Lone Survivor (2013)

Lone Survivor (2013)

IMDB: 7.7   Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

Plot: Based on the true story of a group of Navy Seals sent on a mission to capture of kill Taliban leader Ahmed Shah, the mission is compromised and they are attacked by a group of Taliban(?) fighters leaving only Marcus Luttrell, spoiler is in the title.

My Thoughts: To be clear this is only a review of the film as a film, I have not read the book on which it is based and I have only done a small amount of research about the real life events depicted in the film. Furthermore I have only the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform any critique I make is not a critique on the actual soldiers but again on Lone Survivor the film, this is a movie review blog.

To say this film is flawed is a huge understatement. Drama is not Mark Wahlberg's strong point, he shines in comedies but as a dramatic actor he comes off as flat and wooden as a plywood sign. He is not however the worst part of this two hour travesty. The story just isn't interesting. We don't get to know any of these characters enough to care when they are attacked, beyond a running gag about one of the soldiers buying his sister a horse for her wedding gift until learning how expensive it will be. We are treated to a quick opening montage of the hellish training that it takes to be a Navy Seal then another ten to fifteen minutes of barracks life where we watch a newbie preform his magic mike routine before we are treated to their inspirational motto of how tough they are as they prepare to embark on their mission.

Their mission to capture or kill Ahmed Shah finds them in the mountains of Iraq where they are discovered by a group of goat herders, as they debate freeing or killing them they try to communicate with their HQ but the radios fail to work causing them to use their satellite phone, it is implied that this may be what has given away their position to the enemy, or it was the goat herders whom they eventually let go after holding them at gunpoint and wondering why the Iraqis hate them.

The violence comes quickly and anyone familiar with the book, news reports, trailer or title of the film is expecting every death that comes there is no suspense which is hard to build when based on a true story I'll grant you but there is no effort to make it otherwise. This is really what the film boils down to about an hour and a half of watching Navy Seals get shot up. This is just not entertaining to me, I can't imagine who would be entertained by this. 

The biggest sin of the film though is lack of character development. We spend two hours with Marcus and learn nothing about him, we do not see him grow or change in any significant way. The film starts with him as a tough but compassionate Navy Seal, after all he was in favor of letting the goat herders go, and ends the film as a tough but compassionate Navy Seal having made an Iraqi friend that protected and hid him from the insurgents. 

There are much better versions of this type of story out there, Black Hawk Down being the obvious one but also We Were Soldiers and Rescue Dawn, the latter starring the always incredible Christian Bale and the equally talented Steve Zahn. All three films are based on true stories of military courage and all three are superior films in every way. 

I salute Marcus Luttrell and thank him for his service. I morn the loss of his fellow soldiers but I do not recommend this movie.