Alan Ritchson, most widely recognized for his role as Jack Reacher in the hit series Reacher, is back in action. With the show’s fourth season currently in development, audiences eager for another dose of adrenaline can turn to the new Netflix original War Machine.
Directed by Patrick Hughes, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Beaufort, the story opens by establishing the close bond between two inseparable brothers. Ritchson’s character, known as 81, and his younger brother, played by Jai Courtney. The pair share a simple but lifechanging motto: “DFQ — Don’t f*ing quit.” It’s a mantra that fuels their shared ambition of becoming elite Army Rangers through the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP). The emotional weight of their relationship is defined early on, setting the emotional stakes and motivation that drives the narrative forward.
During a convoy mission overseas, tragedy strikes when a Taliban attack detonates their vehicle, killing several soldiers, including 81’s closest confidant and brother. Two years later, an unhealed and PTSD-ridden 81 insists on fulfilling his brother’s final wish by completing the RASP program. The intense eight-week training camp is designed to push soldiers beyond their limits, testing whether they possess the discipline, endurance, and mental resilience required for boots-on-the-ground warfare. As one instructor bluntly warns 81, “even the most powerful machines have their limits, and I think you’ve reached yours.” In the end, only 17 elite warriors, the best of the best are chosen, 81 being amongst the final rangers.
While the soldiers prepare for their mission, the outside world faces an entirely different threat. NASA reports that a massive interstellar object believed to have originated outside the solar system has fractured into numerous pods that begin transforming into deadly machines attacking cities, civilizations, and military forces alike. The technology is foreign and unknowable. No one understands what the machines want or why they’ve arrived, but it quickly becomes clear that a war is underway.
The soldiers soon find themselves thrust into an unexpected battle against a towering alien machine hunting them through hostile terrain. Stripped of resources, no communications, flares, or firearms, survival becomes their only objective. 81 and the other soldiers remain nameless throughout the film to universalize their experience, but it distances the audience from the very lives the story asks us to invest in.
The film attempts to juggle several thematic threads: brotherhood, military trauma, and a large-scale alien invasion. Unfortunately, these competing ideas pull the narrative in multiple directions, leaving the story feeling somewhat unfocused. The premise is functional but it feels formulaic and seldom deviates from the genre’s clichés.
The robot’s design is, frankly, absurd. Rather than resembling a credible menace, it resembles a huge plastic toy. By the time audiences finally get a proper look at it, any suspense the film had been cultivating has already dissipated. The soliders insist this is an unprecedented threat, “the United States military has never faced an enemy like this,” but the creature’s cartoonish appearance undermines the film’s attempt at tension.
Furthermore, the visual effects lack creative flair. The action sequences deliver bursts of intensity, though the gore remains relatively restrained. There are bloody moments, but nothing excessively graphic, which may actually work in the film’s favor for viewers with sensitivity to explicit content. The film relies heavily on excessive slow-motion shots in an attempt to manufacture intensity. Watching the protagonist and his peers run dramatically in slow motion doesn’t suddenly make them appear any cooler or more heroic; it just feels overdone.
War Machine falls into many of the familiar patterns associated with Netflix action films: the emotionally distant, PTSD-stricken hero and a story that positions 81 as a mythic warrior figure. The way the film concludes clearly sets the stage for a potential sequel, suggesting that this may only be the beginning of the war hero. For now, audiences will simply have to stay seated and see what comes next.
CHRISKRATING★★☆☆☆
