Rating (1 to 10) : 4
Summary: A group of Navy SEAL team, led by Lt. Waters, is sent to extract an American doctor working at a missionary in a remote part of Nigeria because a civil war is raging. Then plans change.
Bruce Willis is Lt. Waters, commander of a Navy SEAL team. He and his team are sent deep into a remote part of Nigeria to extract a Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), an American citizen working at a missionary as a doctor, before the Nigerian rebels arrive at the missionary. Things don’t turn out as planned when Kendricks refuses to leave the native Nigerians at the missionary unless Waters leads them to safety across the border to Cameroon.
What else but Lt. Waters changes his mind after watching the suffering of the victims of the civil war. I considered this somewhat implausible since Lt. Waters doesn’t look like the kind of soldier who would disobey orders and diverge from his mission. Now Lt. Waters must lead a group of refugees to the border after violating orders, without much support from the US forces off the coast. There are some surprises on the way - Lt. Waters can’t figure out why the Nigerian troops are so persistent in pursuing a group of unimportant refugees.
Bruce Willis’ acting is lacking, especially after his great performance in his previous war movie “Hart’s War”. Compared to his acting as Col. McNamara in “Hart’s War”, he doesn’t have the presence of a military leader and doesn’t portray the self-confidence that someone like Lt. Waters should have to do something risky such as disobeying orders to save refugees.
Monica Bellucci, as Dr. Kendricks, is supposed to be the love interest that never seems to materialize between her and Lt. Waters. She is the sex figure and her acting was forgettable. Cole Hauser (Red) joins Bruce Willis again after “Hart’s War” and his role underutilizes him. Tom Skerritt plays Capt. Rhodes, Lt. Water’s superior – he always seems to talk to Lt. Waters on the (noisy) flight deck via a walkie-talkie; if he’s the captain, doesn’t he have access to better equipment in a quieter communication center?
The director, Antoine Fuqua, wanted this movie to send a message; that we should not stand by while Africans are committing genocide against each other. Unfortunately for him, the strength of the message, like the movie itself, is weak.