Jarhead 2: Field of Fire

When I first saw that there was going to be a sequel to Jarhead I already felt disappointed, I was a huge fan of the first movie and did not feel it ever needed a sequel. Hearing that it was action in this movie made me even worse as one of the main themes of the first Jarhead was the lack of action.

However I must say after watching this I would say I was pleasantly surprised and do not feel it soiled the Jarhead name like one of those sequels that makes fans pretend it never happened. It started off slow and uninteresting. I thought the main character himself was quite underdeveloped but once this movie gets going you do start to care for these characters. I think the main character could have been a lot more human than just being a marine as I couldn't relate to him. Warning lots of Hu-Rah's and Hell Yea's.

The script itself could have done with a little more polishing with some scenes feeling they could have had more of an impact but there is some intense scenes in this movie which is what I like in an action movie. There was one or two cliché moments but aside from that this was a pretty strong movie. It carried some important messages about how bad situations build great bonds. It also has the sort of Saving Private Ryan "How can one person be so important" cliché. It still pulls it off though.

So go into this with an open mind unlike me. Go in and just have a good time with this.

I personally don't mind if more Jarhead movies come out now as long as they all carry different messages and they are made to be stand alone movies.

I'm not a fan of the first "Jarhead" film, that was one of the most disappointing & boring "War" films I've ever seen & yes i got that was the point abit you know the frustrating part lol anyway that was crap but this by name only Sequel "Jarhead 2: Field of Fire" is better & its a low-budget DTV film!!!!

The cast is good because here we have the great veteran STEPHEN LANG (Don't Breathe, VFW) who is the Major of the team of marines out in the dangerous death trap of Iraq & his presence is definitely needed to raise it up in quality & by his serious performance as the other youngsters are the typical loud, mouthy & trying-to-be-funny typical squad in these types of war action flicks except for when the excellent, underrated but great COLE HAUSER comes into the movie as a special forces soldier trying to transport an Iraq woman to safety, she's important & that's his mission out there. HAUSER is always a welcomed tough hero presence in anything, been a fan since Pitch Black & he's always a solid actor & steals the show in everything like for example "Tears of the Sun" he was better than Bruce Willis!!!! Anyway the guy is great & here he's the best character in the movie & gives the best performance.

This is a typical mission behind enemy lines type of war action flick & it's done pretty well with a gritty look & plenty of action packed shootout scenes.

I didn't like the typical "Country Music" & "Rap music" used at the beginning because it's so typical & boring now but the actual film was fairly decent even though it felt like so many I've seen & by the end it gets abit boring & it plays out exactly like you know it will but worth a watch but that's it & i only watched it became of Cole Hauser.

The 3rd in the Jarhead franchise is easily the best "The Siege" that flick is Awesome!!!

"Keep the faith - Semper Fi." Chris Merrimete (Kelly) has just been promoted. Even though he isn't sure how much longer he will stay enlisted he picks his unit and they head out on a mission to resupply an outpost through Taliban controlled territory. Along the way they come upon what is left of a SEAL team and an Afghan woman whom they were extracting. When things go from bad to worse the mission becomes protecting this woman for reasons unknown to the marines. Like many of you when I saw Jarhead 2 my first thought was, oh no, not another direct to video sequel. There have been a ton of these and none have been good. Behind Enemy Lines is on their 4th one, Death Race has 3, Joy Ride has 3...the list goes on and on. Sitting down to watch this I had very low expectations. I don't often get surprised by movies but this one did. I was really shocked at how good this one was and I really enjoyed it. On the other hand though this is nothing like the original at all. The original dealt with the mental aspect of going through training and heading to a place they don't want to be and having nothing to do. This one is more of a straight action/war movie, and this was actually one of the better war movies that have come out recently. Overall, a movie that was much better then I was expecting and I ended up really liking it. I surprisingly give this a B+.

So first off, this isn't really a sequel. It shares some themes with jarhead and its about Marines, but the storyline is completely unrelated and has a lot more action.

This is a relatively low budget attempt at a great war action/drama and although the writing lacks a lot of polish, the combat scenes are okay, the camera work is okay and the actors all seem to be doing their best with the clunky dialogue. The storyline itself isn't very original but again, its okay.

The film follows a Corporal who is considering leaving the Marines and explores ptsd, survivors guilt, etc. basically war is hell but it forms great bonds. Again, this isn't done exceptionally well but it does keep the movie from becoming a brainless action movie and brings a sense of drama to the film.

As a sequel to Jarhead this movie fails, but as a standalone action/drama flick it's actually fairly enjoyable.

I enjoyed the first 'Jarhead' film and was curious as to what any 'sequel' would be like. However, at least I kept my expectations low as I knew this was not produced by the same cast or crew as the first, plus part II was released straight-to-DVD, so, how good could it be? The answer... quite good actually, but only as a generic war film, rather than a sequel.

Okay, so occasionally the film mimics the original in style (think captions, mainly near the beginning) and it uses the term 'jarhead' a couple of times, but that's about it. In fact... I'm running out of other things that link the two films.

So, the best thing to do is basically just ignore everything you know about the first movie and go with what's on offer. And, what's on offer is a war movie set in modern Afghanistan. A small team of marines (or 'jarheads' to be precise) are on a routine mission, only to find themselves forced to protect an important female local as she travels across arguably one of the most dangerous regions in the world.

Bottom line: if you like war films, you'll probably enjoy this. It's actually got a half reasonable budget and doesn't feel too much like a straight-to-DVD movie.