Well, I went in, not expecting much; except for a lot of ‘god bless America’ sentimentality. However, despite there been plenty of that, World Trade Center wasn’t all bad and definitely better than I expected.

No doubt, the storyline is pretty self-explanatory; I’m not one for giving much away, anyway, but basically it follows two New York City cops (Pena and Cage) who get trapped under the rubble of the fallen trade centers. It also follows their wife’s, kids and extended family’s rising despair, back at home.

I’d say it is at it’s best during its first half, I loved the quietness at the start, as they make their way to work. Overall the film is very well acted and the cinematography is also solid throughout.

However, it's lack of controversy is obvious, more so due to Oliver Stone directing it, but perhaps, not really important. It’s just a film about the two families struggle in extreme circumstances - which just happen to be 9/11. Many more innocent Iraqis have died since (on Americas war on terror) than the 3,000 people who died in the trade centers, but it still has to be remembered that it was a tragedy and it is worthy of been a little bit sad in places; saying that, as the film nears its end, sentimentality levels do begin to seep over the edges of necessity and go far beyond any British or French film would, thankfully, care to.

The films main mis-step is the Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon) character. Now, I realise this is a true story, however if it weren’t for him, I’d say this was a film without a political opinion either way. His god bless America, "we will avenge the bastards" kind of attitude is clearly pro-Bush and, since he was shown as one of the main heroes in the story, it is hard to dismiss this bravado from being the ‘correct’ attitude.

But…as a film, it was far from bad; nothing groundbreaking, but maybe it would be too soon for such a film. I’m sure we’ll get films in the future that raise questions of why the attack took place and the subsequent fallout in Iraq. If you see only one 9/11 film this year, though, make it United 93. It’s a lot better  and written and directed by Paul Greengrass... the fact that he’s British is surely just a coincidence.

World Trade Center on IMDB

World Trade Center

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