Hip-Hop Island

Anthony Mackie was a weak Tupac Shakur in Notorious, but HELL-o, check him out in his fatigues in the intense army-flick The Hurt Locker and he'll become a completely new person on screen. Playing the protocol only, blaster Lt. JT Sandborne, Mackie suffers through the grueling 40 days left in his tour of Iraq. With every bomb he diffuses, mortars he takes out, and comrades he loses on the job, Mackie makes every minute of pain look good. Not just because he makes a man covered in dirt and sweat appealing, Mackie also proves he isn't the typical B-list of minorities actors that sticks to playing ghetto/thugged out characters in the next Tyler Perry movie. More than the rappers he's protrayed, Mackie's finally displayed something worthwhile since his role in She Hate Me. Now if he sticks to making good script decisions, maybe we'll see this thespian reach his peak.