The film "Sniper" (2015): reviews

The movie “Sniper” (2015) is based on personal memoirs of Chris Kyle, the platoon of the 3rd SEAL team of the platoon “Charlie” in Iraq. He is considered one of the most successful snipers, the Iraqis nicknamed him “The Devil of Ramadi”, and his fellow soldiers call him Legend, as he has counted more neutralized enemy soldiers (about 250).

Clint Eastwood. Actor, Director

Eastwood became known to the general public in the second half of the 60s, while in the film industry there was a tendency to expose evil as caricatured, difficult to distinguish from good. Clint at that moment starred in the film "Dirty Harry", where he played the role of an animal-like policeman. After the release of the film, they began to associate it with fascist aesthetics and ideology. The actor had to change his opinion for quite some time, but later he was complacently forgiven and titled one of the main humanists of our era. The reason for this was the Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby projects, not to mention the outstanding dilogy about the bloody battles for Iwo Jima, which was shot in the original manner from two opposite points of view (each of the warring parties). The film "Sniper" (2015), reviews of which is confirmed, is also devoted to the war, only it is devoid of this double interpretation.

Sentiment is out of place here.

The director through the eyes of the protagonist of the American sniper No. 1 - Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) - shows the harsh truth of sweeping Iraqi slums by US Marines under the guise of Marines - this is how the movie “Sniper” (2015) begins. Further, Eastwood deftly balances on the verge of morality, palm off the protagonist as the target of the child to whom the mother gave the grenade, then the older boy clutching the weapon. Chris, however, like most of his colleagues, realizes that there are innocent victims among the local population, but war is war, and sentiment is absolutely inappropriate.

There is always a goal

The main character of the picture “Sniper” (2015), whose reviews are mostly laudatory, is Chris Kyle, in the interpretation of Clint Eastwood, he appears before the viewer as a characteristic native of Texas. The son of a clergyman from an early age was fond of hunting, a rodeo, and after that he found his place in the special missions of the Navy of America. He stayed in Iraq for a total of 1000 days, so many of his four business trips lasted, during which he eliminated 250 Mujahideen. After this and many other things, he wrote in his autobiographical book American Sniper. However, his death overtook him in his native land, in 2013 he worked with Iraqi veterans at a shooting range and was killed by one of them, who suffered most from post-traumatic stress. Reviewing the film “Sniper” (2015), reviews of which emphasize the programmed ambivalence of violence in the fate of the protagonist, one cannot stop wondering at coincidences and signs of Fortune. From childhood, the father of the protagonist, dividing all people into three categories (sheep, wolves and shepherd dogs), insisted that the boy choose the latter option. The son of his father did not disobey, becoming a warrior, hero and a zealous patriot. However, he became dependent on the hunt for “wolves”, which became his passion, reflex, and drug. At some point, carried away, Chris lost touch with the real world, his beloved wife (Sienna Miller) and children. It seemed that just a little more and he would be able to discharge the clip into anyone, anyone who gets in his way. The sniper is obliged to shoot, and there is always a target. A controversial film project is Sniper (2015). Reviews of the film are also diametrically opposed.

Conservatism with a human face

If Eastwood made his film in the 60s, he would most likely show how the violence that even “in the name of good” Chris creates will inevitably penetrate his soul and poison it. But Sniper (2015), reviews on Imkhonet especially emphasize this fact - the picture is modern, so the director could not afford to be a pacifist. Good cannot turn into evil, and an antagonist will never become a protagonist. The experience of the American film industry has required Eastwood to return to the conservative axioms that liberals have tried so hard to subvert. Therefore, the film “Sniper” (2015) is a pure patriotic picture, without unnecessary pathos and anguish, but with a slight touch of postmodern irony.

The absolute champion of the American rental

It seems unbelievable that the film “Sniper” (2015) (critics also note this) will be the highest grossing in Eastwood’s career, in addition, the film predicts absolute superiority in the American box office. This means that in America, cinema will earn much more than Transformers, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit, and will occupy a worthy place in the popularity tabloids among the highest grossing blockbusters like The Avengers, The Hunger Games and Avatar. Compared with the Oscar-winning film about the storm entitled The Lord of the Storm, awarded with six Oscars, the film Sniper (2015) collected 20 times more money, but was awarded by the Academy only once - for the best sound editing. But another thing is more important - after the dreary biopic (J. Edgar, Unconquered), mysticism (Otherworldly), adaptations of Broadway musicals (Jersey Guys), one of America’s best directors is again in great shape.

Antiwar Patriotic Blockbuster

The film “Sniper” (2015) is a movie as precise, assembled and subtle as possible, somewhat similar to “Letters of Iwo Jima” and not at all similar to “Flags of Our Fathers”. And it's hard not to notice that the picture was extremely lucky with the lead actor - Bradley Cooper. The transformation into a mountain of muscles was not easy for the actor, in order to gain the required 18 kg, he absorbed 8,000 calories daily, trained for four hours with a personal trainer, and studied shooting with a real “fur seal” Kevin Lachem, Kyle’s colleague. At the same time, he retained his charm, a certain vulnerability. Bradley turned on his dramatic talent to its full potential - and now he is the new Hollywood superstar who adorned the scandalous biopic, the patriotic anti-war blockbuster Sniper (2015). The trailer for him is not able to fully convey the full potential of the picture, and yet critics accused him of global praising of militarism.

Nowhere sharper

The press director is accused of stupidity and lies. Michael Moore, a documentary filmmaker, stigmatizes him for singing the most vile military profession, and Seth Rogen, the author of Interview, compares Eastwood’s film with Hitler’s propaganda. The movie “Sniper” (reviews point to this fact) put pressure on the sore spot of the American people and was probably even stronger than the “Interview”, around which there were so many rumors and tantrums that Obama did not do without it. Although Eastwood’s picture didn’t force the American authorities to intervene, the Sniper, even without looking, condemned Khamenei, maybe his opinion changed after watching. The movie was really shot on extremely sharp subjects - there is simply nowhere sharper. The blame for the current Arab threat to the United States has little to do with George W. Bush’s inappropriate actions. The current president, Obama, has moved much further. To praise the events, the consequences of which led the USA to such a deplorable state, to make the heroes of the people who did it all with their own hands a controversial task on the part of generally accepted humanism. Not just because of this project Spielberg refused. And even Chris Kyle himself, after he published his memoirs, said that only Eastwood could film them.

Unvarnished War

The film “Sniper” (2015) is very respectful of the text of the original, from the very beginning to the final scene remains a neat adaptation, only without the voiceover of the speaker. As in his other works, Eastwood fundamentally and defiantly refuses to give an assessment of what is shown, to make any judgments, believing, not without justification, that the story told speaks for itself. There will be nothing to complain about for politically concerned viewers: there is no politics at all in the film. Also, there is no sniper in the film “Sniper” (2015) (the trailer in Russian demonstrates this clearly) that is traditional for a film of the military theme of admiring weapons. Military action in this movie is dust, harassing the scorching sun and blood. At the same time, the author is completely not obsessed with physiology and dirt, taking pictures of the main character’s business trips to Iraq at an impeccably expressive level - an episode of the last battle of Chris justifiably claims to be the best in military films.

Triumph followed by tragedy

It is hard to believe, but following the basic laws of entertaining feature films, Eastwood created the picture “Sniper” 2015 (reviews of the film confirm this statement) such that after watching it, those wishing to enroll in fur seals will obviously decrease. During the provoked violent public debate, the director admitted that he shot his most anti-war film. He, as a real citizen, considered it his duty to tell the general public how the war cripples the fate, lives of even the surviving heroes (episodes of post-traumatic attacks of Chris scare more than battle scenes). The movie “Sniper” (2015) (critics' confirmation of this) confirms, as a moral message, that heroism and feat are always a triumph accompanied by tragedy.

Not abstract humanism

In fact, "Sniper" (2015), the trailer in Russian deprived him of the definition of "American" - the only honest and almost ideal for the United States modern patriotic blockbuster. This is a film about the fact that any war is bad and scary, and in this horror someone must be a “shepherd”. This picture will make everyone think when the final credits will run in complete silence after watching. Therefore, it is necessary to recommend it for viewing. Perhaps not everyone will like the film, but those viewers who are inspired by the author’s idea and appreciate it positively will certainly understand that this film is a deep and powerful drama.