War Machine Parent Guide

In the Army Ranger Assessment Selection Program, an intensive training program for elite rangers, recruits are stripped of their name and referred to only by their number. Number 81 (Alan Ritchson) is one of the most physically promising recruits, but his combat past and the tragic loss of his brother in Afghanistan have closed him off to forming relationships with the other soldiers, impairing his leadership capabilities. After eight weeks of intensive training, and the culling of many recruits, the remaining ranger hopefuls have one last task: complete a mission in the Colorado wilderness with limited comms and assistance from the base. 

What starts as a standard retrieval scenario quickly takes a turn when the group stumble upon an advanced battle machine that doesn’t seem to be of this world. As their numbers dwindle, the soldiers will have to use every ounce of training, creativity, and teamwork they can muster to defeat a seemingly unbeatable enemy. 

For the last few months my partner and I have been working our way through the Predator franchise, which has given me real appreciation for this style of action movies. I now understand where a lot of the references originated or were popularized. This new-found knowledge was especially helpful when I sat down to watch War Machine, which is primarily a tall stack of references in a trench coat. There are obvious Predator parallels along with a bunch of generic war movies, and a fun splash of Jurassic Park, all leading to a well-made but shallow imitation of its genre predecessors. 

Kudos to director Patrick Hughes, War Machine is slickly produced. Too many contemporary films have insufficient lighting, giving us action scenes that are hard to follow. In contrast, this film is well-lit, deftly shot, and creatively choreographed. The special effects are fantastic, and the action scenes are exciting, if a little more gruesome than expected. Credit where credit is due, from a production standpoint, this is one of the better action flicks I’ve seen in a long time. 

Unfortunately, that superb production faces off against an extremely weak and cliched script. At its core, this is a military propaganda piece, and that aspect permeates every inch of the screen. The writers try to deepen 81’s backstory by giving him PTSD, but the issue is handled in such an incredibly shallow and ineffective manner that it almost feels disrespectful. This is a movie about macho men doing macho things, so feelings and character growth are pushed aside in favor of more blood and bullets. 

I can’t say I had a bad time watching War Machine. It’s exciting, fun, and well-made. If you set aside all the obvious propaganda and lean into silliness, it’s a solid, mindless watch. The film is unfortunately more gory than many entries in this genre, with plenty of viscera, body parts, and corpses to keep your stomach churning. If gore and swearing aren’t a concern for you and you’re a fan of military action flicks, I think this movie is worth a watch, at the very least for the action sequences. Or just to stare at Alan Ritchson; I won’t judge. 

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.