‘American Sniper’ tops expectations

By Stella Trovato, Reporter
January 29, 2015

The lead role was played by Bradley Cooper. By Rubenstein (revised version of flickr.com) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Based on a true story, American Sniper had an incredible action packed plot, making  more than 100 million dollars already since its release date on Christmas Day.

Academy Award winning for Best Picture Director, Clint Eastwood has directed twenty other movies like Jersey Boys, Trouble with the Curve, and J. Edgar.  Eastwood’s movies have many strong opinions from many different viewers.  Some viewers dislike Eastwood’s movies from the past, others think they’re enjoyable.

The director of the film is Clint Eastwood. By Army.mil (File:Eastwoodtuxedo.jpg) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
In the movie, a highly trained military sniper with his military team are fighting in the war in Iraq. Known for being the best sniper in military history with 160 confirmed kills, this film is based on the military life Chris Kyle lived until his death in 2013. Filming time was 2 hours and 14 minutes.

The main character, Chris Kyle, is played by Bradley Cooper who surprisingly played his role very well, even though he has acted in less serious movies  like Wedding Crashers, The Hangover, and Valentine’s Day. Before I watched the movie, I was thinking that Cooper played the main role because he looked similar to the actual Chris Kyle. Thanks to this movie, he can now be considered a more flexible actor with a lot of talent to play in any type of role successfully.

The opening scene really caught my eye. It had started out with Chris having a bird’s eye view of a mother and a kid with a  bomb. Running to one of the military groupings, getting closer and closer, the suspense was building; while suddenly, it cuts to the next scene, making the viewers  extremely engaged in the movie within seconds.

What I really liked about the movie were the creative shots taken. In the sniper scenes, the camera was in first person, so it felt like you were looking through the scope. When you could hear Chris’s breath and heartbeat increase when he had the chances to shoot, the movie added more drama.

The closing scene had me almost shed a little tear with knowledge of what happened to Chris Kyle with real footage and pictures of his life.

More lead parts of the cast making this movie worthwhile included: Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman and Kyle Gallner with supporting roles from Sam Jaeger, Cory Hardrict and Max Charles.

My overall judgement out of a 5 star rating would be a 4. It truly was a dramatic war movie that, by the end, was a touching tale inspired by the one and only Chris Kyle. I highly recommend this if you’re the type of person that likes war settings and films based on true stories. With its intense story plot and its heartbreaking finish, American Sniper may be one I see again.

This is the real Chris Kyle. Photo By Cpl. Damien Gutierrez [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons