In a state of war, decisions are often extremely easy (and they have to be), but in relative peace time, complicated doesn't even begin to describe it.
This is a pretty tense film. My heart is still racing a bit and the movie ended over an hour ago. This is a very good movie around the rules of engagement using drone strikes. It also happens to be Alan Rickman's final performance, and it's a good one.
The first half of the movie is excellent, stressful and smart. I think it gets a LITTLE long in the tooth in the 2nd part, especially by the end. We sort of 'get it' eventually that drone strikes into friendly nations are a little complicated and military and political interests aren't the same. My favourite part is how different the US and the UK handle these things. Those were some of my favourite sequences.
I was a little surprised the Air Force hired such soft flight officers but I know little, if anything, of the military so I could be off on that.
In terms of performances, Helen Mirren is fantastic as a very focused and determined Colonel. Alan Rickman is good fun as her General, and friends of his say that this character is the closest he's ever been on film to who he actually is in real life. When I saw Iain Glen as the Foreign Secretary, I was very concerned that I was only going to see the Game of Thrones character like I did with Cpt. Plasma in Star Wars and such. But he quickly got into the role with strong purpose and took me far from Westeros so that wasn't a problem. Barkhad Abdi is sensational as a friendly local Somali/Kenyan field agent. Really strong performance once again. In fact, all of the actors portraying Kenyans were terrific.
It's a little heavy-handed in the end, but it's a fun experience in the cinema. I would strongly recommend it. I really hope people see it so I can debate the whole propaganda aspect (political), I found that argument the most compelling in the film. This is very much a more modern Crimson Tide in many respects.
Heart rating: 4.5 stars
Brain rating: 4 stars