Review of Full Metal Jacket (1987) by Kj P — 24 Apr 2012

This particular film is a hard one to review. To me, it feels like two very different films. The first half is a story about the events leading up to the main war, while developing superb characters and a conclusion to the first act that is breathtakingly brutal.

I felt like everything changed once it left the military camp and I may have become slightly less interested, but that does not mean that the second half was bad in any way, in fact, it is brilliant. I guess my major problem with the film is that it never seems to know exactly what it wants to do.

At first I thought I was in for a witty war film from start to finish, but that is only the case for the first half of the film. I may be over analyzing, but these are my honest opinions. There is no doubt in saying that I loved watching every bit of this film, and Stanley Kubrick's directing is phenomenal.

The long takes and the stellar performances are really what make this film one to remember. Sure the action is great, but that was my least favourite portion of the film. "Full Metal Jacket" is a great moving all around, but it can be a little clumsy.