American Sniper review

Poster from American Sniper movie

By Tara Kingland

How many movies have you gone to that end with the audience applauding what they just watched on the big screen? After watching American Sniper this weekend, I can now say I have been to three.

I saw this movie Friday night, Jan. 23, at Cinema West in Mason City. The theater was packed to the point people were asking other people to move their seats so they would have enough room for their group. This was another thing I don’t usually see happen at a movie.

When I watch movies I try to find the hidden lesson to be learned. So when another viewer, who had also attended that night, asked me if I liked it, I responded with “yes and no”.

I feel this movie had multiple lessons it was trying to share with the audience; lessons about what war is like, lessons about what soldiers go through, and lessons about what their families go through. War is an ugly thing and has both positive and negative effects on anyone that is involved with it, whether directly or indirectly.

“I really want to see that,” said senior Molly Maschka. “I want to see the movie because I’ve grown up watching military movies with my parents and I have cousins who are serving our country. Plus I guess this movie gives us a different insight on the war that has been continuing on for forever.”

If you don’t do well with violence or foul language, this movie may not be for you. However, I generally don’t watch too many movies that include that stuff, but after the first couple minutes I honestly didn’t even notice it because I was so entranced by the story.

If you like action, if you like stories about war, or if you just want to see a story about war told from a different viewpoint rather than the traditional war story, American Sniper is a must see.