See it as a biography and not as a war film

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2015)

At this film's emotional core is a family man who goes to war. That's as much as I can simplify this movie without misconstruing anything. Like most modern war films, "American Sniper" has come under fire for being a propaganda movie. As an Australian, I can honestly say, I don't see it.
This movie has been labelled as anti-Muslim and so on, but I honestly don't see it. People who claim this movie is anti-Muslim generally refer to the scene where Chris Kyle is about to shoot a boy carrying explosives towards an American convoy (as seen in the trailer). I can see where people might say this move is anti-Muslim, but I don't agree with it. I see it as a really nasty situation of "do you shoot the boy?" or "do you hold your fire, thus letting the boy blow himself up along with twelve other American soldiers."
There's also another scene where a boy is tortured and killed with a drill because insurgents believed that his father was giving information to American soldiers. I can sort of see how that could be interpreted as propaganda, but that would be stretching it.
Now, on the war front side of the story, a very unique warrior's psyche is shown. I don't know if it was just me, or whether it was intentional or not, but, at first Bradley Cooper really sells it as Kyle just wants to become a SEAL. And then during the Kyle's multiple tours and his wife asks him why he still wants to go back, Kyle states that he does it to protect his family to which his wife responds that, that is not a real reason. Bradley's execution of this scene leaves you thinking whether or not Kyle does truly want to protect his family, or that war is where Kyle feels most at home. Again, this does not strike me as propaganda, but it is quite amazing how people would instantly label this kind of behaviour as psychopathic.
The home front side of the story shows how Kyle is revered by fellow soldiers and at the same time, shows the toll it is taking on him, his marriage, and the psyche of his brother (though short that scene, it is powerful regardless).
In short, I still have a hard time wrapping my head around how this movie is a propaganda. Eastwood's previous films such as "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Flags of Our Fathers" bring a very human element to battlefields that have been romanticised by propaganda, as well as criticising those who do not understand war. To say that "American Sniper" is anti-Muslim is a bit mind boggling since "Letters from Iwo Jima" portrayed the Japanese soldiers as men fighting for their country - not as a one-dimensional barbaric bucktooth cartoon. My guess to why this movie is labelled as propaganda is because of the title and the promotional poster. After all, seeing the name "American Sniper" with a soldier holding the American flag does certainly invoke that image of patriotism.
It's best to watch this movie as a biography and don't think too much about trying to find whatever propaganda message is in it, because honestly, I couldn't find it. Enjoy the story.