My 2 Cents: 2 and half stars out of five. I didnt know the film was directed by Dirty Harry. Having watched enough (for now, for me) from the director (The Unforgiven, 1992; A Perfect World, 1993; Absolute Power, 1997; Mystic River, 2003; Changeling, 2008 and J. Edgar, 2011) I felt something missing from the terrific film. It had the Absolute Power feel to it with its plot where writer Jason Hall, adapting from the book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History stays loyal to the book. Despite the currently short filmography in the Writer area, Hall does a good enough job of shifting from the brick walls, structures building rubble and dust and bombs and dead kids, rocket in a cloak, sudden deaths in Iraq, inter-cut with scenes of Chris Kyle (the war hero) having breakfast at home, putting the steak on the barbie and silently becoming Jacob of the Ladder fame; however secretly. Chris Kyle is angry after watching the bombing of US embassies around the world and the global state of affairs. Or the National State of affairs. Then we watch the infamous footage of a plane flying straight in to Tower II. This is the last straw, which makes the Texan cowboy decide to sign up for Uncle Sam, join SEAL, yeah SEAL; hes Hulk Smash angry and gets commissioned to Iraq. The movie has a few original messages, lessons, morality of its own. However what ups the film is Phil from The Hangover, 2009. Cooper plays the unlikely hero with true grit and patience. Without much stylization from Eastwood. The film plays out in a straight arrow narrative with the most intense action being filmed without Hollywood and the schism caused between creative freedom and cashing in with Michael Bay size explosions. Kyle simply does his job without slo-mo, without the Bane Juice, without too much CGI, if at all. Rather, it is a dark tale of a regular joes transformation in to a calculated and divided killing machine. The production value of Sniper is such that it leaves you feeling empty by the end and ask yourself this: This man found purpose in the most hostile takeover of a country by the US in modern history. However, he did find purpose, which couldve been a fly-by if he delved too much in to the reasons of going to war with Iraq. Eastwood shows the brutal reality of gorilla urban warfare without the glam and to my disdain, the patronizing of invaders who call the Iraqis savages throughout the film. Not fair for a country that posed zero threat to the US. And Bush Jr. said it himself in his exit speech. He shrugs smilingly, and says: Well, whaddaya know, there arent any WMD in Iraq. The audience erupts in laughter. Pathetic. A solid film where kids posing a positive threat are shot straight through the heart, nailing him from a 1000 yards away with the .300 Win Mag slug piercing his tiny body and going through the wall behind him. The film is lovely. Well directed, well shot, with a subtle score, in-tandem with Kyles conflicted morality. However some of the lessons being taught in American Sniper do not agree with my understanding of ethics of warfare in the twenty first century, where everything seems to be going to the dogs; everything but the Federal Reserve.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 04:35:50 +0000
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