Act of Valor Review.

Movie review time!

I just got home from watching Act of Valor. I have to say, great movie. Loved it. But that is as a gut reaction, so lets dig in and see just how good this movie really is.

First off, lets talk about the target audience... Men. Okay, some women will like seeing gungho guys going around and shooting stuff up and looking sexy all around. But the real target audience is probably males from between 17 to 30. And to be honest the only route they didn't take to get those guys to put butts in the theatre seating is to have some sort of heavy makeout/sex scene. But then, the movie is better for not having it, and everyone knows it. Other then "sex sells," they checked off every single box for the target audience aside from dinosaurs and giant mecha. Crazy frenetic gunfights? Check. Cool gunboats? Check. Cool gunboats IN THE GUN FIGHT? Check. Chase scene? Check. Cool sniper headshots? Precision check in the x-ring. Evil baddie and his plan of Doom(tm)? Check. Underwater scenes? Check. Submarine in the underwater scenes? Check. A guy taking an RPG to the chest and WALKING IT OFF? Check.

Guys, this movie ROCKS.

Ahem.

Plot? Huh?

Oooooh.... yeah. Plot.

Okay, we find out pretty quick that the Lieutenant in command of the SEAL team is A) married and B) they are expecting.  We also find out that a CIA operative in south america somewhere is trying to get info on a drug cartel guy who is hooking up with his childhood friend, the Muslim extremist who arranged and executed an attack on an international school in the far east (If I recall correctly.) killing a LOT of kids. Bastard.

The team gets called up to rescue this CIA agent after she gets made and caught. She gets tortured, but stays strong until the team can get to her. And the intel they get from the rescue op leads them down the rabbit hole...

I am not going to talk much more about the plot, spoilers being what they are, but I will say it held together pretty well. It was a bit hard to follow at times, since the cuts they used came pretty quick, but they used a common FPS game technique of super imposing a map and using a target box to track the movement of the major scene transitions. After the second cut like that, I was at home.

The narration from the chief was a little heavy handed in the beginning, and I am glad they dropped it until the very end. It works as bookends, but the upfront part drags a bit.

Acting. Okay. These guys are actual Navy SEALs, and they did a lot to bring authenticity to the film. Tactics, movement, timing, body language... they did a lot. But uh... actors they ain't. They are better than I am, and I ain't joking, but I think part of it is that they are playing themselves to a large degree. These guys know they can trust each other, and so their bond carries over onto film. It just that the fine nuances of tone and delivery didn't quite make it in some scenes. And that is ok, because they knock most of it out of the park. When you have a combat scene, or a high intensity scene, they are dialed in. It's the quiet intimate moments that they struggle with. And I can live with that.
Well... The guy who played Senior. I can't find him on IMDB (the SEALs are not credited in the film, and I don't see his face on IMDB...) so I presume he is a SEAL. I could just be blind. But wow. This guy is GOOD. The interrogation scene was GOLD.

Music was a rush. The tempo and bass was spot on for when the action began to heat up. I think I annoyed a few people down the row by tapping my feet to it.

Anyway. I am about out of things to say. I worked to day, so my brain is a wee bit toasty.

But I do wanna say this, if you are in the target demographic, and you don't get a "Aaaaaw yeeeeah..." feeling when the river boats touch off the mini-guns... you just lost your man-card. That was SWEET.

What. I'm in the demo.