The problem with a movie like War Machine is that it’s two different cliched stories that never do make for an entertaining feature. It’s basically An Officer and a Gentleman meets Predator.
It’s the type of movie they used to release in the 1990s and 2000s in movies during the less active months before they were regulated to video rental shops and TBS’ Movies For Guys Who Like Movies. Part of the problem is the structure of giving most of the characters just a number. I understand that RASP (Ranger Assessment and Selection Program) does just assign its candidates a number to whom they are only referred. But still, the writers could’ve thrown in generic names like Smith, Jones, Washington, and Lopez.
With the exception of 81 (Alan Ritchson) who is an aging Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army, all of the other characters seem like tropes down to the other Staff Sergeant 7 (Stephan James) who knows more about 81 than the rest do. Years earlier in Afghanistan, 81 was injured him in an ambush attack in the Middle-East. He was just an engineer then but he and his brother (Jai Courtney) who was also a soldier in a prologue discuss going to be Rangers.
His brother died and his knee was injured. 81 received a Silver Star for carrying his brother, who was still alive, 10 miles or so to the nearest base. And for the first half of the movie, 81 remains a loner pushing himself to limits that even his supervisors First Sergeant Torres (Esai Morales) and Sergeant Major Sheridan (Dennis Quaid) see more as a liability rather than leadership as he has refused to be one. 81 just wants to complete in memory of his brother.
And that sets up the rest of the movie where 81, 7 and a cadre of soldiers will be air-dropped into the Colorado Rockies to complete a mission. But this is a science-fiction movie because there are a few snippets of TV broadcasts about NASA. It turns out an alien figure resembling a Star Wars-style space ship has crashed into the mountains. So when the soldiers mistake it for their intended objective, it comes alive and preys on each one until…well, if you’ve seen Predator (or even Dog Soldiers) you know where this is headed.
And the action/adventure scenes are enjoyable as Patrick Hughes (who wrote and directed) knows how to set them up. Yet, I have to say even for a generic movie like this, I was expecting more. Ritchson, who has hulking huge frame seems like the perfect Army Ranger who eats nails for breakfast and asks for seconds, does have a lot of charisma to carry a movie like this.
But at the end, it just feels like so many movies we’ve seen like this before. It could be the titular character never seems anything more than a special effect. The werewolves in Dog Soldiers or the titular character in Predator had personalities. Yet, here it’s so bland down to the grey-black unappealing look.
This just feels like shooting paper targets. It might feel good in the moment. But there’s nothing else there.
Worse, the ending seems like a set-up for a sequel which both Hughes and Ritchson say they have thought about. Hopefully, it’ll be more entertaining if that happens.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 