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Act of Valor
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Metascore
40 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 72 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Alex Veadov, Nestor Serrano, Roselyn Sanchez
  • Summary: When a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative unexpectedly results in the discovery of an imminent, terrifying global threat, an elite team of highly trained Navy SEALs must immediately embark on a heart-stopping secret operation, the outcome of which will determine the fate of us all. Act of Valor combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the-minute battlefield technology, and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure film–showcasing the skills, training and tenacity of the greatest action heroes of them all: real Navy SEALs. (Relativity Media)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 34
  3. Negative: 9 out of 34
  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Feb 23, 2012
    75
    Peculiarly entertaining exercise in bare-bones, Hollywood-style action heroism.
  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Bilge Ebiri
    Feb 24, 2012
    60
    In the movie's best moment, an American sniper takes out a bad guy by a pier while a pair of hands reaches out of the water to grab the body so it doesn't make a splash and alert the other baddies.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: David Hiltbrand
    Feb 23, 2012
    38
    The problem is that these stoic warriors infect Act of Valor with more wooden acting than you'd see at a ventriloquism school.

See all 34 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 36
  3. Negative: 5 out of 36
  1. Gene
    9
    As other reviewers already pointed out, the acting is a little wooden and the villians are (almost) as one dimensional as your average James Bond villian, but the overall package is so novel that it really shouldn't be an issue. As far as the acting goes, it got the job done and I wouldn't say it's any worse than the acting of some 80's action heroes from Belgium or Austria. The villians don't get much screentime outside of the scenes where they're mostly twirling their moustaches and being all-around horrible people, but the few lines of dialogue they have at least hint at something deeper, it's really not explored to any degree, but it at least partially adds a fraction of a third dimension. Finally, the novelty of the movie is that this really isn't some kind of Expandables or Magnificent 7, no egos, nobody makes stupid decisions to move the story forward, nobody running off on their own to be a hero. This movie is really a celebration of proper teamwork and good preparation, I don't think I've enjoyed the firefights in any movie more than I enjoyed the ones in Act of Valor.… Expand
    • 5 of 8 users said yes
  2. TVJerry
    4
    This movie's gimmick: the men playing Navy SEALs are real Navy SEALs. Their mission involves rescuing a CIA agent, then saving the US from a terrorist invasion. They may know how to pull off special ops, but they sure can't act and the lame dialogue makes their interactions even more embarrassing. Basically, they end up being a group of men with no discernable personalities and the bad writing would mortify real actors. Instead of competent storytelling, the filmmakers used jerky camerawork and overbearing music. There's lots of shooting, explosions and running around, but the action is poorly-staged and confusing. It felt like a Steven Seagal straight-to-DVD production.… Expand
    • 2 of 2 users said yes
  3. petitepatate
    3
    As a action film fan, my expectations were very low... And I was disappointed. The editing made the action boring, killing pretty much all of the suspense; the few interesting action sequence looked like a video game promotional video... And were way to short. It's been said a few time, but the bad acting kill all the attempts at humor or camaraderie. It would have been more interesting to just watch the guys not acting, documentary style. Watch the preview of the movie a few times, while you wait for the movie to come out as a DVD if you absolutely want to see it.… Expand
    • 4 of 12 users said yes

See all 36 User Reviews

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