SPOILER FREE REVIEW
Imagine the Hurt Locker once it has been fed through Hollywood’s almighty Movie Making MachineTM and you’ll end up with American Sniper, or to give its true title ‘Murican Sniper. Smeared with Clint Eastwood’s opinionated fingerprints it’s as textbook as a movie can get. The villains are easy to hate, every character serves only as a plot device for the protagonist and the overall tone is so patriotic you’ll be nursing a star spangled boner throughout. Sure, there are moments where the film is engaging, and some of the performances and special effects are admirable but the movie as a whole is nothing outstanding. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this film but its formulaic approach and lack of depth, in both plot and characters, left my underwhelmed for a movie that had a lot of potential. Despite all this it is well worth a watch, just don’t expect anything groundbreaking.
SPOILERIFIC REVIEW
As a fan of toddler murder, I loved this film. Who else has had the balls to show a barbaric savage plunge a drill into a screaming child’s skull? No-one, that’s who! (Apart from A Serbian Film, but that was a different kind of drilling…) Now, I have no issue with violence in a film as a long as it is justified and quite frankly, it simply wasn’t in the case of American Sniper. Watching some insurgent malevolently torture an innocent kid riles you, angers you and points a huge, fuck-off neon arrow at the guy you are supposed to hate. But why was this guy such a fuckhead? Why did he like to torture people? What happened to this man that drove him to such psychotic tendencies? We never find out and it doesn’t matter because he’s one of them filthy Gee-Hads Godammit!
This is the case for all the enemies in American Sniper. They are one dimensional hate-sponges with no motivation other than ‘kill the infidels’. There was a mild, yet insignificant attempt to humanise one sniper, Mustafa, by giving him a kid and some kind of athletic background (he probably got a gold medal in Beheading at the Middle Eastern Caliphate Games) but considering how little complexity he gained they may as well not have bothered.
Though it’s not just the enemies that have the depth of a piss puddle, even Chris Kyle’s own wife, Taya, is essentially a talking cardboard cut-out. Perhaps the fact we know so little about her highlights Kyle’s own relationship with the love of his life, but I doubt that is the case as all characters are there to interact with Kyle and forward his story. Though I’m not expecting Hobbit levels of intricacy from a war movie like this, had the characters possessed any motivation whatsoever, this would have been a far more interesting and complete film.
The story of American Sniper in itself is nothing new, but it’s gripping nonetheless. A solider struggling to adapt to civilian life whilst shouldering the guilt of failing to save his fallen soldiers is a tale we are all familiar with. Motivated by wanting something more from life and revenge for 9/11, Kyle went from a humble cowboy/ranch-hand to one of the greatest snipers the world has ever seen. Though on paper it seems as cliché as a Christmas special, it doesn’t come across as heavy handed in the film. That’s not to say it’s free of groan inducing moments, such as a soldier talking of proposing before getting shot (which is on par with a cop snuffing it the day before retirement).
American Sniper also addresses the issue of underhanded enemy tactics, such as using kids as suicide bombers, and the ethical mess that comes along with it. By address, I mean they simply shoot the fucker. However, there is a superb contrast later on in the film where Kyle finds himself in a near identical scenario only this time he is begging the kid to “drop the weapon” instead of indulging his trigger finger. If they had explored this element to greater lengths then American Sniper would be on a whole other level, but instead Eastwood and co played it safe and made yet another hero soldier flick.
A lot of negative things have been said about American Sniper here, but credit where credit is due, it is nowhere near a write-off. As formulaic as the plot may be, there is still a nice element of unpredictability present, enhanced by gruelling battle scenes and an ominous score. As shitty as some characters were the actors did the best with what they were given leading to decent performances from all. Perhaps they could have upped the CGI budget for some of the fly-over shots but the sandstorm scene was near perfect and really immersed you in the chaos of it all. The closing moments of the film were by far the best, not because it meant the film was over though. The revelation of Kyle’s murder by a fellow veteran and use of archive footage of his funeral triggers a patriotic reflex within, even if you are British, and ends the film on a sombre yet humble note. Never before have I seen an audience remained seated and silent throughout the end credits before, and I doubt I ever will again.
In summary, American Sniper isn’t a bad film but it’s not a revolutionary on either. By playing it safe and sticking to classic tropes with modern effects, Clint Eastwood created a thoroughly watchable film but not a memorable one. At times it’s so annoyingly patriotic you would think it was called ‘Murican Sniper and His Freedom Bullets, though the ending was thankfully tastefully done. Whereas The Hurt Locker is a talking point even today, I doubt that American Sniper will be in six years times.
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