Review of American Sniper (2014) by Heatherm — 03 Feb 2015
While this movie undoubtedly has good, dramatic moments, overall it's a superficial treatment of a complex subject. One comedian on the Nightly Show described it as "duck hunt but with Iraqis", and that wasn't an unfair assessment.
Even in the rare moments that interaction occurs between the American forces and the people they're invading, the Iraqis invariably turn out to be trying to kill the Americans, a simplistic and uninteresting way to portray them, since the Americans are the only good guys.
The enemy sniper, who is intended to be the foil and rival to the American Chris Kyle, is nothing more than a cardboard cutout of a cartoonish villain, complete with long eyelashes and a headscarf. Especially since our protagonist never entertained any doubts about the essential goodness of what he was doing in Iraq, it felt like a simplified and one-sided story about the war.
This review of American Sniper (2014) was written by Heatherm on 03 Feb 2015.
American Sniper has generally received positive reviews.
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