Lone Survivor (2013), R, 3 stars

The soldiers are in immediate danger. 

War is intense, scary and unpredictable. A soldier does not know what is around the corner, who is in hiding, and whether or not he will get out alive. It is utterly important to witness each soldier's fear and bravery to accomplish their mission on screen. However, recent war movies seem to lose their own way with trite dialogue, inconsistent character development, over-the-top camerawork, and spectacular action. It has been a while since we have seen a poetic war movie or a realistic war movie. The last realistic war movie I have seen was The Hurt Locker in mid-2009 and that was a great movie. Lone Survivor is hit-and-miss with its message of true courage and patriotism, but it is a good movie centering around some powerful performances.

The movie begins 3 days earlier before a mission gone wrong where we meet the four main soldiers: Hospital Corpsman Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Lieutenant Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Gunner's Mate Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Sonar Technician Matthew Axelson (Ben Foster). They are basically all talking about random subjects, a few soldiers are racing each other and the loser has to shave his head. It's a typical beginning seeing how the soldiers are trying to have a good time before going into combat. Lt. Commander Erik Kristensen (Eric Bana) interrupts and tells them that Operation Red Wings is in effect.

The SEALS' objective of the mission is to capture and assassinate Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader responsible for killing marines in Afghanistan. To identify him, Shah does not have any earlobes and also that they have to kill Tariq, Shah's right-hand man. After some time of when to leave for the mission and a "presentation", the four Navy SEALS fly into the Hindu Kush where they have to make their trek through the mountains. From there, the mission begins as they do not know their fate in the operation.

Wahlberg, Hirsch, Foster, and Kitsch as the four SEALS.

This war movie is an interesting addition to the genre because the movie is centered on the teamwork between the four NAVY Seals. There has not been a movie about teamwork that has been delicately well-done, especially in a war film, in quite some time. Even, when they perform their mission, a few of the NAVY Seals talk about very minuscule things such as Luttrell and Murphy talking about Arabian horses and discounts plus a wedding. I mean, it's really an account of hopeful dreams to accomplish when they back if they survive. However, the fear of death is in their eyes of the beholder one way or another.

Mark Wahlberg gives a solid performance as Luttrell who really is committed to his powerful role and I think this is one of his best performances up there with The Departed. He has chemistry with Foster, Hirsch, and Kitsch and they made me believe that they were a team and not a group of individuals trying to accomplish the mission and get home. Finally, Taylor Kitsch is in a good movie after some brutal stinkers in John Carter and Battleship. 

I do have some critiques about this movie. Peter Berg, the director, redeems himself from his disastrous movie, Battleship, and I commend him for that, but somehow, his "shaky-camera" style really gets annoying at times. With that style, he really focuses more on the action than the characters. The battle sequences are really good and bloody which had echoes of Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. Despite the lack of characterization and deep messages of patriotism and sacrifice, this movie does not have a happy ending, hence the title. Think about it. It is not an unconventional war movie where the cavalry comes and saves the soldiers, now, it is fate in front of these soldiers. The production details are quite impressive and the acting is quite solid. Therefore, this is a better war movie than I thought to go watch on January.

***