The saga continues as another U.S. Navy SEAL movie hits theaters. These special operations troops—who are known for working in the shadows—have been put in the public spotlight ever since team members killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

Several movies in the last few years have highlighted the work of U.S. Navy SEALs, including, “Act of Valor,” ”Zero Dark Thirty,” and most recently ,”Lone Survivor.” Despite being the fourth Navy SEAL movie in the last three years, American Sniper rises above the others.

“American Sniper” chronicles the actions of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who is considered to be “the deadliest sniper in U.S. history”, with more kills than any other sniper.

The movie is based on Kyle’s eponymous autobiography that was a New York Times bestseller for 18 consecutive weeks.

As Kyle comes to be known as “The Legend” his reputation as a marksmen spreads across both sides of the battle, to both insurgents and American troops. This makes him to be a target with a hefty price on his head. While simultaneously fighting to save lives on the battlefield, Kyle fights to keep his deteriorating marriage going.
Unlike other films, which have fallen short because of a lack of strong, relatable characters, “American Sniper” has characters that strong and that display the emotions of a high stress job. All this is done without the loss of action and military feel that is expected in a film about Navy SEALs.

Director Clint Eastwood balances action and violence with emotion and poignancy in the 134-minute film. Humor balances out scenes of bloody violence and moments filled with the pains of the returning normalcy after war. Foes in the movie are not feeble opponents, but are instead portrayed as very formidable and deadly as the SEALs are

This film includes a star cast including Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya Renae Kyle. Bradley Cooper’s role in “American Sniper” vastly differs from his role in “Silver Linings Playbook”. Cooper plays a much more serious character, one who deals with the emotional stress of a job where he makes life-and-death decisions while also dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after seeing things that no one would be able to forget.