I remember when Netflix was first dipping its toes into the finicky pool of Feature Film production, after having readily established itself as a leading forerunner in the new-at-the-time digital streaming concept, and I freely admit to being initially impressed by some of their early ‘Netflix Originals’.
But over time, and under constant bombardment from the plethora of alternate streaming platforms infecting the InterWebz today, my opinion on the vast majority of what are essentially ultra-modern versions of the old-school ‘TV Movie of the Week’s has soured, leaving me often feeling like I’ve been subjected to endless, soul-less ‘product’; not art, or even cinema sometimes.
But, every once in a while, they do get it right…and I’m happy to report that War Machine is one of those.
I’d heard good things about this title right from the jump, with several online critics giving it props for its restrained homages to classic 80’s / 90’s sci-fi horror flicks, and for crafting its own ‘thing’ inside a familiar pop-culture narrative frame-work that us movie-nerds know intimately, and crafting it well, under the capable guidance of Australian writer / director Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3).
So, knowing that this one was going to be a title that I would actively seek out, to check out, despite my current lack of streaming access, I steered clear of as much info as I could, striving to keep that first viewing experience fresh and honest, whenever it might happen.
I recently scored a small selection of fascinating bootleg Blu-rays, rebel that I am, from a rather large Asian market, possibly starting with a ‘C’, and in among those choice titles was this one. Those new additions to my rather sizable physical media collection have been sitting on one of my turntables (blasphemy, I know!) for a couple weeks now, each of the varying titles all clambering for my attention every time my looking-balls drifted in that direction and finally, on a quiet Sunday, 6am, a choice was made…over a strong cup of mocha, of course.
*drum roll*
War Machine opens during the war in Afghanistan, with a US Army soldier / engineer we’ll come to know as ‘81’ (Alan Ritchson) rolling up on a stalled convoy, led by his fellow soldier / younger brother, played by Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad). In short order, as they are making repairs in amongst quips, they’re attacked, and shit goes real bad, real fast.
Later, ‘81’ joins Ranger Training, a mutual goal he and his dearly-departed bro (Spoiler?) had sworn on just before the pesky Taliban made their move, a goal he’s hell-bent on achieving, no matter the cost. After an extended training sequence, ‘81’ finds himself with the last of the recruits, having barely outlasted 90% of the class, for what the brass charmingly calls the Death March, which is a mock recon – sabotage – hostage rescue mission through unforgiving terrain; a challenging mix of mountains, forests, and rivers.
As this is occurring, the Earth just happens to be being passed by a strange, inter-stellar object that seems to be shedding pieces of itself as it rips past.
After what they believe to be a mock artillery strike, the team stumbles upon a strange geometric object imbedded in the ground near their next waypoint. Thinking it’s a mock up of a crashed stealth fighter they’re tasked with eliminating, they proceed with the mission’s next phase – demolition. Only, the explosives don’t blow the ‘mock’ aircraft to pieces as expected. Instead, the shape awakens, shifting and growing, rising up to form a scary-looking mech-walker of clearly alien design, that attacks without mercy or regard for life. When the dust and the blood settles, the survivors realize that they have no choice but to escape and evade, to head for reinforcements as quickly as they can. Utilizing their specialized training, they make a solid effort, but the strange alien hunter is hot on their trail, and not all will cross the Finish Line.
Pad and pen at ready. Coffee sipped. PLAY is played. Scribbles were scribbled.
The scribbled scribbles…
-Decent intro. Jai Courtney cameo? Aussie actor Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad) never really set the Box Office on fire, despite studio attempts to make him the Next Big Thing. Dude just lacks charisma, I’m sorry to say. Very little range. Given that the director also hails from Down Under, I have to wonder if that connection was instrumental in landing Courtney what amounts to an extended, ill-fated cameo appearance in the opening scene. Granted, the scene itself is fine and he does have a fun round of banter with Ritchson…but it’s tragically short-lived.
-The American ‘Hoo raa!’ hits differently these days. As a Canadian, I’m sure you can understand why.
-Oumuamua shout-out? Polema. Very recently, we’ve had at least two highly interesting / mysterious celestial bodies rocketing their way through our solar system in the last year, from locations unknown, the big one being the Hawaiian-monikered ‘Oumuamua’, who’s odd shape and strange acceleration behaviour got the scientific community speculating wildly, and clearly that speculation carried over into Hughes’ script, in the form of a strangely fragmenting object named ‘Polema’ speeding through our hood.
-Every military training cliché’ present and accounted for. If you’re even half-way familiar with the tried n true tropes behind the majority of contemporary North American military flicks, this will be familiar ground. It’s not obnoxious…just recognized.
-Quaid? Not sure how to feel. Showing the years. As a kid and early teen, I was a big fan of Dennis Quaid (InnerSpace) but in the last decade, it has been sadly revealed that, like his insane dipshit brother Randy, Dennis also has a few screws loose, being a hardcore supporter of that orange piece of shit staining the Oval Office at the time of this writing. And yes, the years are showing on Quaid, with an undeniable hint of decrepitude showing itself over the last clinging hints of his hey-day good-looks.
-Some solid cinematography. Much of this flick does look genuinely good, clearly with thought put into the color, composition and lighting schemes.
-Helo insertion. Predator shout-out? Just like that classic from ’87, we also get a cool clandestine multi-helo insertion of the team into their area of operations. Just with less of Little Richards ‘Long Tall Sally’.
-Shades of Dog Soldiers. Military authenticity. I love Neil Marshall’s awesome and under-rated 2002 ‘soldiers vs werewolves’ flick Dog Soldiers and one reason is the attempt he made to portray the military characters with an iota of realism, with the military details impressive enough to elevate the finished product beyond its surface-level B-movie, grindhouse trappings. The same applies to War Machine, in that the military elements actually kinda sorta feel slightly real-like, which always helps bolster the tension and action.
-Damn! Gnarly kills. They get fucked up! The first attack on our squad is merciless and bloody, and sick-ass me was all for it! Bring it on! And bring it they did, with many an energy blast and splattered body part coming at us at high speed.
-Intimidating design. Oblivion drone-like. I was pleasantly surprised when I first saw Tom Cruise’s 2013 sci-fi adventure Oblivion and one factor was the genuinely unsettling behaviour of the heavily-featured sentry drones, the aggressive sounds and movements coming off as alien and non-negotiable. Same flavour at work here, with the lumbering, scanning antagonist exuding pure menace.
-Death and fear taken seriously. I appreciate that. This was more props to the attempts to make the protagonists a bit more well-rounded than Red Shirt cardboard cut-outs there to be slaughtered. The same went the other way as well, where even the most seemingly Macho Man Alpha’s are not that. Everyone shows vulnerabilities and characters deaths are treated with a certain tragic gravity, which adds to the situations sense of horror.
-Good use of suspense and tension. River scene. There’s an extended set-piece in Act Two featuring a desperate flight through forests, down cliffs and over, under and across a raging river, all while the scary-ass alien robot thing is seemingly lurking around every corner, ready to fuck shit up.
-Someone liked Cliffhanger! One of my favourite Stallone flicks is 1993’s awesome Die Hard-rip off Cliffhanger, which opens with one of the most harrowing and flat-out scary climbing accidents I’ve ever seen depicted, to this day. There’s a sequence here, also perilous and deadly, that certainly appears to have taken a hint or two from Renny Harlin’s notorious scene. It’d be easy to call it out as a cheap copy, but Hughes and Co. pull their version off feeling anything but cheap.
-Genuinely exciting river escape scene. It was.
-No one is safe! Also true. Demonstrated repeatedly.
-Solid stunt work. Also repeatedly demonstrated.
-Ritchson does decent dimension. For a huge slab of meat, Alan Ritchson (Reacher) has proven he can also show vulnerability and pain, and he does both here, quite effectively.
-Conveniently empty quarry is convenient. The stage for our final show-down is a fully operational rock quarry…that is conveniently deserted, not a person in sight. It works out.
-Power-loader vs Alien queen homage? Giant front-end loader vs huge, damaged alien mech? Can’t rule it out.
-Full circle pay-off. Ranger training. This flick does a good job setting things up and paying them off, and one key plot point is ‘81’s dedication to fulfilling his promise to complete the Ranger training for his brother, which is brought full circle in the most appropriate way, in my humble opinion.
-Could share the same universe as Battle: Los Angeles. I unapologetically like 2011’s largely forgotten Black Hawk Down Meets ID4 flick Battle: Los Angeles, which also follows a military unit into gritty urban combat against an invading alien force, and which I thought was done pretty well. A couple small narrative tweaks, and the two flicks could easily share an alien invasion story.
-Overlooking the inevitable hints of ‘Rah rah ‘Murica!’, solid sci-fi thriller. Homage done well. Kinda says it right there.
-Begging for a sequel. And, as of the time of this writing, is apparently getting one. I’ll see it.
And those be the scribbles!
All in all, I got what I was hoping I’d get from War Machine and had a really fun time with the basic-but-effective story it told over it’s viewer-friendly 1 hour and 46 minute run-time. Is the story something completely fresh and new? No, absolutely not. But then again, what story (these days) truly is?
This is a flick that undeniably utilizes (and celebrates) the influence of several classic science fiction / horror / action flicks from Days Gone By and wears them proudly and effectively on its sleeve, giving us a largely thrilling take that feels far more like loving homage and inspiration than straight-up rip-off.
The cast, stoically and effectively led by Alan Ritchson, all do what they need to do, with a large chunk contributing just a little bit more ‘flesh’ to the thinly-written supporting characters, humanizing them just enough to be impactful when they inevitably bite the dust. Pure (laser) cannon fodder, they’re not…until they are.
The effects are quite good, bolstered by several surprisingly well-executed action / stunt scenes. The CG for the antagonist is unobtrusive and blends nicely, while the actual design successfully conveys an unsettling level of alien menace.
If I MUST pull up a complaint, I’d say that there is one scene that stood out, where they strove for a fancy continuous one-shot during a harrowing chase sequence, where the limitations of the budget and CG stood out just a wee bit too much, ALMOST pulling me out. But then, cool shit happened again…and I was right back in!
So, if you’re a fan of classic sci-fi / horror / action flicks like Predator, Aliens, The Thing, Cliffhanger, The Terminator, Robocop etc…I’d say you owe it to yourself to give this particular Netflix Original a shot, even though this flick did have the potential to have done OK for itself in theatres, IMO. It’s a legitimately fun time and I do look forward to when I inevitably check it out again.
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