Movie Review: American Sniper

Chris Kyle’s finger holds steady above the trigger as he zones in on a young boy who appears to be approaching a tank with a grenade. Though it’s possible that the child does not have any sort of lethal weapon, Kyle must make a decision in a matter of seconds. This is the tension that initially draws viewers into American Sniper.

As a war film, American Sniper succeeds in maintaining a taut atmosphere throughout Kyle’s multiple tours in Iraq. Each mission is filled with an intensity and sense of urgency that is reminiscent of the bomb diffusing scenes in The Hurt Locker. We are given a new perspective; Kyle is not a man engaged in ground combat, but rather a U.S. Navy SEAL sniper whose job is to pick off enemy combatants and protect his fellow soldiers from a distance. Clint Eastwood, director of films such as Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, is not new to the war film genre, which explains why the military operations are the strongest aspect of the film.

Unfortunately, the film lacks a certain depth of character for the multifaceted Chris Kyle. Bradley Cooper performs an excellent, transformative take on the war hero, but his role lacks the subtlety and complexity one would expect for the conflicted man. However, this seems more of a screenplay miscalculation than Cooper’s fault. We receive limited information into the motives of Kyle. Beyond that, the scenes filmed where Kyle is back in the States lack an intimacy and emotional core that would connect us to his inability to mentally return home. Soon, the action set pieces cover such a majority of the second half of the film that we are unable to feel any interconnectedness of the plot at all. A rushed epilogue to close it all out doesn’t make matters any better.

Cinematically, American Sniper succeeds on multiple fronts. It sustains a rugged, gritty feel through the green-tinted cinematography and western-like scenery. The crisp sounds interspersed with the fast-paced, yet minimal dialogue help create a realistic military setting that leaves viewers' hearts pounding out of their chests. The film, in all honesty, is far stronger as a study of modern combat than it is as a biopic of Kyle. Though I won’t get into the debates over the true characteristic of “the legend,” I will say that the film lacks thorough insight into our protagonist’s inner workings and demons outside of his inevitable desire to keep going back to war.

Plain and simple: if you want a tense military thriller, then this is your film. If you want a more introspective, contemplative character study, I’m sure Selma is playing in the next theater over.

P.S. Anyone else weirded out by that fake baby they used? I mean it’s the 21st century. Come on.