I’m surprised at how fast American Sniper was made; in all honesty I thought it would be at least another year before a third sequel was released. They surprisingly changed the series name too, though I guess after three films The Expendables 4 sounded too stale. I’ll admit disappointment towards the lack of all-star cast members (I’m glad they were able to get Bradley Cooper to join, but where was Stallone, Statham, and Schwarzenegger?), but at least American Sniper stays true to the heart of its series; having all the clichés, mindless action scenes, and cheesy one-liners one's come to expect from The Expendables.
Ok enough of me being a jackass, but in all seriousness American Sniper bares close resemblance to a typical popcorn flick. The only aspects keeping American Sniper from full-popcorn status is its basis on a true story, psychological elements, and Bradley Cooper’s performance as America’s deadliest marksman Chris Kyle. There will be people (such as my wife) who’ll assume my dislike towards American Sniper is a personal attack on Chris Kyle (and in more extreme cases, a hatred for America…also a belief of my wife), when in fact there’s nothing further from the truth. My problem is not with Kyle, but how director Clint Eastwood portrays his life; taking a remarkable autobiography and turning it into a Call of Duty video game. Certain viewers may agree with this standpoint, yet feel such changes make the film more effective (*cough* my wife *cough*); I see it as a lazy attempt to “intensify” Kyle’s story, tarnishing it in the process.
The film’s first act is quite the opposite however, beginning on a rather tense situation between Kyle, a mother and son, and a grenade. The film suddenly flashbacks to Kyle’s past, where we see his father teach him to shoot and give life lessons on using one’s strength to protect the weak. We see a relationship bloom with his future wife Taya (Sienna Miller) and his reasoning for joining the Navy SEALs, eventually becoming the deadliest marksman in U.S. history. The film’s setup is effectively well done; the viewers get a vivid picture of the man Kyle is and how he became so, allowing the already intense opening situation (which the film returns directly after the flashback) to become equally as engrossing character-development wise.
American Sniper’s greatest strength is Bradley Cooper, who effectively captures Kyle’s persona from convincing Texan to post-traumatic veteran. Getting back to the first scene (minor spoilers), Cooper does a remarkable job portraying Kyle’s reaction towards killing both mother and son. He doesn't break down crying, nor does he act indifferent; he simply stares through his rifle scope, silently taking in his actions. His friend tries to congratulate him on two successful kills, but Kyle flatly replies “don’t f@$%ing touch me.” He eventually shakes off the initial shock, realizing if he hadn't fired, many of his fellow soldiers would be dead; yet while Kyle accepts the decision, it’s clear his mind will never quite recover from such a disturbing event. Cooper successfully performs these emotional acts all while keeping in character, delivering his finest performance to date.
American Sniper’s at its best when handling Kyle’s warfare decisions, along with the ensuing trauma caused; one of the better scenes involves Kyle begging afar for a young boy not to pick up a fallen RPG, knowing full well what he’ll have to do if the boy tries to use it. Another scene has Kyle nearly kill his dog (much to his family's horror) after flashbacking to when an Iraqi dog nearly chewed off his face. If American Sniper had stuck to these features, it could have been a good film, maybe even a great one…but it doesn't, and slowly but surely the film transforms from a psychological war biography to a clichéd action flick.
The war scenes are plagued with an abundance of asinine shoot ‘em ups; there’s a scene where the SEALs team's jeep barely dodges a bad guy’s (as Kyle calls them) rocket, countering with a drive-by shooting that unbelievably kills all the terrorists. Waves of bad guys are mowed down left and right, while our heroes miraculously avoid turrets of bullets by inches (with the exception of when real life comes to play). Only the “boss villains” avoid instant death, such as Mustafa; the Bizarro version of Kyle who kills for money and rivals him in sniping abilities (effectively becoming his arch-enemy throughout). There’s also “The Butcher” (yes he’s actually called that) whose weapon of choice is a hand drill he uses to kill his victims…NO I’m not making this up! Both villains are BASED around actual people and events Kyle faced, comparable to how Disney’s Pocahontas or The Patriot are based on true events.
American Sniper’s most clichéd scene begins with Kyle’s friend and unit member Biggles talking about an engagement ring he bought for his girlfriend. The details of his proposal (along with how they’re going to live happily ever after) is brought up no less than five times, even when the squad is under heavy fire. I kept thinking to myself, “They’re NOT going to kill Biggles right!? Eastwood’s not about to use one of the oldest, most cliché tropes ever put to film!?”…take a guess at what happens. The only cliché missing was for Biggles to mention he has one day left till returning to America. Then there’s a scene where Kyle decides to risk sniping someone 2100 meters away; his friend protests, “That’s more than a mile! You can’t do it Rocky…er, I mean Kris!” When Kris of course accomplishes the impossible task (which he actually did in real life, albeit during a completely different situation) his friend congrats him on saving the day, “You’ve done well; Biggles would be proud!” Unfortunately, the bad guys begin swarming in for round two, initiating Kyle’s company to KICK ASS while sprouting wicked one-liners such as “get some motherf@#%ers!”...sigh.
