Act of Valor Review

Act of Valor is, according to the opening titles, "based on real acts of valor," whatever that means. It stars real active-duty Navy SEALs, and much of it was filmed with live-fire ammunition. None of the above works to strengthen the muddled movie's dramatic narrative, but the film's boasted authenticity — including cameos from the latest in military hardware — and its closing dedication "to all the warriors headed downrange in the future" make clear the principal aim: This is a lavish recruiting tool.

After a suicide bombing at the International School in Jakarta, a sketchily characterized SEAL team must deploy to the likes of Costa Rica, the Sudan and Mexico to follow the border-hopping conspiracy of a Jihadist network led by a Ukrainian-born convert to Islam, Abul Shabal (Jason Cottle), arranging to purchase the latest in suicide-bomb technology from his boyhood friend, an arms dealer (Alex Veadov).

The villains come across as individuals rather more compellingly than do the film's ostensible heroes. You might argue that individual faces don't matter here, as individuals aren't the heroes of Act of Valor so much as is the organization, the unit. But if this is an homage to teamwork, it's no great shakes at clarifying how the team works. Tactical clarity largely escapes Act of Valor: It's all about you-are-there adrenaline injections, a string of jolts to work up an appetite for the real thing. —Nick Pinkerton (Citywide)

 
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Dentrj
Dentrj

The reviewer reveals himself in his very first line:

"Act of Valor is, according to the opening titles, "based on real acts of valor," whatever that means."

The very idea of valor is an incomprehensible joke to him. It's as though he's the embodiment COL Jessup's object of contempt in A Few Good Men, when he said "We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! "

Highly entertaining movie. The guys are clearly not actors, and the dialogue is a bit stilted in places, but what they lack in acting chops, they make up for in spades in genuineness. Their actions and demeanor portray an authenticity that actors simply could not have pulled off.

I don't even like action movies normally, but loved this one.

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The "Hot Extraction" scene literally knocked me off my seat, People in the movie theater around me were gasping. No amount of Hollywood money, slow motion or special effects will ever capture the intensity of that scene. It WILL make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Joe M
Joe M

The writer here is an agenda driven dick. He's anti military and pro Obama! He's one reason why we real americans will crush Obama and this loser writer with a fat belly.

Guest
Guest

Good luck with all that, GI Joe...

Billbrick
Billbrick

I saw this film as an advanced screening and everyone in the audience loved it. They were clapping and cheering at the end of the movie. This may not be a critics choice but I beieve the public will love this movie.

 

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