“The Kingdom” is Coming- Spoiler!

You may be surprised at the message in “The Kingdom”. It’s not your average war film. The film opens with a brief history of Saudia Arabia and why America is so heavily militarily involved in that part of the world (hint, it has to do with black gold). Then the real action starts. A compound owned by a contract oil company is attacked by terrorists, which kills some American brass. An FBI team is sent in, led by Jamie Foxx. Before leaving, Foxx whispers something into Jennifer Garner's ear, to be revealed at the end of the film.

Foxx, et al, go to Arabia, deal with too much bureaucracy, and eventually get their man in the end. It’s all very Hollywood, with fantastic battle scenes and much bloodshed. As the grandfather Al Qaeda member lies dying at the end of the film, he whispers something in his grandson's ears, to be revealed at the end of the film (See a pattern here?).

What both characters, the American military man and the Al Qaida operative, said were one and the same. Can you guess what they said?

"Don't worry. We'll kill them all."

The message in the film can be boiled down to this: somewhere down the line someone on one side did something to someone on the other side and now everyone has to get revenge because each side kills someone on the other side in retaliation. Also, the Middle East has something that's "important to the American people," so now the American military and some major corporations have a very heavy presence there. It's a sick cycle.

This was a very strongly anti-war film. It’s easy to miss as realistic combat action scenes dazzle the audience. However, the message is clear: both sides will stop at nothing to kill the other side. Everyone wants their revenge. The issue is complex for sure, but the main question is this: what’s worth killing for?

Maybe more importantly, what’s worth dying for?