New ‘American Sniper’ trailer swells with action, music, and praise-filled quotes

“Do you ever think you”ve seen things or done things that you wish you hadn”t?” goes the new trailer for “American Sniper.” For those who haven”t, the two-minute sizzle reel is happy to oblige.

Starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, considered one of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, “American Sniper” jumps back and forth between military operations and the SEAL's life back at home. He struggles on both fronts. The film costars Sienna Miller, Jake McDorman, Luke Grimes, Navid Negahban and Keir O”Donnell, but seems to entrench itself inside Kyle”s mind as he navigates his noble and peculiar life.

The film comes from Clint Eastwood, the man behind such war pictures as “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and “Jersey Boys” (maybe that last one just felt that way). The film earned lackluster reviews out of its AFI Fest premiere – our own Drew McWeeny praised Cooper but found Eastwood”s direction underwhelming, calling “American Sniper” a “perfunctory tribute to a man who seems to have lived an anything-but-perfunctory life” – and wound up without any nominations when the Golden Globes rolled around, a snub considering the talent involved. Could “American Sniper” play better to audiences outside Hollywood? That was the case for “Lone Survivor,” which overcame negative reviews to gross $125 million at the box office.

Check out the new trailer for “American Sniper” above, which amps up the bombast and splashes the picture with dizzying critic quotes. 

“American Sniper” opens Dec. 25, 2014.

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