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Kandahar
2023 119 min United States of America, Saudi Arabia R 18+
★5.9
Action, Thriller, War
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Trailers
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Teaser
Teaser
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Description
After his mission is exposed, an undercover CIA operative stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down.
Budget:
$30M
US Gross:
$4.81M
Worldwide:
$9.4M
Starring
Tom Rhys Harries
Actor
Farhad Bagheri
Actor
Gerard Butler
Actor
Key opinion
Kandahar is a formulaic action-thriller that struggles to balance its ambitious geopolitical premise with a predictable, execution-heavy narrative. While some viewers appreciate the authentic location shooting and competent technical staging, the film is widely criticized for its reliance on tired tropes, thin character development, and a polarizing pro-Western bias.
| Cinematography | The film utilizes expansive, high-quality location shots in Saudi Arabia that lend a sense of scale and visual authenticity to the desert setting. | |
| Screenplay | The script leans heavily on predictable genre clichés and a standard 'American-savior' narrative that many found derivative and uninspired. | |
| Theme | The attempt to provide political commentary on Middle Eastern conflicts is widely perceived as shallow, collapsing into one-dimensional depictions of regional factions. | |
| Acting | Gerard Butler's performance is polarizing; some find his signature stoic charisma fitting for the role, while others view his character as unengaging and his presence in the genre as repetitive. | |
| Pacing | Opinions on the action sequences are divided; while some appreciate the technical competence of the shootouts and stunts, others find the pacing sluggish and the lack of sustained tension disappointing. |