Disclaimer: I come from a Military background (Italian Armed Forces & US Air Force) and will be enlisting in the future, so I saw the film in a different light. I will try to review the film with as little bias as possible.
[alert type=red ]Spoilers Ahead[/alert]
For background, American Sniper is a film based on the true story of Chris Kyle, a US Navy SEAL and the best sniper in the history of the US Military, accounting for 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable. Nicknamed “The Devil of Ramadi” by his enemies and “Legend” by his peers, Kyle’s name became plastered all across the Middle East, with a 6 figure bounty to top it off. American Sniper is a homage biopic, directed by Clint Eastwood (Mystic River & Gran Torino) with Chris Kyle played by Bradley Cooper (The Hangover)
On the aspect of The War On Terror & Islam, American Sniper shows an interesting perspective. It’s introduction, a scene, taken from Kyle’s first deployment to Fallujah, gives the viewer an increasingly stressful welcoming, and will definitely twist stomachs. Although it has a strong emphasis on the US Military, even showing scenes from BUDS (SEAL training), it has neither a pro nor anti war vibe. Rather it shows the true grit of combat, from the lighter moments, as seen between friendly conversations, to the horrific ones such as death and combat. There is a vibe that hints at Islamophobia, which is present in Kyle’s Autobiography of the same name, and it can be unsettling.
However, the way the media portrays it takes it extremely out of proportion. Yes, they do refer to the insurgents as “savages”, much in the same way US Troops referred to the NVA (Vietnamese) as “gooks” during The Vietnam War. The racial undertones are proven to exist in the film, much as they exist in war. By avoiding this type of language, the film would avoid the true nature of combat. There is no denying this, and it obviously has it’s degrading effect on it’s Muslim viewers. However, a negative portrayal of Islam is actually fairly calm when compared to the films much more negative portrayal of Al Qaeda and the War on Terror in general.
On the aspect of how it portrays Chris Kyle and the Psychological affects of war, American Sniper is fantastically – and in some ways, horrifically – spot on with its portrayal. Compared to Chris Kyle’s autobiography, it shows strong resemblance, granted it has hiccups (it’s a Hollywood film after all). Throughout the film, you notice small things that hint at the growing problems that occur from war. One of its main focuses throughout is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short. One experiences this after going through a horrific experience, such as rape, survival of natural disaster, or in the case of Chris Kyle, combat.
From the moment he “pops his cherry” of his first confirmed kill, to the end of the film, Kyle’s actions grow increasingly more cautious. In one scene, Kyle reacts at the sound of drills at an mechanics repair shop and is eventually confronted by a Marine he saved during his deployment, who also shows clear and growing signs of PTSD. Kyle’s PTSD symptoms are shown more clearly during a barbecue scene. His actions, even those as minor as doing double takes when he hears a lawn mower go off give the viewer an insight into the lives of veterans returning from combat deployments.
With multiple veterans in the theatre, it struck a chord with a lot.
On the aspects of Directing and Filming, Clint Eastwood knocked it out of the ballpark. With his exquisite experience in his work on war films, Eastwood does another fantastic job at giving the viewer a taste of combat from the comfort of their fabric cinema seats, somewhere on par with Letters From Iwo Jima and Heartbreak Ridge.
Now there are obvious hiccups, like how some of the characters were made to seem weaker than they actually are/were, and the thing that did it for me was the CGI used in some scenes. While it isn’t obvious to the regular eye, you can notice some bits that just feel…unnatural. The transition from CGI to IRL filming during the roof standoff scene was fairly noticeable, just as much as the slow-motion bullet time later on in the same scene, but doesn’t take away from the actual film. If anything, I think the obviously fake baby used during one of the earlier shots was the most noticeable flub. I had to do a double take in the theatre to make sure I wasn’t mistaken.
With breathtaking camera work – something I haven’t seen since The Grand Budapest Hotel (another fantastic film) – good editing, fantastic audio with an original score, and top notch acting, I’ll be damned if American Sniper doesn’t win at least one of its 6 nominations. Bradley Cooper does a fantastic job filling in the boots of the rugged Texan sharpshooter, a far shot from his usual comedy roles, and he does it amazingly. Sienna Miller also does an outstanding job playing the role of Taya Kyle, and does her role with passion portraying a military wife whose loneliness is felt by many others just like her.