Review of American Sniper (2014) by Julius G — 12 Sep 2015

A Republican revisionist's wet dream, this biopic about the "deadliest sniper in American history", while impressive in its production values, was dismally one-dimensional in its portrayal of the Iraqi conflict of the last 15 years.

When all the foreigners are quite literally called "savages" over and over by the invading force and every one of them (not even children are the exception) are shown to be cunning and ruthless killers, we know we are not dealing with History Channel-esque levels of objectivity.

And then again, maybe that's the whole point. Chris Kyle is depicted as the "God, Country, and Family" archetype of heartland America, willing to carry his duty through no matter what cost and never stopping to think about the moral implications.

While I'd like to say that I was able to dismiss these points and just enjoy the movie as an action-thriller romp, I wasn't. There are better of those lying around, and they also give you food for thought (instead of hemorrhaging the world of color and leaving it in black and white).

Dissapointed, Clint. Maybe you should quit war stories for good.