten years ago, two planes, both hijacked by terrorists, flew into the World Trade Center towers. One plane flew into WTC1, and the other flew into WTC2. Over the course of one day, nearly 3,000 people had lost their lives on the grounds of the World Trade Center. Three thousand. (NOTE: This review contains spoilers to the film, as I am talking about a real-life event that was recreated for the screen. You have been warned. NOTE DONE) World Trade Center is a movie directed by Oliver Stone that is the story of two men who weren’t a part of those 3,000. John McLoughlin and William Jimeno (Nicolas Cage and Michael Peńa) were police officers who were trapped under the rubble after the towers collapsed. They banded together, and kept each other alive as their wives (Maria Bello and Maggie Gylenhaal, who isn’t terrible in this movie surprisingly) banded together with their families and waited for their husbands to come home. It is difficult to review this as a movie in itself. I’m glad that movies are being made out of the smaller stories in life and in disasters, but they need to be executed well (example of good execution: 127 Hours. Example of bad execution: Soul Surfer). And here, it is executed well, but I do have some problems with the film. The beginning of the film is not well done at all. I was being scared that the film wouldn’t be good, and then I’d have to write a negative review, and then look like the biggest chump in the world. But now I only get to look like a little bit of a chump. But after the first ten minutes or so of the film, it takes off, and then we have a tightly-knit historical drama about these two men strapped down in the middle of what seems like the end of the world. And the film is emotionally satisfying mostly, and is, for about 80% of the film, extremely well-made. It’s just that there are some moments in the film where something doesn’t connect. I couldn’t tell you what it was if I tried. And I apologize for that. But the film is very good, and sheds light on a story that needed to be told. And now that we have one out of the way, we can start working on some other ones. I was three years old when the planes hit the WTC. I have no personal recollection of the event, only seeing pictures and video years later. That makes me sad. When people tell me stories of hearing about it and being utterly terrified, I wish that I could relate. Empathy is a difficult emotion to carry, and is one of the most desired to receive in a time of pain and sorrow. And by human nature, we want to give what we would want in future nights. And empathy doesn’t come. It is always better to experience an event as it is happening. Don’t get me wrong, it’d be better if 9/11 never happened at all. I just wish that I could have been able to grieve, be sad, and be terrified with others. Because if two people are scared together, they are less scared about what they are scared about. People band together in times of sadness and pain, as shown here in this movie. Just some food for thought.
8.5/10