The movie is slow to develop, with the first 60-65 minutes strung out with few to little action and not much developing other than some small character relationships and developments.The movie I feel does a great job from a soldiers perspective in what some deal with and how they cope. In addition to how the botherhood bonding is and takes place as well as how one's feelings change over time. The movie picks up with fury for the last 45 minutes with some great battle scenes and some sadness. Again the characters take on massive character changes and the relationships come into play. The main character is very easy to relate with and like-able. The main character also has a very good character arc. Good story line and plot as well. I recommend this movie.

'SAND CASTLE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A war drama about a US Army rifleman, and his squad, who are trying to restore water to a dangerous Iraqi village. It's based on the real life experiences of it's screenwriter, Chris Roessner, and the script was featured on the 2012 Black List of unproduced screenplays. The film was directed by Fernando Coimbra, and it stars Nicholas Hoult, Logan Marshall-Green, Henry Cavill, Glen Powell, Tommy Flanagan, Beau Knapp and Neil Brown Jr.. It was released by Netflix through it's streaming site, and it's gotten mixed reviews from critics. I found it to be mostly well made, and somewhat effective, but it would have been a lot better with a little more character development. Private Matt Ocre (Hoult) is a young rifleman in the US Army, who enlisted (in 2001) in order to get financial aid for college. When the Iraq war starts (in 2003) he desperately wants to quit though. He slams the door of a Humvee on his hand, in an attempt to get sent home even. His efforts don't succeed, and he's instead sent to Baqubah, with his squad, to repair a broken water system there. Many of the locals don't want their help though, and Matt has to witness multiple casualties to his unit. This causes him great depression and frustration, naturally. The movie has all the makings of a good war film, it's well cast (Hoult, Marshall-Green and Cavill are all good in their roles) and it's nicely directed. It has well shot action scenes too, and seemingly effective emotional drama. I didn't know enough about the characters though, to really care for what they were going through. Technically the movie appears really well made, but it's just lacking enough character development to make it really effective.

A well written, directed and produced , war film...Casting was spot on with several British (Cavill, Hoult and Flangan ) turning in strong performances. All other cast five stars. Theme music excellent. The battle scenes were fairly accurate , weaponry and tactics passable. I was pleasantly surprised and recommend this piece ....

Great war film to watch. It doesn't just flood the film with meaningless action but shows a complex story about the difficult relations between the U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi community. You can really relate to the main character Pvt. Ocre (Nicholas Hoult) as he experiences the challenges and brutality of war. Some parts of the plot were a bit simple, but overall I would recommend it. Some parts can be a bit brutal though, so be prepared for that.