Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 1 min
Director. Antoine Fuqua
Cast. Monica Bellucci, Cole Hauser, Tom Skerritt, Bruce Willis.
Rating. 62%
Following a successful career directing music videos in the 1990s for the likes of Toni Braxton, Coolio and Usher, Antoine Fuqua burst onto the scene with the criminally under-rated The Replacement Killers, before gaining widespread acclaim for Training Day in 2001. Since then, Fuqua has established a solid back catalogue, including Shooter, Olympus Has Fallen, Southpaw, The Magnificent Seven and The Guilty.
In Tears Of The Sun the initial premise is promising enough. An elite Navy SEALS team is sent to extract US citizen, Dr Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) from a remote Nigerian village before rebel soldiers arrive, and massacre the entire village.
However, the film is ultimately let down by significant holes in the storyline, crucial to investment in the action.
Firstly, there is minimal character development. The result is a squad of eight one-dimensional characters whose names I struggle to recall, let alone any illuminating backstories.
Secondly, Lieutenant A. K. Waters (Bruce Willis), a hardened military veteran, unconvincingly abandons the original mission and disobeys orders from his commanding officer at the first sight of ethnic cleansing. Surely the lieutenant has encountered equally horrific atrocities in previous campaigns.
Saying that, the opening hour of Tears Of The Sun is strong, very strong - including an incredibly intense sequence when the rebel forces come within a few metres of the Navy SEALS and the refugees in the dense jungle. This sequence is wonderfully handled by Fuqua. But the closer the refugees get to the Cameroon border, the more ridiculous Tears Of The Sun becomes.
A film that initially threatened to be on par with Black Hawk Down ends up as military jingoistic bravado. Oorah!
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