Texas cowboy goes to Iraq to kill savages

Rating: 1/10 (7 February 2015)

I went to see AS without reading any review beforehand because it's directed by Clint Eastwood and his movies have never disappointed me... until now. This film disgusted me. I stayed until the end only because I was hoping with all my heart there could be some real development... But no, I had to admit at the final sequence that I spent two hours absorbing American imperialist propaganda. I watched the glorification of the sniper who killed most people in US history. I felt dirty.
Chris Kyle, the cowboy turned sniper, is a two dimensional character. At the beginning of the movie his father tells him that he's like a shepherd dog protecting his weaker fellows, the sheep, from the wolves; he also explains that in this role he has the right and the obligation to finish those bad guys. So when he grows up Chris, moved by the 9/11 attack on his compatriots, becomes a navy seal and goes to fight in Iraq where he kills an enormous number of people, or should I say bad guys . Or, in his words, "savages". Basically he is John Wayne in a black and white western. After such a strong characterization I expected the war to change Chris and force him to question his values and beliefs. I waited for him to be shocked by the cruelty of war and begin the hero's inner journey of self discovery... I waited in vain. His conscience is always at peace, his only regret when he finally retires: he can't kill more bad guys. His identity, the purpose of his mission and his life and the reasons behind the war are never questioned. After all he's seen and done, the only real change inside him is a higher blood pressure.
Like him, the only female character is underwritten and just a stereotype: the whiny wife seen in too many movies. She doesn't have a life on her own, relatives or any friend to talk to, she's always alone and only shown inside the home or in a hospital bed. Her only activity and purpose in the movie seems to be making babies, complaining and crying. When hubby is away, " Babe come back!", when he's home, " Babe you're not the same!". Over and over again. It doesn't help that the screenplay is so unimaginative with an extremely repetitive structure: first mission in Iraq, back home with unhappy wife and new baby, second mission, back home with unhappy wife and new baby... Repeat for two more times.
On the other side of the gun, Iraqis are savages and, as such, they're all a threat to America and a legitimate shooting target, even the kids.
Don't watch this movie. It is just plain and simple, quite boring, not at all subtle imperialist propaganda. Also, it's racist.