An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.
If the politics are simplistic – think Team America – the performances (by real, anonymous SEALs) are even more so.
Another reason to avoid films endorsed by the US military, this is sub-propaganda tosh that inadvertently plays like Hot Shots: Part Trois.
It’s no surprise to learn that Act Of Valor was once intended as a recruitment film, because what we are presented with here is so ridiculously gung ho, it makes Top Gun look like All Quiet On The Western Front.
The action scenes are impressive, but the decision to let the lads in camouflage do some of the acting was a major no-no.
One can forgive the political simplicity and stilted performances, much less excusable is the unexciting plot, run-of-the-mill action and non-existent characterization.
The film is almost unashamedly a recruitment video for future Seals, but let’s hope possession of a PlayStation 3 doesn’t become the sole condition for enrolling.
Operates on more levels than Call of Combat IV: Jihadi Headshot, all of them despair-inducing.
Featuring real Navy Seals, live ammunition and a script apparently written by someone who didn’t realise Team America was a parody.
Excruciating.
Their leaden banter and awkward body language are compounded by a macho voiceover so portentous ("One twig may break, but a bunch of twigs is strong") it could be a parody. Only it's not.
Its flag-waving may be risible but the action scenes are something else.
Amateurish.
The shoot-outs are realistically staged, the body count is roughly one American to around 20 of their foes, and this being a propaganda picture on identical lines to those of the second world war, there's no room for any sort of respect for the enemy or any understanding of his motives. For this reason, though not for this alone, Act of Valour is a distasteful and foolish film.
Act of Valour might work as a recruiting poster for impressionable teenagers, but those who bravely serve in the armed forces deserve a better tribute [than] the naïve, sub-Team America nonsense served up here.
Act of Valour shows that the US military should stay out of the movies
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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