Lone Survivor Movie Review

The reviews are coming thick and fast at the moment, but that doesn't bother me one bit because so far they've all been good. But is Lone Survivor one of those movies?...

Lone Survivor is directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg in the lead role as well as a bunch of other actors. They play a group of Navy SEALS, and the film follows the events of a true operation that took place in 2005. 4 Navy SEALS are tasked with taking out an Afghan terrorist and are dropped of on a mountain side. However, when a decision has to be made the consequences of that decision take their toll and produce some heavily dramatic effects.

Peter Berg you can tell is very passionate about the armed forces and the stories of the men involved and the struggles that they go through. His passion emulates through every frame of the movie making Lone Survivor a success, as opposed to last year's Battleship! The movie decides to honour Navy SEALS for their courage and bravery but also chooses to realistically present the brutality of modern warfare as well as the intensity of the situation.

The directing is solid and Berg brings to life some excellently produced action sequences which blew my mind. They were haunting, intense as well as frighteningly realistic, creating real intensity throughout the second and third acts of the film. In fact, I think its an achievement that I did feel tension in a movie where the title is a spoiler!

I thought before going into this one that knowing the outcome would detract from the experience. Its fair to say that the effect was much the opposite. It created a sense of dramatic irony and as a result, genuine tension. You know that these Navy SEALS are going to die, but you do wonder when and how.

Also Lone Survivor scores plus points with me due to the way it showed that not all Afghan's are part of the Taliban. There are people out there, good people who aren't working with the Taliban and this perspective made me respect the movie even more. Today it is easy to look at Afghanistan and say that all Afghan's are terrorists but truth be told that is just plain bullshit!

I do have a few issues with the film though. Smaller issues I had included the repetition of the same song as background music, which did wear out after the first 45 minutes or so. Also, I think the effect of slow motion, while it was trying to add a dramatic effect, was probably overused in the sense that it did tend to overdramatize things slightly.

But my respect for the actual people who endured/still endure events like these is astronomical! The actors all do respectful jobs with their performances. The 4 SEALS in particular are amazing, with Mark Wahlberg shining in the lead role. Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch and Emile Hirsch complete the task force and do well in the movie.

The stunt work and make up is top notch as well. However, my biggest complaint I have with this movie which stops it bordering into greatness is the character development. 20 minutes in and already the mission had started. If they had spent longer and fleshing out these people in a way in which I knew more about them and their names off by heart, the tension in the battle sequences would have been so much greater and taken Lone Survivor on to a whole new level of awesome. Nevertheless, I thought it was an entertaining and respectful treatment to men of war:



Rating - B+


1 sentence summary - Characters are probably underdeveloped, but all the arts of film making come together to honour those men who endured the harsh and brutal depicted events!



2 movies left to go before the list comes out! I must see both Inside Llewyn Davis and Her before then to make the fairest one I can though...

Thanks for reading,
Matt