Lone Survivor (2013)

Lone Survivor (2013)

Not to be confused with the recent box office abortion The Lone Ranger, Lone Survivor is a gritty war flick depicting the gruelling life of US marines, focusing on the true events of operation Red Wings.  The last war movie I saw in theatres was Act of Valor, which I thought to be nothing more than a ra ra ra American propaganda movie.

'Murica

 I expected something similar with Lone Survivor, but I was pleasantly surprised both by the acting and the story line.  Of course I expected the action scenes to be top notch, and in that regard I wasn’t disappointed.

The Plot

Operation Red Wings is basically an assassination mission.  A squad of four soldiers are sent behind enemy lines to seek out and eliminate a notorious Taliban terrorist leader.  They have intel that indicates he is residing in a small mountain village, guarded heavily.  The intel proves true as the squad positively IDs their mark, unfortunately the mountains persistently interfere with their coms, eliminating their ability to communication with their commander.  They are forced to move up the mountain, hoping to re-establish communications.  After another failed attempt at opening the coms, the squad must dig in and get some shuteye.  

A sharp snap in the woods acts as a rude awakening to the sleeping soldiers.  An old man and two young boys inadvertently wander into the wrong neck of the woods while herding their goats.  One misstep and the squads position is compromised, forcing them to act.  A difficult choice lies ahead; kill the three intruders, one of which is a clear Taliban informant, or let them unharmed.  After much debate, morality wins out and the prisoners are released.  The squad couldn’t have anticipated one of the boys was a parcour champion, racing down the mountain to inform the Taliban of the unwanted American visitors.  Within hours, Taliban troops descend upon the squad, and the marines are in the gunfight of their lives.  Will it be their last?  According to the title, things don’t look good for 75% of the lads. 

My Take

Spoiler, there is only one survivor in Lone Survivor.  I’m curious as to who thought it would be a good idea to name the film that.  Don’t get me wrong, the movie is great, but the title itself is a major spoiler.  If you’re one of the squad mates hoping to survive a movie called Lone Survivor and you look to your left and see one of your mates is Mark Wahlberg, you know you’re fucked. 

I think I may be the Lone Survivor

The title also totally negates Wahlberg’s dramatic will he/won’t he death scene, especially when he is the one narrating it, essentially telling us “yo don’t sweat it, I survive!”  Being based on a true story, some people may have already known the outcome of the film.  Personally I didn’t know a thing about Operation Red Wings prior to this movie (as I’m sure a lot of other folks didn’t either), so the film could have maybe hidden the ending a bit more for us noobs.  That being said, there were a ton of surprises along the way, though the ending was never in doubt.

I was happy that the film took enough time with each character to make them likable before they inevitably die.  Incredibly, I went through phases in which every soldier was my favorite at one point during the film.  Though I didn’t fall for the “we all have wives at home” relationships that were forced down our throats early on, it was the fact that they all proved to be total badasses that I though made each marine memorable.    

I would also like to congradulate Taylor Kitsch for making his first good movie in a while.  Dude seriously had a rough stretch of flops recently and I am glad to see he’s clawing his way back into the light.

Except these, these ones were good right guys....guys

Though this movie starts slow, the buildup is worth it.  The firefights felt real, and every headshot was completely satisfying.  There weren’t a lot of jump cuts or shaky camera tricks, enhancing the realism.  The scenes with soldiers falling down cliffs were very intense and you could almost feel the bone crushing impacts.  .  Usually in action films, the hero absorbs bullets and sustains bone breaks like they’re nothing, simply wrapping them up and forgetting about them minutes later.  The amount of abuse the marines took before they broke was incredible, though you could definitely tell they felt the pain. 

The Verdict

Both the story and the action were great.  At two hours the movie didn’t overdo it, nothing pisses me off more than sitting through a needlessly long movie (I’m looking at you Robin Hood).  Lone Survivor is the best war movie I’ve seen in a long time, and is definitely worth a watch.  All the respect in the world to the men and women who serve.

8.0/10