'Tin Soldier' Review: A Star-Studded Misfire Lost in Its Own Fog
- Dan Bremner
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
By Dan Bremner - July 23, 2025
Lured by a bafflingly stacked cast including Scott Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Jamie Foxx, and Rita Ora, of all people, I dove into Tin Soldier, expecting a gloriously trashy action romp despite its direct-to-DVD vibes. Instead, this 2025 psychological thriller about cults and PTSD, directed by Brad Furman, is a shoddy patchwork of half-baked ideas, squandering its talent on a dull, incoherent mess.
As a standalone film with no franchise ties, Tin Soldier fails to carve a niche in the crowded action-thriller landscape, joining the ranks of forgettable VOD fodder. A grim reminder that big names can’t salvage a script that’s dead-on arrival.
An Intriguing Premise, Fatally Mishandled
The concept of a tormented ex-soldier infiltrating a dangerous cult led by a charismatic zealot has the potential for gritty psychological drama or pulse-pounding action. Yet, Tin Soldier fumbles this promise, delivering neither tension nor thrills, its intriguing premise buried under a heap of shambolic execution. Heaped with a script that is nothing less than a disaster, riddled with vague anti-government rhetoric that feels like it was scribbled on a napkin. Emotional beats, meant to anchor the ex-soldier’s PTSD, land with the weight of a paper bag, devoid of depth or resonance, leaving characters as hollow shells in a story that begs for something interesting to happen.
Chaotic editing reigns supreme and a disjointed narrative makes the film a chore to follow. Scenes lurch from one to the next with no rhythm, as if Furman couldn’t decide whether he was making a thriller or a therapy session, leaving me lost in a fog of nonsensical plotting and murky stakes. Excessive flashbacks, meant to flesh out the protagonist’s trauma, are a clumsy crutch, poorly executed with jarring cuts and shoddy production values. These sequences don’t illuminate character or story, they just pad the runtime, dragging an already sluggish film into a tedious slog.
Is the CGI good in 'Tin Solider'?
The action sequences are a blurry, dismal affair, shot with all the clarity of a midnight alley brawl. Low-rent CGI, looking like it was rendered on a budget laptop, and overly dark cinematography sapped any excitement, making every set piece feel like a rejected B-movie outtake. The cult’s motives and the broader conflict’s stakes remain maddeningly opaque, leaving key events and character actions baffling. Without a clear sense of the spiritual leader’s goals or the government’s urgency, the film feels like a puzzle with half the pieces missing, robbing it of any narrative pull. I have no doubt this thing was butchered from a longer cut, as these feels rushed and unfinished.
Despite the loaded cast of Eastwood, De Niro, Foxx, and Ora, which should at least make for something, but their roles are criminally underused. Eastwood’s brooding lead is flat (the man has none of his father's presence or charisma), De Niro’s fleeting appearance screams cynical poster bait, and Ora’s part is a forgettable blur. Jamie Foxx, at least, seems to relish his psychotic cult leader, chewing scenery with unhinged glee, but even his manic energy can’t redeem a role so thinly written it feels like an afterthought.
Is 'Tin Solider' worth watching?
Tin Soldier tries to juggle psychological drama with action but fails spectacularly at both, neither gripping as a character study nor entertaining as a thriller. Its attempts to tackle PTSD and veteran struggles are undercut by a superficial cult storyline, rendering the film a hollow, missed opportunity that leaves you numb with boredom.
'Tin Soldier' is streaming now on Prime Video
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