By Marc Butterfield
WAR MACHINE directed by Patrick Hughes, stars Alan Ritchson (Reacher) as 81, who leads a squad that includes Dennis Quaid, Stephan James, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Daniel Webber.
Alan Ritchson and Jai Courtney play brothers with ambitions to become Army Rangers together. When their platoon in Afghanistan is ambushed, these plans may be interrupted. Fast-forward to 2 years later, where Ritchson is accepted into the Ranger Assessment Program, 6 weeks of training where the vast majority of candidates will wash out. Ritchson, now given the candidate number of 81, stoically begins his training. While outside of the training program, we see that NASA has discovered an asteroid approaching Earth, and trainees watch the news report and a cluster of smaller units heading to Earth. (Trailer)
During his training, 81 is called in to meet with the NCO in charge of the trainees, with concerns about 81’s motives for becoming a Ranger, and offers him the “opportunity” to drop out of the training, not because he can’t physically hack it (he can, as anyone knows, Ritchson is a BEAST, but because of these concerns. Unsurprisingly, 81 declines this offer.
81 and the remaining candidates are then given their final task to determine their qualifications as Rangers, a training exercise deep in the mountains, which will test their training, will, and determination. One problem: the task becomes a completely different ball game when the extraterrestrial craft crash lands smack in the middle of the mountains they are in. At this point, it is no longer a story of training, but of survival. 81 and his teammates now must fight the environment, but also for their lives against a WAR MACHINE from another planet.
Alan Ritchson is our modern day Schwarzenegger, a beefed up action hero, grim, determined, and relentless. WAR MACHINE seems a lot like a combination of the original PREDATOR, with whiffs of ALIENS and a touch of BATTLE: LOS ANGELES. Is it great? Yes. Not in the touchy-feely sense, but a real taste of 1980s style maximum testosterone, unapologetic in its approach to the characters involved.
If you go into this looking for action and explosions, you will be pleased with director Hughes’ film. Cinematographer Aaron Morton’s filming of the action sequences combined with the use of quick cuts to build adrenaline from editor Andy Canny, and a thrilling score by Dmitri Golovko, add to the experience. Definitely a good alien invasion movie. Ritchson goes through hell. And sets up for a sequel of more invaders we really hope to see!
3 Out Of 4 Stars
Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81768525
Read the interview with the director and actor: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/reacher-alan-ritchson-new-movie-war-machine-netflix-interview-1236523370/
