Intimate, clear-sighted, critically well-received, effective, yet less involving and suspenseful than you’d imagine; as if the filmmakers took our reactions for granted. This fact-based war story (gory & graphic), taken from the survivors memories, follows a Navy SEALs operation in Iraq/2006 with only a brief prologue before we are trapped in a civilian housing unit/turned bunker against enemy attack. (Three terrified families hiding in a back bedroom.) Only that prologue set elsewhere as the men bond and relieve stress before the mission by watching a sexy, rock-scored exercise video, whooping it up as scantily dressed models go thru a workout. In lieu of anything else, other than the men’s fierce loyalty to each other, it leaves the impression that sexy babes is what we’re fighting for. In that ill-considered war, perhaps we were. No forced grandiosity as the narrow focus holds and Jihadist fighters close in with cascades of bullets & bombs, the U.S. combat men start to fall, relief is ordered in and the minutes till rescue seem stuck in repeat mode. But between helmets, bulky bulletproof gear and medical bandaging on so many faces, you can’t always be sure who’s who. Again, no doubt accurate, but unhelpful dramatically. NOTE: Since writer/directors Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza stick closely to Navy SEALs jargon, you may want to turn on the subtitles so you won’t think you’re missing out when technical terms get thrown around.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: After their pair of BOURNE films, Matt Damon & dir. Paul Greengrass put the Iraq war in their sight to good purpose in GREEN ZONE. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-zone-2010.html
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