American Sniper

            What’s up everyone, I’m the one and only movie blogger known as TheCinemaChick and I’m finally reviewing something in the New Year.  I will admit I did see one other movie so far, but I was also battling a nasty case of bronchitis.  It was horrible.  My throat was swollen and sore, I couldn’t talk, couldn’t eat…ugh.  So glad that’s over.

            But, good news everyone!  I am healthy and healed and have gotten back into the real world.  I have seen two movies this year so far but let’s start off on a good note.  And I have to warn you, I am going to get a little political during this review.  I know everyone has their own thoughts.  Please respect my opinions as I try to respect all of yours.

            Keeping that in mind, let’s look at “American Sniper”.

            First off, let’s get the controversial part over.  I do not support war.  I am a pacifist, I am strongly anti-gun (purely because the of a semi traumatic experience), and I do not condone sanctioned murdering.  I know it isn’t intentional murder but when so many civilians are caught in the crossfire and killed…I just feel like its murder.  They had nothing to do with the war, they were just innocent bystanders.  Think about it, women and children are being killed.  I do not and will never support any type of war.

            However, I do support the troops.  I applaud their bravery and courage for going out there and protecting our country.  They deserve to be lauded for what they do.  People in the military are some of the strongest people ever but they are also some of the most fragile.  When they come back from war, they might be injured or left disabled or suffer from PTSD.  I have had family members that served and I have friends who are in the army.

            So no, I am not pro war.  I am pro armed services.

            “American Sniper” is a film based on a novel of the same name.  I have not read the book but after watching the film, I want to.  It is a biographical movie, based on the life of a man named Chris Kyle.  He served in the military as a sniper.  This movie has two main focuses: Kyle’s life overseas and his life at home.  Overall, the movie was very tasteful and to my surprise, did not contain copious amounts of violence.  I don’t like war films for that reason.  Violence, gore, blood…things like that cause me to get nauseated.  There were two scenes that made me slightly sick but other than that, it’s good.

            By the way, you know how everyone’s saying Bradley Cooper deserves an Oscar for his performance?  Oh yes, he earned it.  He became Chris Kyle.  I went into this knowing who the actor was and it still took me a minute to realize, “Oh yeah, that’s Bradley Cooper!”  He just wraps himself into this role and never once did I find it unbelievable.  Sometimes, when I’m aware of the actor, I can’t see him as the character but in this case, I did not see him.  Sienna Miller was also incredible as well.  She threw herself into that role and stuck with it. 

            What I loved the most about the movie was that it kept me on edge the whole time.  I knew the ending, I knew Chris Kyle’s fate but the moments leading up to it had me hooked.  The tone began fairly light, showing his childhood and how it shaped him, then slowly became darker and darker.  I got a good look into his mind as the PTSD started taking over.  Certain sights or sounds cause little triggers in him and for the audience, it creates tension.  It makes me wonder what’s going to happen.  Bless his wife for being so patient and loving with him.

            I could never sit through this movie again, despite it being so amazing.  It was emotionally draining and I cried at the end.  The ending…oh man, the ending…I won’t spoil it because I think this film is worth seeing.  However, I will say this: the ending is footage of an actual event that while cause you to tear up.  I didn’t know it had taken place in Arlington, Texas because I did not know about Chris Kyle until I heard of “American Sniper”.  This event literally happened fifteen minutes from me in 2013.

            Bravo to everyone who worked on this film.  It was far better than I’d thought it would be and the audience applauded at the end.  It is a wonderful movie that I honestly believe should be seen.  Some people will be able to handle it better than me.

            Chris Kyle was a hero.  His family should be very proud of him and what he did for our country.  I felt a sense of pride after watching the movie.

            To everyone who serves in the military, whether it be in combat or tactical or whatever, I appreciate everything you have done for this country.

            I’m TheCinemaChick and coming soon, this year’s Oscar nominations and predictions.

            I am also pleased to announce that I am in the process of creating my very own website!  It will have my podcasts on there, along with my reviews.  I also have people who will be contributing to my site.  Kit Kat will be joining, along with my podcast partner, Draco Ro’tor.  It will be a while since I have no skills on building websites, so bear with me on this.  But soon…I will be moving on to bigger things.

            Thank you guys for your continued support, even during my extended leave due to illness.  You are awesome.

            On a personal note, I have seen the comments made by Michael Moore and Seth Rogen about the film.  As I’ve said, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  And with that said, I would like to say that I believe Michael Moore is wrong about snipers.  They are not cowards.  Snipers must make very tough decisions on the fly and are often haunted by those choices.  Sometimes, you have to decide if you must kill a woman to save your company.  Cowards are men who hide behind Twitter and say such terrible things using inexcusably bad grammar

            Just saying.

            ***No copyright infringement is intended.  All opinions expressed in my blog belong to me and this is purely for entertainment purposes.***