AllMovie

This film presents a starkly unsentimental view of military conflict. The story is told in an efficient manner without dwelling too long on unnecessary subplots or exposition, the violence is effectively barbaric without seeming too theatrical, and the ending adds an interesting touch of irony to the story. However, the characters tend to be one dimensional and the film's politics seem rather simplistic. This is basically a Rambo-style story in which the official military is too incompetent to stop a bunch of sadistic foreigners, so an ordinary soldier with extraordinary skill leads a mission of his own to bring back POW's from behind enemy lines. It is still an entertaining film if you don't mind the simplistic characterizations, including the extremely negative portrayal of the Chechens, but there's really not that much to this movie beyond the message that war is brutal.