Sand Castle

Netflix has been really active in the film space lately, and Sand Castle is its latest product. This time, we’re taken to Iraq. Honestly, I didn’t quite grasp the story, which was supposed to revolve around fixing a water pumping station (it just seemed a bit absurd to me), but in the end, it somehow came together, and the result wasn’t so bad. If a more renowned director had taken the helm (no offense to Fernando Coimbra), the result could have been several notches higher. The cast, apart from two names, was mostly unfamiliar to me. Nicholas Hoult in the lead role neither disappointed nor impressed, while with Henry Cavill, I was annoyed that he didn’t get more screen time. The action scenes and shootouts were decent and felt realistic, but there weren’t enough of them, which is a problem for a film with a military theme. At least the dialogues weren’t cringe-worthy; they made sense, and the viewer walked away with the sense that the whole situation was ultimately pointless, which was perfectly illustrated by the scene of the repaired station, just before a suicide bomber blew it up, resetting everything. It could have turned out much worse. I give it 68%. (04.06.2017)

A war film that is about war, but partly against war. A movie about when some soldiers realize they didn't actually know what they were getting into when they signed up for the army, and in the end, they find out that real war is pretty awful. I can't help it, but this is such an uninspired and defensively presented movie that it disgusts me. (24.05.2017)

Another useless effort in the desert where trying to help equals only more deaths. The action doesn't particularly stand out, the catchphrases are few, and the theme of repairing water pipes isn't exactly substantial, albeit very realistic. I had a big problem with Hoult's final epiphany, it felt out of place, and overall knocks Sand Castle down a lot. PS: Excellent role for Henry "spray my dog" Cavill. “I hope you get shot and fucking die. Don’t translate that!” (12.03.2023)