Inconsistent mess from Mr. Eastwood

Rating: 2/10 (17 September 2017)

I really didn't care much about the politics of the movie. It is obviously a recruitment tool by the US military to urge kids to join the army. So I would purely evaluate it on the merits of filmcraft, acting and storytelling alone.
The production of the film is very commendable. The scenes of rubble and ruined infrastructure are exceptional, as I couldn't point out where the exact location the movie was shot (perhaps some place in Easter Europe?). The acting by Cooper is also noteworthy.
As a standalone action/ war movie, it is pretty decent but to be honest, there is much to be desired here. The action scenes are a hit and miss; what stood out is an ambush scene somewhere in the middle. Also, the scriptwriters ripped off a few scenes from Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (using a mirror to see who's shooting and the way the rival sniper was dispatched is almost identical to how the German sniper got wasted in that film). Additionally, for a movie supposedly about a sniper, there isn't much sniping going on but plenty of scenes of Cooper using an automatic weapon.
Better just watch this on cable or rent the DVD. Enemy at the Gates is a superior sniper movie.