There is a fair bit of on field action, which primarily portrays the soldiers in good light and most of the local residents are either double crossing agents or bad guys. Perhaps that is what Kyle came across during his encounters. Much like what we saw in The Hurt Locker, being in the middle of the action almost becomes an obsession. While it celebrates the heroics of a soldier on the duty, it also laments about war and its final outcome.

Based on Kyle’s autobiography, much like Hurt Locker, Eastwood’s drama plays to the conservative gallery sidestepping the politics of war. Almost forgetting that Kyle died not on the war front but at a Texas shooting range. It is silent on the effect of his celebrity status on the society around him.

Kyle is presented as an uber hero on the run from an uber (also sniper) villain, and it turns into a standard issue thriller, in fact a lesser version of ‘The Green Zone’, rather than the epic biopic you expect it to be. And if you’re looking for some gunplay action in a war thriller, ‘American Sniper’ doesn’t even achieve anything substantial on that front.

American Sniper fails to effectively answer the questions it raises and truth be told, Bradley Cooper’s performance was the only thing that ‘hit the mark’.

The film, based on a book co-written by Kyle himself, will make you flinch at both the relentless fighting and the unilateral view the Americans in its midst have of it.

American Sniper is blunt, uncomfortable, and thought-provoking. At 84, Eastwood can still play a young man’s game. Don’t miss this film.

…it’s a gripping film, but an uncomfortable one. Watch it for Cooper’s powerful acting performance and liberals, don’t beat yourself up if it takes till the end for you to realize Eastwood conned you into caring for a messed-up man with a bloodlust.

Eastwood creates enough drama and tension, which makes American Sniper a terrific film!

Clint Eastwood is at his best so American Sniper shouldn’t be missed.

Despite being intrinsically American, the film might actually appeal to a certain section of the political spectrum, even in India. However, it could have been infinitely better.

Not quite as mindlessly gory as Lone Survivor, not quite as brutal and sensitive as Fury, American Sniper is a middle ground that is as masala as a war biopic can get.

American Sniper’s soul is Bradley Cooper…For all the bravado of Kyle, American Sniper lacks courage to realistically see the perils of war.

Watch the film for an earnest performance by Bradley Cooper. The actor is in top form as Chris Kyle and offers a lot of depth. It has enough edge-of-the-seat moments, coupled with a stellar soundtrack and POV shots. But honestly, this film would have been better off as a documentary rather than a feature-length film where we are exposed to civilians being butchered and murder being glorified.

American Sniper is hard-hitting, no doubt, and predominantly a performance-oriented film, where Cooper shines. It isn’t the Clint Eastwood classic you expect it to be, though.