Blood Diamond

Adventure is one of the hardest genres to get right. Tip your hat too far one way and you have a mindless action movie, another way and the story gets too muddled for it's own good. The latter is the problem with Blood Diamond, not that it isn't good, it's just that there is too much.

The basic set up is fairly simple and perfectly suitable to an adventure film, but it gets bogged down by characters and sub plots that are unnecessary. The political side of the diamond conflict is also shown, and needed to give the film it's extra weight, but even in its simplified form there is a little much.

Leonardo Dicaprio and Djimon Hounsou give wonderful performances and Jennifer Connely does the best she can but it is in her character that the major problems occur. She ends up being largely forgettable and her appearance in the film feels more like a necessity to the plot.

If the film had been a bit more focused it would have been great. What is done right is wonderful and there is just enough of it to overcome the problems.