Bullet Points: Jarhead: Law of Return
I can’t stand Jake Gyllenhaal. He seems like he’s a pretty good actor and he’s obviously willing to take on a bunch of different roles but he just seems like a little bitch to me and I can’t accept him as some badass dude. I watched him in Jarhead all those years ago and laughed my ass off at him crying at the end so I’m really hoping this sequel which is probably just riding the coattails of that movie, isn’t a bunch of guys whining about shooting someone.
Synopsis: Major Ronan Jackson (Devon Sawa), an accomplished fighter pilot for the Israel Defense Forces and son of a U.S. Senator (Robert Patrick), is shot down while flying through Syrian airspace. After miraculously surviving the crash, Jackson is taken captive by a group of Hezbollah militiamen. A gripping and powerful story packed with hard-hitting action, Jarhead: Law of Return follows a squad of elite Marine Raiders, led by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Torres (Amaury Nolasco), as they risk their own lives in the hopes of saving an ally they’ve never met. Written by Universal Pictures Home Entertianment
- The Opening: The film starts with Amaury Nolasco talking about a mission that went a bit wrong. He’s the leader of a Marine team that has seen lots of action over the years and has just lost one of their own. His character’s name is Torres, and we just know that his team is going to be put into a situation that tests them once more.
- Sawa action: Devon Sawa, star of Final Destination and other movies that were popular 15 years ago shows up as Jackson. He’s an American who serves in the Israeli military as a fighter pilot and also bangs a hot Israeli chick. Imagine my surprise when just a few minutes into the movie we get to see some lovely nakedness.
- Sorry: Devon looks great but he’s about to get captured by some bad guys and tortured all to hell. The film shifts gears pretty quickly and gets super serious about the tension in that whole area and I found myself feeling somewhat uncomfortable as I only signed up for this movie to see some stupid action. I don’t care to be propaganda’ed to death and this one was borderline trying that.
- Piecing it together: The film introduces Robert Patrick as Senator Jackson, the father of Devon Sawa, and we instantly know that he’s not going to get out of this unharmed. The entire story of this film is Devon Sawa getting his shit kicked in while the joint American/Israeli forces try to find him.
- The boys: I really enjoyed the back and forth between the soldiers during the movie. They give each other tons of shit and that seems pretty on point from my experiences. It takes a little bit before the men start appreciating each other and there are plenty of things to chuckle about but they eventually get there.
- Shootouts: The gunfights in Jarhead 4…or 5…or whatever this one is, are actually quite good. They don’t mess around when it comes to budget for the shootouts and these puppies have plenty of the explosions that you would expect from this type of movie. There isn’t any Jake Gyllenhaal crying in this thing, either. These guys straight up kill 50 people and just keep moving on.
- The real stars: I think the real standouts in this film are the actors involved. You won’t feel that any of the actors involved here are miscast and at no point did I want someone to disappear. There are a few recognizable stars with Sawa, Robert Patrick, and Nolasco but the entire cast makes the most of their time on screen. The film definitely doesn’t do anything special with the story, characters, or script, but everything is good enough to give the film a passing grade.
The Verdict: The film clearly plays the American/Israeli alliance as the good guys in this one. I can say that I agree with it as an American, but now I get why there are so many horrible reviews for this film out there. Action films with political messages used to be par for the course but now the globalized world is kicking the shit out of films like this when it comes to ratings and scores on review sites. The action scenes are well above average and I found myself really digging the amount of rockets and explosions in the gun battles. The film goes for realistic fighting instead of some Expendables-style nonsense and it really fits with the subject matter. I’ve only ever seen the first Jarhead movie and I absolutely hated it so this one was a welcomed surprise. If you’re looking for some Pro-Israeli action cinema then this is probably it.
Confused: An American Marine General (4 Star) with Sergeant stripes on his sleeve. SO what rank was he??
Many senseless deaths, no drone coverage at first part of the sooo high priority mission (close to the entrance gate), no designated marksman in the team. Tier 1 guys at night, with plain Eotechs mounted. CQB with NV switched on and flashlights constantly switched on? No designated marksman in the team. Noooo. Not even plain flash hiders/suppressors on M4 and subsonic ammo? This is a joke. No thermal vison? Another pun. SAA guy shooting through at least IIIA armor plate with AKSU? Not happening. Attack on convoy having 12,7 mm mounted machine gun and using M4’s instead? Silly. Some shit just would not have happen and such guys as depicted are not a cannon fodder. Only the story about US-Israel alliance is good built and well balanced, with promising actorship.
Four star with NCO stripes?! Some things a person cannot unwatch…..who was the military advisor for this movie?
If ever there was a movie that demanded a military consultant/advisors, this was the one. So many military inaccuracies in this crappy film. I guess Hollyweird thinks that so few Americans have served and or have knowledge of the facts of military uniforms, equipment, weaponry…that we are irrelevant and have no impact on the success or failure of their films.