disappointing, emotionally weak

Rating: 5/10 (21 October 2014)

As other reviews have stated: grit and dirt are shown realistically, and so is to some extent the feeling of advancing under constant threat. Sound effects are fantastic. The acting is genuinely great too. Unfortunately, the script and dialogue are full of clichés and the resolution of the movie becomes more and more predictable until you just want it to be done with already. It's a classic hero's apprentice journey movie, Joseph Campbell and all. The weary old master, who puts his men through it all and who must die at the end. The greenhorn who grows emotionally through untold horrors. The final sacrifice, against all odds. The unlikely survivor, of course, the greenhorn. etc etc. It's amazing how such great acting means absolutely nothing in the face of a pathetic script. It's amazing how a bitter war movie with hundreds of corpses strewn manages to leave you emotionally flat, and not raise your heart rate at any time in two hours. It's not exactly boring, for that there is too much action happening. But it is so unrealistic, in character development and dialogue, that you just don't develop any emotional rapport with the doomed characters. So you never start truly caring. I expected a lot more from the movie's description.