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Director Paul Greengrass recreates tragedy and triumph in “United 93,” which details the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11 after passengers stormed the cockpit occupied by terrorists. The film, which opened April 28, has since been a source of controversy.

“United 93” is a solid, well-crafted movie. So why does it feel pointless to me?

Written and directed by Paul Greengrass (“Bloody Sunday,” “The Bourne Supremacy”), the film dramatizes the events of Sept. 11, focusing on the hijacked flight of the title flight that ultimately crashed in Pennsylvania.

Using lots of jumpy handheld camerawork and quick cutting, Greengrass certainly deserves credit for making a tense, emotional movie. I admire him for his documentary-style approach, but it is a double-edged sword. After watching the movie, I couldn’t tell you which passenger Todd Beamer was (whose famous “Let’s roll” is a muttered aside in the film), nor could I identify anyone else among those on the plane. I’m not saying I wanted heroic, lionized characters, but I wanted something other than these anonymous figures.

All this movie seeks to show is everything leading up to, and including, the hijacking of Flight 93. Why? To pay tribute to those who died that day? Greengrass is too objective to make anyone stand out, so forget that. As a reminder? I don’t buy that either.

In her excellent review in The New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote “... I think we need something more from our film artists than another thrill ride and an emotional pummeling.” I couldn’t agree more. Until filmmakers begin to explore why these events happened — rather than restaging the events themselves — we’ll never get beyond the shock and sadness of movies like “United 93.” (2.5 stars out of 4)— Ben Saylor

“United 93” is the first theatrical release of surely many about the events of Sept. 11, but any movie after this that tackles the subject head-on will have much to live up to.

Granted, director Paul Greengrass’ removed look at the one flight that didn’t hit the terrorists’ target is difficult to place in evaluative emotional terms — how can one say he or she “loved” the movie without feeling a little strange? Still, it is an admirable, interesting and, yes, on some level, enjoyable movie.

What makes the movie so fascinating is the way it treats its subject in the here-and-now. We unconsciously are accustomed to living in a “post-Sept. 11” world; Greengrass’ style in the movie isn’t meant so much to be “documentary” and “objective,” but to bring the very end of an era in our society back to life. There is something unbearably poignant about someone reading The New York Times, not knowing what would be on the front page the next day.

“United 93” chronicles the events of that day, but it is more about the small-scale feelings that are often dwarfed by falling skyscrapers. As the second half of the film came to its inevitable close, I thought about how death cannot be comprehended even when it is staring you in the face, and how no combination of words can adequately express how we feel about those we love.

I agree with many critics that the movie takes no great steps in characterizing the passengers, but this movie is not about that. Passengers on cross-country flights don’t go around introducing themselves, nor would they have done so when that flight took its tragic turn. “United 93” does what it sets out to do, ends when it’s over, and I’m OK with that. (3.5 stars out of 4)— Matt Burns