Tears of the Sun (2003)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of the best depictions of what it's really like in a civil war in Africa, I remember Rwanda on the news and that was horrendous, this movie doesn't push it that far or it would have been R rated, the actors done a great job of depicting the struggle between what's right and orders. 9/10

In my mind, very few war movies have what it takes to depict the deadliness and sharp minded honed warrior psychology of an elite killing machine. This movie is more than just a war movie, it's a testament to hunters of the shadows, to demons in your sleep, it lends a vision into United States Navy SEALs that wait in the waters edge as you fetch a basket by the river or who keenly train their eyes on your movements in the dark green fizzled hue of night vision optics. It's got that....aurora about it. A mysticism surrounding the modern elite. When these modern elite are sent into the jungles of Africa their mission is simple; ascertain a western doctor in a feel good near Yolingo and bring her back to the extraction point. Things don't turn out as they seem, and so this SEAL team is forced to hike to the nearest extraction with more than what they bargained for. Hot on their tails are an entire rebel army, who vigorously peruse the SEAL team through rain, wind and weather. What follows is perhaps the coolest depiction of jungle combat, clandestine ops and hidden concealment. Tears of the Sun, a classic in its own right.

OK, before I continue with the actual review, I want to make one thing clear - I believe Antoine Fuqua is among the best action profiled film directors ever. The man is a real master of the genre, being able to do a Die Hard type of an action film just as easily as he is able to adopt John Woo's style when he needs to. And 'Tears of the Sun' is yet another proof of that - the action scenes are nicely staged, the visuals are very good, the pacing is fine...And, still, I just couldn't finish it? Well, first, there is the acting - while Bruce Willis is as great as he always is, Monica Belluci is just horrible. Honestly, I think this woman only has a career because of her looks and for no other reason. (Or may be she is better when she isn't acting in English. I have seen some French speaking roles of hers and I didn't hate her.) There is no doubt that she is incredibly beautiful, but her role here requires more than beauty - to be blunt, when you are supposed to be an incredibly talented doctor, shoving your breasts in the viewers' eyes just can't cut it. Not when the movie is so serious in tone - and 'Tears of the Sun' is dead serious.Which leads me to the next problem of this movie - the writing. Normally I wouldn't comment on a movie's writing if I haven't seen it in its entirety, but this time I just have to - because it is horrible. The tone is, as I said, dead serious, but, at the same time, the main characters are just... Well, they are the Expendables - a bunch of indestructible warriors, capable of killing hundreds of enemies, they will save the day, they will save the world, they will save the beautiful doctor with the big breasts and they will do it for America!!! And there would be no problem with that if the movie was a comedy like 'The Expendables'. But when the filmmakers are trying to actually convey a message... Well, it doesn't ring true, to say the least.And I wanted to like this movie.

Well yes this is a lovely film if you want to ignore reality and be blinded by clichéd rubbish, but there were so many points in the film where it was so obvious that it was part of the military industrial complex's PR department that it might as well have been daubed on billboards. The US soldiers for no good reason going into a village to save people and making every effort to only kill the bad guys without any innocent casualties, to the point of being embarrassed when confronted by a naked woman. Please. Come on. Make an effort. Why have we got to be confronted by crap like this continuously??? Does nobody have any idea what US soldiers did in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam etc? The only reason for this film is to glorify US soldiers and make poor 16 year olds dream of following in Bruce Willis's footsteps, i.e going to Africa, saving lots of people, impressing women, and coming home with just one scratch on your face rather than one or more limbs missing.