"Tears of the Sun" review

Tears of the Sun (2003)

Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Writing credits Alex Lasker Patrick Cirillo

Bruce Willis.... Lieutenant A.K. Waters
Monica Bellucci.... Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks
Cole Hauser.... James 'Red' Atkins
Eamonn Walker.... Ellis 'Zee' Pettigrew

Bruce Willis and Co. drop into Nigeria to save a supermodel doctor. She won't leave without her people! So Bruce drags them along too. Moral complications arise as Bruce can't leave anyone behind in the hands of the butchering, evil enemy rebels. Willis tries diplomacy - Navy SEAL's style. Many Africans die horribly.

I was looking forward to this one. I was hoping it would go a little into the current situation in Nigeria. Maybe shed a little light on the goings on there. No dice. They said they were in Nigeria but it could have just as well have been any jungle in the world. African "rebels" are chasing them through the jungle. There you go. What tribe were they? Were they Muslim and the refugees Christian? Was that why the country was at civil war? Does anybody care?

So Bruce Willis has one of those crises of conscience that only affects soldiers in Hollywood movies. He flies over a village and sees dead bodies. This causes him to tell the chopper to turn it around and go back for the refugees. Oh no! Dead bodies?! In a war zone?!! Yikes! Never seen that before! So he disobeys orders for the greater good, the greater good of the movie. Just like a good Hollywood soldier.

On the plus side, there were two good battle scenes. There's one in the middle and one at the end. Things go boom and people go AAAHHH! That's what I paid to see and I was satisfied. If you can handle the usual Hollywood version of war, it's not too bad. Worth a look.

SCORE: 3 out of 4 Willis at war