Good film, but needed something more.

Rating: 6/10 (4 October 2017)

I was wavering on rating this film 6 or 7. It had the potential to be a 9 or 10, and based on all the hype and netflix trailers, I hoped that it would be.
There are plenty of brutal and heart-wrenching moments, and Idris Elba is a talented actor that I enjoyed as the warlord molding the kid army.
However, I feel that there is some confusion and missing holes in this film, that somehow leave it disjointed. It seems to slow down half- way through, and missed out on designing a more powerful narrative and explanation for many of the things going on.
In the end, it comes across as an overly-long war film, that just portrays the same things that many already know or believe about African war zones. I thought Blood Diamond did more to explain situations and build characters, while giving a greater understanding of the situation. There are some good character developments, as the boy becomes desensitized to violence and insanity around him, and some entertaining and intense moments, but it just doesn't match the exquisite film-making of other films on such subjects, or war films in general.
I felt lost and kind of bored throughout the last half of the film, and found myself distracted and eating snacks, about to doze off for an afternoon nap. It needs something more!!!