American Sniper Movie Review

Films based on modern conflicts sometimes have a tricky dilemma to answer in their production; do they focus on action in an attempt to garner as large an audience as possible or do they try to do something more profound and examine the darker side of the world’s most recent conflicts? The latest effort from long standing actor and director Clint Eastwood is American Sniper which follows the exploits of one solider whose status rose above many others in modern conflict. It aims to stand alongside the likes of The Hurt Locker and Jarhead but in practice it has a very difficult time reaching that level.

American Sniper follows Navy Seal Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper); considered the most dangerous sniper in US military history, Kyle racked up a total of over 160 confirmed kills across four tours in Iraq and as such, has simultaneously become a legend in the eyes of his comrades and a demon in the eyes of the enemy. The film cuts back and forth between his time in Iraq and his at home with his wife (Sienna Miller) and family and this is where the film’s first problem arises; the movie is simply too fast and abrupt. Action sequences can never build tension effectively as they often cut back to Chris’s civilian life at seemingly random intervals whilst the moments with Chris’s family aren’t able to convey enough emotion to make the audience care about their fates as the film constantly hurls the audience back to the Middle East again. Similarly the film really doesn’t go into much detail into the dehumanising elements of war; for example there are a couple of moments where Kyle is forced to shoot children who he believes are out to murder his comrades; you can definitely feel the guilt and tension that creeps down the scope of his rifle, but then a few scenes later, this is almost completely forgotten about and as a result you never get the sense that the character is becoming more and more weighed down by mental trauma. The film only hints at the psychological issues that plague soldiers, rather than exploring them fully as other films of its kind have done so much better. The film’s biggest offence though is how it takes a considerably uneven, almost black and white viewpoint towards the conflict it portrays; Americans are seen as brave soldiers protecting their homes and families overseas so that makes them the heroes of the story whilst Middle Eastern militants are shooting at the Americans so that automatically makes them the villains with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Just as the film doesn’t bother to go into detail about the psychological side of conflict, so too does it refuse to examine the combatants on both sides with a balanced and morally grey viewpoint. American Sniper’s plot is ultimately a muddle, failing to go into issues with proper detail and charging along too quickly for its own good.

Main leads Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller do an acceptable job of fitting the archetypes of determined soldier and worried wife; Miller in particular shows a great deal of emotion when she fears for her husband’s life. The two try their best to get across the pressures placed on families who have members serving in the armed forces but because the film is so poorly paced, these moments are often just as rushed as the action sequences. Unfortunately while the main actors do a mostly serviceable job with the material they’re given, the film’s dialogue devolves into a painfully clichéd rut on several occasions, especially during combat sequences where lines such as “Get some!” and “Gnarly!” make the film’s narrow focus all too evident. The other characters, especially the fellow marines Chris is tasked with protecting don’t have much depth; again this is something which could have been developed further if we had been given time to get to know the characters and care about their fates but instead they’re just the average underdeveloped grunts that we see in countless other action films. Like the plot, American Sniper’s casting is mixed, not consistently making a good impression across the entirety of its runtime.

American Sniper can find some redemption in its technical presentation; the action is always tight and consistently edited, not resorting to a single shot of shaky cam in a bid to make its action scenes seem more intense and a minimal use of CGI placed against the use of real land vehicles does give the film a strong sense of authenticity. This is matched by some powerful sound effects which do make a strong contribution to immersing the viewer in the setting (if only the pacing did the same!). The film’s standout moment comes towards the end where Chris’s unit must escape a dangerous sandstorm; it’s the closest the film ever comes to proper tension and just as the soldiers are disoriented, so too is the audience as the action and actors are difficult to see clearly. The film’s presentation is fairly decent for a war film but all told it cannot make up for the uneven plot and inconsistent characters.

American Sniper’s biggest problem isn’t that it veers dangerously close to the realm of propaganda; the main issue is that it handles so many elements in such basic and one-dimensional ways that it becomes nearly impossible to take the film seriously. It’s a very divisive kind of film that has garnered a fair bit of controversy but in my estimation, it’s rather disappointing.

Rating: 2/5 Stars