American Sniper is Clint Eastwood's harrowing take on Chris Kyle's life and his service in the Navy as a SEAL sniper who killed nearly 200 enemy soldiers. The film is relentlessly violent and disturbing but honors the life of the late Chris Kyle in a very admirable way. It doesn't show this man as an invincible legend, it shows him as a mere man with a heart and soul that are clearly broken due to his sacrifice for his country.
Good work on Bradley Cooper's part as well, putting on the weight and getting into character to play Chris Kyle, a sniper for the navy seals who did four tours in Iraq protecting his fellow troops by being a legendary shot. the Movie explores Kyle having to deal with a rival sniper who was keeping him from doing the job of protecting his troops and having to deal with coming home to his wife and kids feeling that his mission was incomplete.
I have read the book and IMO the movie could have had so much more potential and scope (excuse the pun). I do realise that it is a biopic, but it came across as flat. I felt it lacked depth and flow. Outside of the poor screenplay, technically the film was a train wreck. Much of the film is suppose to take place in Iraq yet it was shot in Southern California. For wide shot's, they had a second unit in Morocco doing some 2nd unit work, but every single Iraq scene was the same buildings used over and over again. A better script would have stayed in the intense moments and not been so concerned with the four tours.
I am a big fan of American war movies like platoon or black hawk down. However, this picture was just simply NO. There is no real visual style here. I wanted this badly to be on the level of Lone Survivor (2013). Yet with the exception of Cooper and Sienna Miller who plays Kyle's wife, there are no other real marquee actors. The performances seem flat and the world created seem one dimensional. Think the level of acting seen in Act of Valor.
The good thing about this movie is Bradley Cooper. But the character is not exactly a hero. And imo he did it right.
7.6/10-IMDb
74%-Rotten Tomatoes
74%-Metacritic
6.5/10 - my verdict
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