400 Bullets(2021) review
For a very long time, I haven't watched Hollywood soldier war movies, and that is because I really got fed up with the few ones I had watched before. I eventually decided to shift my attention elsewhere due to their mostly unrelatable storylines. However, I had the prompting to give it a shot again yesterday, and I felt good after watching 400 Bullets.
The movie started with a group of soldiers delivering missiles to a destination, and along the line, they were intercepted by the Talibans. Unknown to Noah, it was a planned setup by his squad — all of the soldiers pretending to be dead, leaving only Noah to engage in battle with the Talibans. He managed to escape the scene with the briefcase containing the keys to the missiles.
After Noah left, the supposedly “dead” soldiers woke up from their fake slumber and started questioning the Talibans about why they didn’t kill Noah and only injured him instead. The Talibans then went after Noah to finish the job and retrieve the briefcase while the soldiers waited for them to return.
With his stomach shot, Noah struggled to make it to a nearby soldier base camp, which had only two soldiers present because the rest had gone on patrol. Nara, one of the soldiers at the camp, saw Noah and welcomed him after he explained that the Talibans were chasing him. Nara did not panic at first; they both planned to stay calm and hide while the Talibans searched and left. But hell was let loose when the Talibans killed the second soldier in the camp. That was when Nara charged up and fought back fiercely, managing to kill the Talibans alongside Noah.
The soldiers who had been waiting for the Talibans to return with the briefcase grew suspicious when they didn’t get any feedback. Realizing something had gone wrong, they headed to the camp along with the remaining Talibans, and that was where the greater war scene unfolded.
The storyline is as clear as I have narrated it. There was no confusion, but rather, there was a good level of suspense at each stage — especially when Nara discovered that the soldiers Noah thought had been killed by the Talibans had actually faked their deaths and betrayed him during the mission.
One of the things I appreciated most about the movie is that there were no unnecessary exaggerations — no endless phone calls, no hall full of computers, and no forced, overblown tech integrations. It is simple, straightforward, and relatable.
The decision to use fewer characters in the movie was also a good one. It focused mainly on a small group of soldiers on a mission, with Nara, the soldier at the seemingly abandoned camp, taking a central role. The Talibans, although they stole some good scenes, were not deeply fleshed out in terms of individual identity, except for one called Amir — but even he did not stand out much from the others. Nevertheless, everyone played their roles perfectly, and I really like the casting choices.
Shortcomings:
The only shortcoming I noticed in this movie is something generally associated with films of this nature. The way main characters sustain critical injuries — from bullets, knife cuts, and brutal beatings — yet somehow remain alive and even continue fighting is quite unrealistic, meanwhile, other characters that received just a small blow died on the spot. Lol😂
In this movie, Noah and Nara suffered severe injuries. They were pierced by knives, shot multiple times, and badly beaten to the point of being covered in blood from their stomachs, shoulders, and mouths — yet they survived. While I personally wanted them to live, since killing either of them would have given the storyline a sad and less satisfying ending, I still feel the script pushed their survival a little too far. They were fighting on legs that could barely stand, enduring pain that would realistically leave anyone unconscious, yet they kept going.
Still, I absolutely love the movie, especially considering it is the first soldier war film I am watching after a very long time. I am giving it a solid 9.3/10.
Here is a trailer;
https://youtu.be/4ZZZiG13Dhg?si=Ts1J-yZxBZwLdnHo
Thanks for reading.
Cover photo: Imdb
Other photos: Screenshots