American Sniper movie review - Aussieboyreviews

IS THE WAR STORY OF AMERICAN SNIPER AS POWERFUL AS VIOLENT?

This war movie based on a book based on a true story is violent, powerful, psychological and impressive. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper, American Sniper is a solid film for mature audiences.

Storyline

US Navy Seal Chris Kyle becomes one of the deadliest snipers in American History as his pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield. But after four tours of duty, he can’t leave the horrors of war when he returns back home.

Movie Images

Movie details

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner, Luke Grimes, Ben Reed, Elise Robertson
Writer: Jason Hall
Release Date (Australia): 22 January 2015
Runtime: 133 minutes/2h 13m
Genre: War, Drama, Biography
Country: USA
Language: English

CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)

Themes (MA15+)

The film contains war themes and battlefield sequences, and a scene in which a man tortures a young child with a power drill.

Violence (MA15+)

The film features scenes of strong war violence, including shootings that are accompanied by large sprays of blood and graphic depictions of injury detail. A man is depicted torturing and killing a young child with a power drill.

Coarse Language (MA15+)

The film contains frequent use of the word “f**k” and “motherf**ker”, in addition to use of the words “s**t”, “bitch”, “goddamn” and “ass”.

Sex (M)

The film contains verbal and visual sexual references.

mpaa rating

R (for strong and disturbing war violence, and language throughout including some sexual references)

Aussie boy's thoughts

As you’d expect from a film directed by Clint Eastwood, the film is beautifully shot and contains a lifelike portrayal of the duty of a Navy SEAL sniper. But moreover just the average sniper, this film is focused on one of the deadliest snipers in American history, Chris Kyle, dynamically enrolled by Bradley Cooper and roughly based on the Kyle’s memoir.

The only fault worth pointing out about this movie is the fact that it’s not truthful to the actual history and therefore, audiences forcibly seeking an accurate biography on top of a solid war story should pass. Other than that, American Sniper is a great war movie. It’s brutal, powerful, difficult to watch and when Cooper isn’t focusing on his duty in Iraq, the film caters itself towards a psychological character study on how war has affected him.

When this movie sheds the spotlight to focus on Kyle’s duties in Iraq with both eyes open, Clint Eastwood’s direction is simply impeccable and the cinematography is nothing other than blazing. Another very solid element worth noting about these duty sequences are that they’re depicted how they are in real life; it’s just guarding and the lack of action can be boring.

Thank you for reading this page and for more Aussie Boy reviews, visit Aussieboyreviews.com.