American Sniper

Welcome to a film that is essentially racism in a nicely packaged film. I would give American Sniper an extremely reluctant 7/10.

First up I have to really compliment the film's visual style, I really enjoyed how it looked. There was a great amount of effort taken to show the gritty nature of war. Furthermore the effects within this film were very well done, especially in the final mission. I really enjoyed the score, it made the film feel very frantic and gave it a very intense psychological edge. As a film there was also some great pacing, it's four tour structure meant that it became an easy to watch narrative. If you look at this film from the psychological perspective of a lone soldier this is actually a great display of the impact war has on a man over an extended duration.

Jake McDorman, who played Biggles, was certainly one of the more likeable characters within the film; he was definitely one of the funniest.

Bradley Cooper, who played Chris Kyle, certainly gave the best performance within the film. His wild range of emotions and ability to swing between them made him a real loose cannon character. Beyond this he had a great likeable demeanour and gave a display of integrity and camaraderie towards his fellow soldiers that really distinguished him as a character.

American Sniper is racist trash that glamorises the Iraqi invasion and is essentially propaganda for the America's modern warfare. It's a gross trick to make a nice film but to imbue it with such heavy disrespectful material is a line crossed. I will not give this film the rating it has been getting for it's not so subtle tendency towards a one sided argument. It is a script that pats America on the back for it's mistakes. I have nothing against servicemen, I think being a serviceman is an honourable thing. I do not condone the mentality of a no consequences military invasion of a third world country.

Keir O'Donnell, who played Jeff Kyle, was lacking in his screen time and really lacked the emotional depth for a major role. Sienna Miller, who played Taya, was the weak plot line of the life at home; but really she was a double standard: a woman who swore she'd never go near a soldier and then did (give me a break). Luke Grimes, who played Marc Lee, gave an highly exaggerated performance; his erratic mood swings felt artificial. Sammy Sheik, who played Mustafa, was robbed of a character that seemed much more interesting that Cooper's; robbed in the sense that he is representative of how one sided this film was as we never learnt this character's psychology or story.