Kandahar

This is a perfectly good movie. The comparisons to The Covenant, Guy Ritchie's movie with Jake Gyllenhaal are understandable, and while there are some similarities, it is not a like for like by any means. There are in fact many differences. I won't spell them out for fear of giving spoilers, but if you watch both movies you will get my point. Gerard Butler does seem to be the go to guy for an awful lot of action movies over the last five plus years, but there is a good reason for that. He meets the requirements of a Hollywood hero very well; handsome, likeable, tough and and pretty decent actor for the most part. I enjoyed the movie and would recommend to anyone who likes action/military type movies.

This is an interesting movie, the storyline is pretty normal, CIA operative is exposed and must make it to friendly lines while being hunted by a bunch of evil people.

Its Afghanistan so there are more twists and turns than a roller coaster ride. The usual explosions, killings and destruction you would expect from a thriller movie.

Gerard Butler gives an awesome gritty performance and manages to pull out an otherwise predictable movie and provide the same determination of the "... Has Fallen" movies.

It displays the multiple players in that area of the country. And shows the various players in what is a very complicated part of the world.

3 out of 5 stars.

Kandahar is a fair espionage action thriller film about a CIA operative whos cover is blown. And he and his translator need to escape the country. Plot is okay. The script lacks in building the character and story. The script tries to follow different characters with there story but never pulls through completely. Leaving it feeling shallow. The action sequences are okay. Nothing too exciting or thrilling. Gerard Butler is great. But the direction just felt shallow with its story. The pacing is also slow for the first half. When the action does pick up it doesnt help capture any interest. Overall, it is an okay film that could have been better.

An OK movie with nice action scenes... Very flawed when it comes to script, and one of the worst jobs in soundtracking (songs have absolutely nothing to do with the scenes).

But acting is solid, it has nice visuals, camera work is nice, director does a reasonably good job.

You can watch it for the nice actions sequences and ok plot, but the movie is quite forgettable in terms of writing and does not know what it really wants...tries to focus on too many things (character drama, action, war, politics) but not cohesively.

Anyway...nice fun, nice action, but do not expect much more than that.

(I'm done but I still have to type a fewore characters before IMDb allows me to publish)

Butler is always good for the slick action movie, and has made a career as some of the most consistent action stars. While he never achieved anything compared to 300, it's hard to point a finger at a film that did not entertain.

Butler goes somewhat beyond his limited range in Kandahar with some success. There is a real attempt to create character and suspense, which is at points refreshing and at points boring. Nothing is revolutionary, the baddies get some lines of dialogue (be warned, you will have to read a lot of subtitles!) and there is some sad music playing, but that's about the extent of it. Richie's Covenant also tackles the same setting, with overall better results.

The ending is predictable and ridiculous, devolving into explosion city, but what did I expect?

There is about 20 mins to be cut from this, but it has enough going for it that I can forgive the draggy parts, and appreciate the attempt at substance.

7/10 - if your expectations are right...