well done but Berg puts a little too much Hollywood in the action

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2014)

Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg) is the lone survivor of a mission in Afganistan. He, Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster) are a four man SEAL reconnaissance team sent to track down a violent Taliban leader named Ahmad Shah. The team has constant radio problems. They encounter 3 goat herders. After some lively debate, they let them go and try to escape the onslaught of Taliban forces.
Director Peter Berg brings the book about the real battle to the big screen. The start is reminiscent of Peter Berg doing 'Friday Night Lights'. I think he even used similar musical cues. The four lead actors do a solid job. They're all good actors and they don't let their Hollywood flash outshine their roles. This is especially true for Wahlberg. He continues to improve as an actor.
However Peter Berg does put too much Hollywood flash into the battles. After an hour, the movie's second half is overblown both in explosive flash and theatrical posing. The action has some great realism at times but at other times feels like a Hollywood affair. All in all, the action pushes over the edge a few times. The villagers are nice but there again, Berg puts in a battle where the helicopters come over the ridge just in time to mow down all the Taliban in a blaze of glory. This would probably work much better if the action is not overproduced and be more realistic.