Act of Valor.

Act of Valor is a war film that comes onto the big screen during a time of a barrage of post 9/11, "War on Terror," movies and documentaries. Even so it is a film like no other before it due to the fact that it stars active duty U.S. Navy SEALs. Act of Valor is a mix of a big screen war flick, a documentary, a Navy SEALs recruitment video, and a daytime TV drama. Act of Valor contains heavy amounts of old school American nationalism, the kind that can cause some viewers to re-evaluate priorities in their lives and build a real appreciation for the armed forces of America. Due to the strong pro-America sentiment, Act of Valor is true American war film but at the same time it is put together in a way that also aims to positively resonate with non-American viewers. All that being said, Act of Valor serves more as an experience rather than a gritty and superbly scripted war film such as Saving Private Ryan. Since it is a movie the SEALs have to act, and to their credit they do their best but in the end the majority of the scenes in-between battles feel like you are watching a daytime soap opera where men deliver emotionless lines. The script has your usual and expected war movie clichés, but the storyline does have a realistic enough modern day terroristic believability factor which keeps viewers engaged from beginning to end. Act of Valor was just good enough to crack open the door to the possibility of future war movies in which real U.S. Military personnel are casted for roles where they respond to everyday war scenarios.

The good: Act of Valor will make you proud to be an American.  

The bad: When the SEALs have to deliver lines, with only one exception.  

Rating: 6.2 out of 10. 

 

Chronicle.

In 2008, Cloverfield proved that with state of the art special effects and decent acting, a, "found-footage," film could in fact be quite successful. 2012's Chronicle proved to be just that and more with both state of the art special effects and great acting. The acting in this film has to be the greatest surprise given the fact that it features a young no name cast. They are your typical 20 somethings playing High School students but that tends to slip the eye of the average audience member. The only unanswered questions Chronicle leaves surround how exactly did these students obtain their powers. A scene is shown in which they get their powers, but it can be described as hazy at best. Once their powers are gotten, they begin to uncover and push the limits of their super-human abilities. Given the plot set-up, each character including the main character, Andrew, uses their powers in a way that reflects their up-bringing and in Andrew's case, a tragically chaotic home life. Being someone who has seen many superhero shows and movies, an overlooked aspect that this film does a great job with is showing early on that these teens are not immune to pain or injury. This makes the film more legitimate because as powerful as these teenagers are, they still have an internal fear of death or harm; all be it much smaller than an average person. Even though teens with superpowers is the overwhelming story of this film, it does contain well scripted sub-plots that indiscriminately delve into child abuse, cancer, depression, teenage friendship, and the classic battle within that if you have superpowers, do you use them for good, evil, or neither. Chronicle far exceeded the expectations of many critics including myself, who personally thought it would just be a shallow film involving teens who could move large objects around with telekinetic abilities. 

The good: Given the set-up for each character, especially the main character Andrew, Chronicle is a completely believable account of what could happen if High School teenagers somehow obtained, "superman," like abilities. 

The bad: A few unanswered questions are left involving the acquisition of their powers, and I have a strong feeling that the C.I.A. and or F.B.I. would be knocking at their doors long before they reached the level of powers that they did. 

Rating: 8.9 out of 10.