I Am Soldier (2014) Directed by Ronnie Thompson

This may look and sound like yet another cheap and lame action flick but it's actually something totally different and surprisingly effective as well!

You can say that this movie is the British answer to "Act of Valor", only done better and more realistically, in my opinion. It maybe isn't a hyper-realistic or very involving movie but it still successfully manages to create a realistic sort of tone for the movie, by not really following a clear main story, with a conflict in it, so to speak.

I also feel that this movie isn't trying to glorify anything, so you can't 'accuse' it of being a propaganda piece. It's giving a pretty fair and realistic view of a military training and the lives of soldiers, who are trying to make it into the S.A.S.. It's tough, it's brutal and in the end, is it all really worth it? You just make up your own mind about that, once you have finished watching the movie.

Thing I liked about the movie was the minimalist approach of it. Of course this all mostly was because of budget reasons but it actually works out to the movie its own advantage. It sticks to pretty much all of the same characters all throughout and it's never overdramatizing anything, aside from some needless 'Hollywood' developments and other clichés.

I also admit though that the foremost reason why I liked this movie and was pleasantly surprised by it was because of the simple reason that I expected something totally different. I excepted yet another cheap and lame, action movie wannabe, with macho characters, over-the-top action moments and a weak script. What I got instead was a far more 'enjoyable', humble and interesting movie, that I definitely don't regret watching.

It feels like a movie that's truly all about the characters (or at least about its one main character) and it does become an interesting movie to watch in that regard. The plot comes secondary and as this movie shows, that's not always necessarily a bad thing, if you want to create a certain sense of realism and authenticity for your movie.

Really worth giving it a go and just like me, you may end up being pleasantly surprised by it.

7/10

Watch trailer