Either you "GET" it or you DON'T.

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2015)

You know, the reason people slam this movie is the same reason it is very well done: it makes you FEEL things you don't want to feel.
For example, you can be one of the strongest advocates for animal rights on the planet, but if you're watching "To Kill A Mockingbird" and you see that rabid dog staggering down the street towards Atticus and his family, you would have pulled the trigger. Absolutely.
I have never been in a war situation but my ancestors certainly were. From what I've learned is that when you are, those people that you sleep/eat/fight with are your FAMILY. You have their back and they have yours. You are alive because of them and visa versa.
No one knows the atrocities our relatives faced when in that situation, although we've all heard the horror stories. The term "War is HELL" came from somewhere, now didn't it? Your grandfather or great- grandfather (if involved with any war on any level), more than likely did some things they are not very proud of, nor are they spoken about. Just watch one of those documentaries about WWII where the cameraman is sitting in the plane that is dropping mortars and/or shooting up some farmhouse out in the boonies. Because they weren't exactly accurate shots from a mile or so altitude, poor old Gerta was just out milking the cow and was blown away because someone overshot their target. Watch Mrs. Minerva.
What this movie did was anger people that, under normal circumstances, would never even dream of hurting a child. But in one split second you go from saying, "OMG! That's a little kid!" to "SHOOT HIM! PULL THE TRIGGER!" because in one split second that "little kid" becomes an assassin, or a murderer, hell bent to kill your family. Same thing with the woman dressed as a nun. The sniper did not want to needlessly kill innocent people, but as a soldier, he was expected to play the part of God and make those decisions, otherwise known as doing his "job." That's what he was trained to do and paid to do.
The sniper in this film was doing what anyone under the same circumstances would do: PROTECTING HIS FAMILY. Was he any different than Atticus? Can you honestly say you wouldn't react/act in the same manner if you saw anything or anyone threatening YOUR family-- regardless if it was a rabid dog, someone dressed as a nun or a little kid?
If you didn't "get" this aspect of the movie that's okay. Respect it for what it is--a depiction of some really nasty stuff that happens when you're involved with war. There may have been some poetic license involved, but it's a MOVIE. It happens.
Could it have been done better? Maybe. Was the doll used for the baby cheesy? Definitely. Did I "like" the movie? No. But it was well done and I have voted on that aspect of it because it did what it was supposed to do: it made me FEEL. I was pulling that trigger, too. I was protecting my family.
It may have made you realize that there may be some nastiness lurking underneath your own surface. Maybe that's why it's so disturbing. Maybe that's why it's so good.
Kudos to those involved (except for the cheesy plastic doll).