Review
TEARS OF THE SUN
Starring Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci and Tom Skerritt
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Opens Friday, March 7
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War movies are great because even when soldiers refuse to follow orders and violate the rules of engagement, they still manage to do the right thing. The new Bruce Willis vehicle, Tears of the Sun, offers audiences some pro-American propaganda, but fails to commit to any other ideas.
From "Somewhere off the coast of Africa," Willis leads his elite military group into the Nigerian jungle to find four aid humanitarian workers and bring them to safety. What begins as a simple "drop and extract" becomes more complicated as Willis and his men begin to understand the plight of the Nigerian people caught in the crossfire.
Dull and predictable, the story is tired and overworked. Nothing more than a low-rent amalgam of Three Kings and Black Hawk Down, this film doesn’t even come close to its predecessors. Black Hawk Down had a questionable political stance, but the filmmaking was technically outstanding. In Three Kings, it was easy to believe that a band of Gulf War grunts who had never seen combat would have no idea what was going on.
It’s doubtful that the soldiers in Tears of the Sun – whose job it is to jump out of planes behind enemy lines in the middle of the night and kill people with their bare hands – are equally naive. And aside from some good-looking night sequences, director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) leaves cinematic style at the door.
Too slow to be an action movie, and lacking the character development needed for a drama, Tears of the Sun is limp and inconsistent. Much like the U.S. government, the film tries to make up for its shortcomings with a massive military offensive. The result is a group of men running through the jungle with only their haircuts to define them, as they whisper, "C’mon, let’s get these people out of here."
Good advice, especially for the audience. |
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