American Sniper hits the bull-eye. It reach its target audience. For others, it was a miss.

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2015)

This movie isn't for everybody. It's feel like the usual, over patriotic one-sided America Hollywood film that people will either love or hate. Does this movie seem a bit shallow and propaganda? Somewhat. The movie made it very clear that there were some really bad people in Iraq that had to be stopped. Still, it does question and criticize the Iraq War, without painting the American soldiers in a bad-light. Little to no shades of grey whatsoever. Could the movie go into more detail on the war and felt more well-balanced? Yes, but it's clear that this movie isn't for those people. It was for the people looking for heroes; out of the mess that was the Iraq War. They found heroic and role-model in U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. Is it true, that Chris Kyle was somewhat racist and killed dozens of people for fighting for their country, when the US invaded and occupied the country of Iraq? Yes. Yet, on one hand, he is somewhat of victim, because he only wanted to do what seem good and he was misled in thinking it will come from this war. He indeed took a deadly toll, because of that moral belief. I think the movie did a pretty honest biopic of the man. Indeed, he was a hero to some people, and yes, he was somewhat a gung-ho war freak to others. In the end, no matter, what's your honest opinion, on the guy, you have to say that Chris Kyle indeed took his mission, very serious, protect his comrades and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. Directed by Clint Eastwood, and based off Chris Kyle's autobiography American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. The movie tells the story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) whom pinpoint accuracy, help saves countless America soldier's lives, but also makes him a prime target of insurgents during his four war tours in Iraq, with each tour taking more and more a PTSD ton of his well-being. Bradley Cooper had a gripping central performance as the man that couldn't stop fighting, Chris Kyle. He gain 40 pound of muscle to play his Captain America like hero, but acted like Captain Ahab. He made you believe that the Iraqi insurgents were the manifestation of all that is wrong with the world, and he feels that it is his destiny to eradicate this symbolic evil. Despite the content and the reality of the war, the movie doesn't paint, the people of Iraq in any good light. The movie tries to link Iraq to the tragic events of 9/11, but anybody with a brain, would know, that Iraq had little to do with it. You would think that there would be, at least some good Iraqi people in the film, but no, even the good ones end up, being villains for Chris Kyle to defeat. I try to never understand the logic of the action in this film. Indeed, it was graphic and brutal, but it felt a bit unrealistic at times with all the missions, he probably didn't go through. I guess, seeing him snipe people from a distance, can be a bit repetitious. The movie make it seem like he had to kill this one guy, Mustafa (Sammy Sheik), an ex-Olympic sniper before he was able to stop fighting. In my opinion, I think, the climax would had been a stronger film if he didn't get a chance to kill that character and all the years spent trying to, took the ton on him. Another disappoint is the lack of story after the war. It shows that he face PTSD, but the movie doesn't show the other stress, he had to deal with, like recriminations from lawyers, anti-war commenters and his fellow soldiers. Nor, does it tells us anything about him, writing his book. Most of the stateside scenes were filmed pretty mediocre. Sierra Miller as the wife, Taya seem a bit uninteresting. Her character has no personality, no job, no family and no inner life. Her own purpose in the film is to help Chris Kyle with his inner demons. I kinda hope for a more rounded character for her. It's pretty astonishing how one plastic baby prop can undercut a crying couple's emotional impact. It's also kinda disappointing, that he have no clue who the troubled veteran was, that he was trying to help in the end. Lots of miss opportunities to make the ending so much better. I glad, they didn't add the whole taking down carjackers in North Texas and looters during Hurricane Katrina or the time he 'supposedly' slugged Jesse "The Body" Ventura for talking smack about Iraq from stories that Chris Kyle told people. Those stories clearly have ample amount of skepticism. Chris Kyle was known to exaggerate or fabricate his own accomplishments at times, some have questioned if a straightforward adaptation of his autobiography was appropriate. I have to agree, this film was a bit rush in production, way too early to tell if any of this events are honestly 'based on truth'. Whether the movie is pro or anti-war has been the source of much debate. Overall: Was it a good film? Yes. It was indeed well crafted from beginning to end. Could a little more time pre-production, made it a better film that everybody can watch? Yes. Still, it's a must-watch.