Near-perfect cinema

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2010)

Behold: the greatest villain in movie history. Okay, this may not actually be true. Hartman's probably not an actual villain, just a man who means well but takes it a bit too far. But damn it, he's such a guy you love to hate. It's the sort of character you can despise while the back of your brain wants to be him. There's no such thing as perfection, but R.Lee Ermey's memorable performance comes dangerously close at times. Some have stated that this movie plays all its cards in the first half and then just drags itself to the credits, but I can't agree, even though I can perfectly understand this opinion. It's true that the second half of the movie isn't as hard and direct as the first half, but that's exactly the thing: it crawls up on you. The first half is great while you're watching it, what follows is at times more brilliant when you give it thought afterwards. Also, that ending is downright beautiful. The ending monologue is delivered with such a saddening monotony that it brings over the horrors of war better than any amount of battlefield action scenes ever could. Wonderful movie.