Sunday, 10 December 2017

Lone Survivor

(Peter Berg/2013/USA) 

Based on real events but widely accepted as exaggerating some details Lone Survivor focuses on action over character and as a result loses out on any real emotional punch. The photos of real marines which pepper the opening and closing credits make for an awkward grab at our heartstrings; that sense of pride in men going to fight a good war instead of coming across as genuine becomes ham fisted as the main characters are paper thin. Without any depth to the men involved in the mission, which is a failure almost from the start, the intensity of the fire fight becomes the crux of the film and reduces the movie to a mere action flick dressed up in stars and stripes chest beating. It’s a pity because it’s an extraordinary and sad story of a mission gone awry and could have been a far greater reflection on the US interests and actions in Afghanistan. But it does capture the ferociousness and panic of a close quarters gun battle in a quite visceral way, it does that one thing really well.


(2/5)

No comments:

Post a Comment