Produced by David Simon and Ed Burns (The Wire) and based on the writings of Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright (who was embedded with the US Marines as they rolled through Baghdad in the early stages of Iraq v 2.0), Generation Kill is an intense and frustrating journey displaying all the hallmarks of a Simon/Burns joint. There is no exposition - you're dropped right into the middle of the action with exposition; it's confusing - characters are initially hard to pin down especially in 100 pounds of khaki Kevlar protection and the dialogue is often impenetrable - see point one and two as well as a whole new level of military-speak that easily rivals The Wire's arcane scripting. But make no mistake - this isn't The Wire in the sand. It's an entirely different and yet somehow familiar and equal beast.
Despite the subject matter, Generation Kill isn't a chest-beating shoot-em-up USA! USA! war-is-hell type story. But nor is it a Chomsky-esque antiwar diatribe (that cut shot of a grunt reading Chomsky was quite funny, though). It's a relatively simple, sometimes absurdly placid, document of a bunch of highly trained, unequally educated, bored Marines driving across hostile terrain in a desperate search for a mission. Actual warfare is seen mainly in the hazy distance. When they eventually find their way into combat - it's confusing and nerve jangling.
This seven part mini-series could have been derailed if Wright's character played as the viewer's voice - clarifying the complex administrative machinations onscreen for the laggards at home. Fortunately, he is mostly a silent observer leaving all the work to us. Generation Kill is more about hierarchical incompetence than fighting wars, and the outright unreliability of middle management and chain of command. It is a story about grunts and how they see their world -ugly, reactionary, angry but nuanced and never condescending. Compelling storytelling and essential viewing.
