Possibly In Bad Taste: Simon West’s All-CGI Iraq War Action Thriller ‘Thunder Run’

This is a weird one. Suggesting that eight years is, eh, an acceptable amount of time to wait until shamelessly cashing in on a war that’s claimed the lives of thousands of brave U.S. soldiers, killed over a hundred thousand innocent Iraqi civilians, and cost U.S. taxpayers literally trillions of dollars, “Con Air” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” director Simon West is prepping “Thunder Run,” an all-CGI, 3D action thriller set in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“The goal is to appeal to the ‘Call of Duty’ world. It’s not going to have a video game world feel, but [will] have a stylized look to it,” admitted producer Brian Presley in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, thus betraying a callow insensitivity towards veterans and all others whose lives have been affected by this very real, non-stylized conflict, and the skewed priorities of a man who would put profit above patriotism.
Gerard Butler, Matthew McConaghey, and Sam Worthington will “star,” lending their voices and, perhaps, some motion-capture input. Which—good for them—but what’s the point of having Gerard Butler and Matthew McConaghey in your movie if you can’t show them shirtless?