Act of Valor (2012)Directed by: Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh
Screenplay by: Kurt Johnstad
Genre: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Running Time: 110 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Theater
The only easy day was yesterday.
[IMDb]
Comments: Act of Valor is a film I had zero interest in seeing. However, I'm in my hometown this weekend due to a doctor's appointment I have early Monday morning, and my mother and grandmother were going out to watch the film this afternoon. I had nothing at all to do, so I had one of those "oh, what the fuck" moments and tagged along. All I was hoping for was a movie without a preachy message, and for the most part it wasn't.
- The best parts of the film are without a doubt the action sequences. The first "big" action scene where the Seals are on a rescue mission was awesome, and worth the price of admission alone. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
- The "acting" was terrible, cliched, and boring. Act of Valor also features the most laughably bad interrogation scene I've ever seen. Picture the craziest Jack Bauer moment (I like to think of that one time when he shot the bad guy's completely innocent wife in the leg to prove a point) and just flip it 180 degrees. The baddie in the film wilts under the silliest threat of being treated humanely and his family being left alone.
- I think what really annoyed me most was that the film is generally a recruitment video for the Navy, yet the entire movie plays out like a two hour Call of Duty gaming session. From the graphics to the first person shots during the action sequences, I found it all a bit shitty. Granted, I know it's difficult this day and age to recruit for the military, and if they want to take all the shitheads that I used to play against when I played COD back in the day, then I'm all for it.
- There's also some heavy-handed bullshit toward the end of the film designed to reel the audience in (and piss off those who know better). It pissed me off.
- Despite my complaints, I do think it's important to remind the general population of the sacrifices people make to keep our country safe. Sure, a lot of people don't agree with the wars we've been fighting, but there's so much more that the military does that people are unaware of. The problem is that tributes like this require a certain amount of skill and craftsmanship so they don't come off false, and Act of Valor is mostly devoid of this. The action scenes are the only thing worthwhile about the film, and as result, I was really unimpressed overall. Pass.
- The best parts of the film are without a doubt the action sequences. The first "big" action scene where the Seals are on a rescue mission was awesome, and worth the price of admission alone. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
- The "acting" was terrible, cliched, and boring. Act of Valor also features the most laughably bad interrogation scene I've ever seen. Picture the craziest Jack Bauer moment (I like to think of that one time when he shot the bad guy's completely innocent wife in the leg to prove a point) and just flip it 180 degrees. The baddie in the film wilts under the silliest threat of being treated humanely and his family being left alone.
- I think what really annoyed me most was that the film is generally a recruitment video for the Navy, yet the entire movie plays out like a two hour Call of Duty gaming session. From the graphics to the first person shots during the action sequences, I found it all a bit shitty. Granted, I know it's difficult this day and age to recruit for the military, and if they want to take all the shitheads that I used to play against when I played COD back in the day, then I'm all for it.
- There's also some heavy-handed bullshit toward the end of the film designed to reel the audience in (and piss off those who know better). It pissed me off.
- Despite my complaints, I do think it's important to remind the general population of the sacrifices people make to keep our country safe. Sure, a lot of people don't agree with the wars we've been fighting, but there's so much more that the military does that people are unaware of. The problem is that tributes like this require a certain amount of skill and craftsmanship so they don't come off false, and Act of Valor is mostly devoid of this. The action scenes are the only thing worthwhile about the film, and as result, I was really unimpressed overall. Pass.
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