Jarhead 2: Field of Fire (2014)

Marine Corporal Chris Merrimette reluctantly takes a promotion from Major James Gavins (Stephen Lang) as the new leader of his supply squad after his sergeant gets killed by the Taliban. He is eager to return to his wife. His unit consists of Corporal Danny Kettner (Bokeem Woodbine), Lance Corporal Dani Allen, Private Rafael Soto, and Private Justin Li. Afghan Army Private Khalid Hassan Abu Faisal joins them on a resupply mission to a dangerous outpost. They are retasked when they pick up a SEAL team trying to evacuate an anti-Taliban activist.The interesting thing about the first Jarhead is that the guy struggled with a war which doesn't need him. This is almost an opposite premise. Chris can't wait to get out of the war that desperately needs him. I'm fine with a completely new premise for a completely new war. There is plenty of gunfire action which is more than what I expect from a TV movie. The realism is debatable and that's no small thing. I really question Kettner pulling Faisal off the garbage pile. It would be more real to run away and let the new Arab take the bomb blast if that's what he wants. That conflict between realistic and unrealistic never goes away. I'm sure others have different ideas. The kill ratio seems high. Several times, the guys wipe out the entire opposition. The final rescue mission seems unrealistic. I don't know why they didn't at least try the Taliban's trucks. The realism questioning goes on and on. It's not Rambo but it's not that far from it. Some of the masked Taliban fighters look white. At least, the setting looks good.

You should note that this is like a vast majority of Hollywood movies - it is a work of fiction designed to provide entertainment to the masses.As a Marine combat veteran, I have yet to see many fictional war movies that are realistic. I'm not so sure that many members of the general public could handle a realistic war movie. While it has its share of inaccurate flaws, I am quick to overlook those, opting to enjoy this as entertainment.And it does provide entertainment. The writers and producers do a reasonably decent job of portraying Marines in a combat environment, despite any specific attention to details that most people will not notice. People watch war movies to see action and effects and to this extent the movie does not disappoint, however inaccurate and unrealistic (like most movies) some of the effects are.The dialogue is a watered down version of many dialogs I encountered while in the Marine Corps so I appreciate them taking the watered down route.While there is not a deep storyline, you will gradually connect with many of the characters. Unfortunately the movie is ruined by the writers killing off most of the people you are pulling for, which is the primary downfall of the movie. The other big downfall to the movie is calling it Jarhead 2, assuming that it is a spin off of the original Jarhead. The only two ways it connects to the original movie is that it focuses on the Marine Corps and it uses Jarhead in the title. Other than that, it is a completely different movie.All in all, if you overlook the inaccuracies, like you should in most movies, and view it as purely entertainment, you will find yourself on the edge of your seat at numerous times.

Oh boy, here we go again. The Hollywood military action movie of the year, and the writers on this 'movie' just spat in the face of The movie Jarhead and everyone involved with that story by even having the same name as it. Where Jarhead showed the flip side of deployment, the stir crazy of waiting, the fear of the unknown, the boredom. This is just another attempt at cashing in of something that worked before. It seem to me that the writers watched The Hurt locker and thought it was a great movie, anyone in the military will tell you other wise, and said to themselves "We can do a movie like this, but let's use marines so we can call it Jarhead 2: fields of fire." I could not get more than 20 minutes through it, and the only reason I wanted to watch it was to see how many mistakes I could find, there are a lot. I'm not going to list any, as there are plenty in other reviews. The main thing about this film is that it is almost like the writers just googled stuff about the military and picked and chose what sounded cool, not knowing anything behind how things really work in the military, like no one in the military says "request permission to do…" or "request permission to speak freely". It's low budget and there is no deeper theme or story behind the action. This is the Marines version of the Hurt Locker

Jarhead 1 was excellent, this one is way too patriotic, with the Americans on the good side, despite most of the war, occident is going now, is just for resources and lobbies interests, I found it a bit hard, to promote such a propaganda, behind such a cheap scenario. It's about American soldier always doing the right thing, because they fight for America, saving lives, and fighting for freedom, but this does not happen in real life.Nowadays, Marines serve for their presidents, who themselves serve the ones that finance their campaigns. Where jarhead 1 was sticking to a more real feel , here not at all. It could have been a good scenario back in a days' when commando was out, but would not be compared to a big title like apocalypse now , full metal jacket, saint soldiers or jarhead 1.