Review of Act of Valor (2012) by Thedrauch — 11 Sep 2012

Act of Valor, an action film starring actual navy seals, may have worked as the recruitment film it was originally intended to be, but as cinema? Not so much. My expectations for the standard of acting I was to see was pretty low and that expectation was met, with barely any pull dramatically from the men on screen.

I can't really blame them, though, but filmgoers shouldn't have to forgive anyone for anything. It is basically the film equivalent of something that would come from the group that brought us 'Courageous', but in regards to the military rather than Christianity.

Both films are sufficient technically, but are only for a specific group of people. The worst aspect of Act of Valor is that it never once comes off as genuine. The banter between the navy seals is just unbearably unauthentic and the action seems to be stylized like a POV shot from a Call of Duty game.

There is one breakthrough cool moment near the middle of the film where a guard is shot in the head, then as he falls to the water, a pair of hands reach out to catch him from making a splash so as to alert the other guards.

But the rest of the movie is dull, filled with unintentional funny moments ('this film is based off of real acts of valor' Bwahahaha!!) and populated with wooden characters.