American Sniper movie poster. Warner Brothers.
Welcome to yet another of my occasional movie reviews. I finally saw American Sniper. And I have to say I really should have watched it in theaters. It's the best war movie I have seen since I saw Lone Survivor, and I think there is a very strong case for the movie being the best film about the Iraq War so far. I really enjoyed this film, and I have a lot to say about it. But, as always...
SPOILERS AHEAD!
First, a few criticisms. The most obvious thing about this movie was the baby. Yes, the baby. In an otherwise very high quality movie, inexplicably, there was an obviously fake baby for a scene. It was hugely distracting and stuck out like a sore thumb. The actors did their best to act around it, but even they couldn't take it seriously. The story is that they had a real baby for the scene but it got sick and the backup baby never showed up. But it really did distract from the movie. It didn't ruin the movie but it was a huge distraction.
The other problem is that the movie isn't as historically accurate as it should be. The "Butcher" character, who is the film's big bad for the first half of the movie, never really existed. Supposedly he was based on a real person in the Iraq war that did indeed use a drill as a torture implement, but that guy was a Shia Muslim instead of a member of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The enemy sniper, Mustapha did exist, but it's unlikely Chris Kyle killed him. Of course, there was going to be a bit of artistic licence with any movie, but it's always important to point out historical inaccuracies. I haven't read the book yet, but from what I understand it was very different then the movie as well.
The rest of the movie was excellent. The combat and action was intense and well filmed. The acting, other then the scene with the baby, was pretty damn good as well. I wasn't familiar with Bradly Cooper or Sienna Miller before this movie, but they both did a very good job in this film. I think Clint Eastwood did a good job staying politically neutral as well. This isn't a pro-war or anti-war movie. It's just a war movie. And it's a very good one.
Should it have won the Best Picture Oscar? It was nominated but it lost out to Birdman. I haven't seen Birdman yet, so I can't say for sure if it is a decent film. But from what I understand Birdman was a lot more palatable for the very liberal people in charge of the Academy Awards. American Sniper is a very "red tribe" movie and Hollywood is "blue tribe" central. Did that play a role? Probably. Birdman may have been a good movie in its own right, but there was never a real chance for American Sniper to win. If it were up to me though, I probably would have voted for it, with the caveat that I haven't seen most of the other movies that got nominated.
Speaking of the blue tribe, there were many on the left that did not like this movie. In their view, they want movies like In the Valley of Ellah, a profoundly anti-war war movie. That movie, quite frankly, sucked. Why? Because it was preachy. American Sniper is not a preachy movie. It doesn't take a strong pro or anti war tone. I would go on to say that American Sniper doesn't have a message at all, other then that war is hell.
Many critics also hated the fact that the movie seems to be a simple of case of black vs white in terms of morality. To some degree that is true, but there were a few scenes that humanized the al-Qaeda fighters. Mustapha had a brief scene where he was with his wife and kid, showing that he had a family, just like Chris Kyle did. There was also a scene where an insurgent had supper with the Navy Seals. Sure he turned out to be an insurgent, but it at least showed that he was capable of being human,
Still, critics thought it was "racist" that Chris Kyle called the enemy "Savages". Since the film focused on the fighting between the U.S. and al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would say that savages isn't a strong enough term. As you may know al-Qaeda in Iraq was the forerunner of ISIS. If you have been reading this blog at all or even slightly paid attention to the news in the past year or so, you would know that ISIS is evil incarnate. Even when they were still called al-Qaeda in Iraq, they committed many, many atrocities.
In the movie, one of the only times Kyle calls the insurgents savages is right after the Butcher kills a young child with a drill in front of the boy's father. I don't know how anyone can think that someone who murders someone with a drill isn't a savage. So often people try to make the case that criticism of a member of a larger group means that you are criticizing all members of that group. I haven't read Kyle's book, so I don't know if there is more to the accusations, but in the movie the context was very clear.
So where does this film end up on the list of war movies? I think it's the best one for the Iraq War, that I have seen at least. As I said before, In the Valley of Ellah was pretty terrible and preachy, and fairly insulting to the soldiers. Oscar winner The Hurt Locker was a lot better, and was not preachy, but was roundly criticized for not getting how the soldiers actually acted. For now, American Sniper is the quintessential Iraq War film and serves as a worth companion piece to Lone Survivor, which has the same role for the war in Afghanistan.
Speaking of the blue tribe, there were many on the left that did not like this movie. In their view, they want movies like In the Valley of Ellah, a profoundly anti-war war movie. That movie, quite frankly, sucked. Why? Because it was preachy. American Sniper is not a preachy movie. It doesn't take a strong pro or anti war tone. I would go on to say that American Sniper doesn't have a message at all, other then that war is hell.
Many critics also hated the fact that the movie seems to be a simple of case of black vs white in terms of morality. To some degree that is true, but there were a few scenes that humanized the al-Qaeda fighters. Mustapha had a brief scene where he was with his wife and kid, showing that he had a family, just like Chris Kyle did. There was also a scene where an insurgent had supper with the Navy Seals. Sure he turned out to be an insurgent, but it at least showed that he was capable of being human,
Still, critics thought it was "racist" that Chris Kyle called the enemy "Savages". Since the film focused on the fighting between the U.S. and al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would say that savages isn't a strong enough term. As you may know al-Qaeda in Iraq was the forerunner of ISIS. If you have been reading this blog at all or even slightly paid attention to the news in the past year or so, you would know that ISIS is evil incarnate. Even when they were still called al-Qaeda in Iraq, they committed many, many atrocities.
In the movie, one of the only times Kyle calls the insurgents savages is right after the Butcher kills a young child with a drill in front of the boy's father. I don't know how anyone can think that someone who murders someone with a drill isn't a savage. So often people try to make the case that criticism of a member of a larger group means that you are criticizing all members of that group. I haven't read Kyle's book, so I don't know if there is more to the accusations, but in the movie the context was very clear.
So where does this film end up on the list of war movies? I think it's the best one for the Iraq War, that I have seen at least. As I said before, In the Valley of Ellah was pretty terrible and preachy, and fairly insulting to the soldiers. Oscar winner The Hurt Locker was a lot better, and was not preachy, but was roundly criticized for not getting how the soldiers actually acted. For now, American Sniper is the quintessential Iraq War film and serves as a worth companion piece to Lone Survivor, which has the same role for the war in Afghanistan.
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