Semper Fi may not be the film you'd be looking for to find that sense of camaraderie with fellow Marines, but the bond between lifelong friends and family stands the test in this film.
“Cal is a by-the-book police officer who, along with his close-knit group of childhood friends, makes ends meet as a Marine Corps reservist. When Cal’s reckless younger half-brother, Oyster, is arrested after a bar fight and given an unfair prison sentence, Cal – driven by his loyalty to family and fierce code of honor – fights for Oyster in this gripping tale of brotherhood and sacrifice.”
The film opens with childhood friends Cal (Jai Courtney), his half-brother Oyster (Nat Wolff), Jaeger (Finn Wittrock), Snowball (Arturo Castro) and Milk (Beau Knapp) bowling and having fun, a nice opener to establish the different characters, their personalities and their dynamics within the group. Set in a small town in northern New York, life is quite and peaceful, as they all spend weekends training for the day they are needed to serve their country. While they are waiting to be shipped out, the group heads to the bars to celebrate their last nights of freedom where Oyster gets into a bar fight that ends up accidentally killing his attacker. Due to his previous felonies, this will put him behind bars with a serious sentence, after his own brother has to foil his plans to run from the police across the border into Canada and arrests him.
While Oyster is sent to prison, the rest of the group is called into service in the Middle East where one of them in seriously injured. Oyster’s dislike of authority doesn’t do him any favors in prison, as the guards set their minds to tormenting him whenever possible. After their tour ends, Cal tries to connect with his brother who won’t forgive him for his betrayal. Seeing the bruises on his body Cal knows something is wrong and tries to seek legal help from Clara (Leighton Meester). With nothing that they can do legally, Cal must think of ways to help him outside of the law.
Semper Fi is a fairly entertaining story, though be it by-the-numbers and quite predictable. Although it is called Semper Fi, the motto of the Marine Corps, it’s the relationship between Cal and Oyster and their brotherly dynamic that is the most interesting part of the story, one that is pretty much the sole focus. With hints of abuse in Oyster’s younger years before Cal took over as his legal guardian, Oyster continuously believe himself to be a failure in his brother’s eyes, given a harsher treatment than anyone else. With Cal seeing a lot of himself in his younger brother before he got his act together, this dichotomy between himself now and how he used to be is interestingly explored throughout the film, first as he is the one who took Oyster in, and now regrets not letting him run.
The actors all do a fine job in this. Each of them has a distinct personality they play off of the other characters in their group, making it seem very life-like in a group of friends who have known each other since childhood. Jai Courtney carries the majority of the film on his shoulders, competently portraying a brother who is severely conflicted between his duty as a police officer and his duty to his family. Leighton Meester, one of the only other more known names in the film unfortunately doesn’t have a lot to work with. The few scenes she’s in, however, are well done.
Those looking for that Semper Fi camaraderie may be a bit disappointed, as there is very little involving the Marine Corps in the film. These established friends since childhood have their own bond that would be in place regardless if they were in the Marines or not, and the story really doesn’t touch on soldiers who don’t know each other and feel that same brotherhood that these men do. The small part that it does play is indeed interesting, but is a very over-the-top way of having Cal change his mind on how he should have handled Oyster.
The story as a whole, albeit fairly entertaining as I mentioned, still seems founded on a lot of unbelievable things. Oyster is relentlessly tortured in prison by guards because he made apple pancakes for another prisoner. Although I am sure the unfortunate issue of guards abusing prisoners exists, does it have to be over something as simple as this as the source of conflict in this dramatic story? Because of the apple pancakes, this warrants a major decision in Cal’s life on what to do for his brother, a plan to get him across the border into Canada which in their eyes as soon as he would cross the border would make everything magically okay.
Video
Semper Fi is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.39:1. The transfer is free of any noticeable defects. Although it is clear and detailed, there are moments of softness in some of the darker scenes that speak to the low budget of the film. Color is consistent, a bit muted at times, especially in the scenes in the Middle East, but overall the film has a nice look to it and doesn’t need anything much more.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. There are some nice sequences that take use of the surrounds, again mainly in the war sequences, but the overall track is fairly subtle coming in the form of dialogue and the score. No issues of note with the audio track here, and it works fine for this film.
Special Features
A few extras located on the disc which include:
- Deleted Scenes
- Loyalty and Brotherhood: Making Semper Fi
- A Battle of Honor: Where Devotion Lies
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Henry-Alex Rubin
Semper Fi has quite a few elements that set it apart from other films, although these aren’t executed as well as they could have been, it may be relatable some who feel conflicted in their obligations to their career and to their family. Worth taking a look at if you have some time to kill.