Entertaining but forgettable
Summary
Tin Soldier tries to shine a light on PTSD which is admirable and it has a great cast with some decent set-pieces; I can’t help feeling that it could have been more, but for a Saturday night explosion fest it does the job.
Plot: The Bokushi offers a program for US combat veterans seeking their “purpose” and path forward. Now the Government is concerned with the rapid rise of this well-armed, highly trained, and eternally devoted Shinjas in the cult-like “Program.”
Review: I was sold on Tin Soldier by the cast alone which includes Scott Eastwood, Robert De Niro and Jamie Foxx. The trailer looked action packed and I’m pleased to say that the movie delivers on that front.
The reviews on IMDb are very low, but it made me laugh because I thought about the meme going around where a guy talks about watching a movie and having a fun time with it then going online and seeing people calling it the worst film they’d ever seen. That’s very much me; I rarely read other reviews for movies, but I did for this one as I wanted to see what people thought. I guess I must be wrong as I had a fun time even if it’s hardly an amazing film. Admittedly, with the talent involved it should have been fantastic, but instead it’s merely a good time that you won’t give much thought to after viewing.
At 86 minutes it rockets along with some enjoyable set-pieces including a final fight scene between Eastwood and Foxx in a flaming ring.
It’s an intriguing story about a soldier called Nash Cavanaugh (Scott Eastwood) with PTSD who escaped a cult only for his wife to be “killed” so when the opportunity comes up for revenge against The Bokushi (Foxx) he eventually agrees. It does have the tired clichés of the protagonist not wanting anything to do with the mission, but we all know he’s going to do it.
It definitely has that streaming movie vibe where you can tell it was probably shot in a brief time period with a limited budget, but there are still regular explosions and a few fight scenes to keep things going.
Overall, Tin Soldier doesn’t make the most of its excellent cast, but I still had a good time with it as it has a few entertaining set-pieces and a pleasingly short runtime.