Megan Leavey is a lot better than expected, though still far from being a “must see”.
The “based on a true” story combines two genre types I seldom have faith in: the modern military genre and the live-action dog…companion genre… (I know the latter isn’t an official genre, but for the sake of argument, let’s pretend it is). It’s quite rare for either of these categories to satisfy me—even the critically acclaimed ones (such as The Hurt Locker or…some live action dog film) end up being subpar entertainment. The problem I find with both genres is they’re usually drowned in a sea of clichés and overused, tiring themes. Megan Leavey’s most noteworthy accomplishment is avoiding the most frustrating tropes that usually plague its two genres. The stale tropes Megan Leavey does, inevitably, run into throughout the story (because nothing short of a master director/writer could completely avoid using at least a few with these genres), have their damage minimalized through careful pacing, story structure, and character interaction.
The film’s handling of sexism is a good example of said attentiveness. A lesser story would have found itself ham-fisting these themes into the story—using the subtlety of a wrecking ball to the face. Megan Leavey handles both misogyny and the hurdles it provides the title character (Kate Mara) in a subtle, yet transparent manner. Take, for example, the scene where Megan’s higher up crassly informs her how female marines are not allowed to patrol past checkpoints. The scene itself is quick, with Megan handling the prejudice in an unyielding, respectable manner. The scene is then briefly acknowledged between Megan and her fellow marine in a brief, lighthearted scene, followed by the protagonist moving on—overcoming said obstacle not through a heavy-handed speech or melodramatic scene, but through hard work and performing her job to her best efforts.
The dog-related scenes, likewise, lack their genre's worst clichés—avoiding tropes such as having Rex’s previous trainer be an abusive owner or a rival marine who secretly tries hurting/sabotaging Rex. Some of the dog scenes are clearly over-dramatized, however, such as the action sequence where, after experiencing severe head trauma from an explosion, Rex—the dog trained solely to sniff out bombs—somehow knows to pull a fellow soldier out the way of a, yet to be fired, RPG rocket (I looked it up, the scene never happened). Megan Leavey is a well-made film, albeit, with nothing remarkable to make it stand above the crowd. If you genuinely enjoy or love modern military and/or dog companion films, then Megan Leavey is right up your alley. If you’re more hesitant towards these genre types, then Megan Leavey may end up being a pleasant surprise.