Not propaganda, but not a great movie either.

Rating: 5/10 (21 February 2015)

First of all, I'd just like to point out that this movie was unbiased. I am not an American and I think politics is almost always futile.
This movie did nothing more than show us the life of Chris Kyle. Kyle is not portrayed as a hero or even someone likable. He's an ignorant, misinformed, violent man who's good with a gun. That's it. Of course, he's brave. Anyone who puts themselves in the line of fire is brave, but he has no heroic characteristics and this is what we see in the movie. To people who watched this and called Kyle a hero, and to those who called this movie propaganda, I'll say watch this again without your minds made up. If anything, this movie is a satirical criticism of Kyle.
To support my point: 1. He constantly refers to the Iraqis as "bad guys" and he is not concerned about providing some sort of security for the innocent Iraqis who helped the Americans. So he displays ignorance and apathy.
2. At one point, he even says that an Iraqi who was previously helping the "bad guys" and later died trying to help the Americans deserved to die because he had picked the wrong side. When living in a place like Iraq, people don't have the freedom to choose a side. That man was probably just trying to survive and provide for his family. Anyone with half a brain can figure that out.
3. After that man died, we see Iraqis who are expressing their anger at the soldiers. For viewers who couldn't figure out that Iraqis are actual human beings with feelings, this scene would at least cause them to doubt the soldiers' (and Chris Kyle's) actions. The camera then focuses on the skulls on the soldiers' tanks to further signify that to many Iraqis American soldiers are just killers, not saviours.
4. In another scene a soldier tells Kyle he doesn't know whether what they're doing in Iraq is right. Kyle responds with "We're just here to kill bad guys" or something along those lines. Kyle was shown as naive and simple-minded. Definitely not characteristics of a "hero".
5. After the scene in which that Iraqi child and man are both killed, those same people who provided the soldiers with intelligence, Kyle expresses no remorse. Because as long as the soldiers get what they need, who gives a crap about the innocent civilians of another country, right? What sort of a hero does that?
I could probably come up with plenty of other scenes if I gave it some more thought. This movie presented Chris Kyle as an ignorant man who was good with a gun. Clint Eastwood does not make him seem intelligent or likable or compassionate. Chris Kyle is NOT a hero. I wish people would stop calling him that and stop making it seem like the movie presents him as such.
On the other hand this move was well-made. It was shot and edited well. Bradley Cooper did a good job as Kyle. However, Kyle is just such a simple, uninteresting character that his life couldn't carry the movie. There is no conflict in his life. He just wants to shoot people. As a result, the movie has no plot and no structure. Kyle has no opinion on the impact of war, or anything really. The scenes with his girlfriend/wife just dragged on and the scenes during the war desperately need a direction and conclusion. There is not a single interesting, conflicted, intelligent character in this movie. I don't even know the point of this movie.
In the end, the movie is dull. By the time, it got to his last tour I just wanted it to end. I even stopped paying attention during that sandstorm scene, even though I think that was supposed to be the climax. I'd say, watch it just to see what it's really about. Don't take the overemotional liberals' or conservatives' word for anything when going in to see it. You'll be surprised.