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I have an exorbitant amount of respect for the men who serve in military special operations. I am in awe of the fearlessness that they show in the face of mortal danger, and let's be honest, the excitement of playing army when you're a kid never really goes away. Having just finished a handful of biographies on recent Navy SEAL exploits, this film encapsulates what no other film has done before, and that is a realistic look at overseas SEAL operations, complete with active duty operators as the actors. Not since Black Hawk Down have I been this excited to see a military film.
The idea is so austere it's almost genius. Make an action film, which has mass male appeal, and make it the most authentic non-documentary ever. The result is a well done film with some of the most heart-pounding action sequences in recent memory. Going into the film knowing its authenticity amps up the stakes; you feel like you're watching a real operation going down, and with few exceptions, it is executed in a way that would make the Navy proud.
The focus of the film is twofold. Conveying the idea that what these warriors do on a daily basis is some of the most unnatural of human behaviors: running toward bullets being shot at you, watching a friend die and moving on to finish a mission, and putting your life on the line each time you put on your boots. These are highly unusual qualities, and as the tagline goes, "Damn Few".
The second is an extraordinary display of pure adrenaline-pumping action. The film moves from mission to mission spanning the globe from the Philippines to Somalia, Costa Rica to Mexico. The filmmakers do a great job of spreading out the terrorist cells, which was obviously intentional as to not draw ire of any single country.
The story has a bit of Hollywood, with a terrorist leader serving as the antagonist, and a body count that reaches the hundreds by the end of the film. There are a few jingoistic and predictable scenes (like the jump on grenade, or time-running-out tension builders) but ultimately it is a clinic in tactical warfare. It is uber-patriotic, but that is the point.
We follow a team based in Coronado, California who are deployed to the Pacific to rescue a captured CIA operative. In the process of that, they discover that there is a major domestic terrorist threat and they follow the leads until the climactic finish. There are six to ten main characters, but the story follows the relationship of the lieutenant and the chief of the team. They are best friends and the lieutenant is an expectant father (an intentional plot point...) The rest of the team are given plenty of spotlight, but not as much character development.
The action starts very early on, and never really subsides until the bloody climax, at which point the heartstrings are tugged and we're given a 21-gun salute at a military funeral. Roll credits. The filmmakers, Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh are Hollywood veterans as stuntmen and participating in various military projects. This is their first directorial full feature. They do a nice job using various angles including the intense first-person and the breathtaking overhead shot (boat firefight scene). The story was written by Kurt Johnstad, who has been a grip in Hollywood since the 1990's. His other screenplay was 300.
The SEALS clearly don't try to ham it up for the camera. There are some cheesy one-liners, but they are legitimate. The actors didn't seem to want to make this something it wasn't, and so they choreographed the missions in a way that would most accurately reflect how it would go, complete with unpredictability and snafus.
57 SEALS have died since 9/11, which is an astounding number considering how highly trained, confident, and well-equipped these men are. Estimates show that there are about 2,000-2,500 current SEALS on active duty which equates to about a 2.5% mortality rate (various sources). However, after reading about and seeing what their missions truly entail, it is amazing that the number isn't higher. Act of Valor gives a nice tribute to these fallen warriors at the end of the film; a nice reminder of why it was made in the first place. The full audience gave it a standing ovation, as I'm sure audiences around the country did, and word of mouth should dwarf some of the more critical reviews.
This film isn't for everyone, but if you're interested in the covert work that these silent heroes embark on every day, this is a fantastic film. It was everything I was hoping it would be, and the obligatory Hollywood components aside, it tells the story the way the SEALS, the directors, and the screenwriter wanted it. The Navy should be proud. I see this film as a trailblazer into a new genre of realistic action filmmaking. I think there is a market for it, and I look forward to more projects like this. 9/10.
