As The Observer noted yesterday, the new action film Act of Valor was intended as a recruitment film for the U.S. Navy SEALs. Film critics seem to have caught on! Herewith, a list of critics who’ve caught on to the military’s game:
- “Unsurprisingly, the finished product plays like a pumped-up recruitment commercial deemed fit for feature length and multiplex viewing.” —Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times
- “As a no-holds-barred recruiting video, Act of Valor kicks all sorts of ass. As an actual movie, however, it barely coheres.” —Bilge Ebiri, New York
- “A mechanically efficient yet soulless dramatization of the U.S. Navy SEALs in action, “Act of Valor” ultimately misses its target: The hearts and minds of American audiences.” —Robert Koehler, Variety
- “In Act of Valor, a recruitment poster loosely disguised as a movie, the story is fictional but the leading men are not.” —Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
- “Considering Act of Valor is, at its heart, a multi-million-dollar U.S. military recruitment video, it’s fitting that the film opens with a commercial message from directors Mike ‘Mouse’ McCoy and Scott Waugh.” —Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
- “A Navy recruitment poster riding a wave of well-deserved Navy SEAL enthusiasm, “Act of Valor” arrives disguised as a feature.” —James Verniere, Boston Herald
- “The U.S. Navy should slash its recruiting budget and just schedule screenings of Act of Valor. Hollywood meets propaganda in this rah-rah action film about an elite group of Navy Seals who circle the globe battling terrorism.” —Leah Rozen, The Wrap
- “The question: What is it? Is it a documentary? A docudrama? A rescue mission re-enactment? A lengthy commercial from the Navy’s PR department? No, yes, sort of and yes.” —Clint O’Connor, Cleveland Plain Dealer
- “Having a real Navy SEAL team as the stars of a fictional action adventure film adds a frightening realism to the traditional shoot-em-up Act of Valor. Michael Bay has some serious competition now that Act of Valor co-directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh have upped the ante on military action films.” —Justin Craig, Fox News
