Stream it:
|
Own it:
|
With: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Michael Gandolfini, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henry Zaga, Charles Melton, Nathan Altai, Aaron Deakins, Donya Hussen
|
Written by: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza
|
Directed by: Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza
|
MPAA Rating: R for intense war violence and bloody/grisly images, and language throughout
|
Running Time: 95
|
|
Date: 04/11/2025
|
|
|
|
Battle Spy
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's Warfare is not an easy watch, but it manages to do what many war movies fail to do, which is to portray warfare as a brutal hell while still honoring the brave people that serve their country.
It's November, 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq. U.S. Navy SEALs have been tasked with setting up surveillance in a dangerous area controlled by Al Qaeda. In the darkness, they slip into a second-floor apartment and prepare for their mission, which is to secure the area for safe passage for other U.S. forces.
Among the SEALs are officer-in-charge Erik (Will Poulter), medic and sniper Elliott (Cosmo Jarvis), and communications officer Ray (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai). Little do they know just how dangerous the area is, however, and it's not long before Al Qaeda knows that they're there. They toss a warning grenade through a window, causing injuries. An escape plan is put into motion, but it's going to take everything the men have to make it out alive.
Perhaps inspired by his previous movie Civil War, writer/director Garland steps out of his sci-fi/futurism comfort zone with Warfare. He has teamed with ex-communications officer Mendoza, who was there, and Mendoza is a co-credited writer and director (and who worked as a military advisor on Civil War).
According to an opening crawl the movie was scripted entirely from the memory of the men who survived it. So it's a living journal, where even the most insignificant moments — such as one man accidentally injecting morphine into his own finger — are considered as part of the whole.
The real achievement is the movie's pacing, collecting the events of one day into a compact 95 minutes. It begins with a moment of cutting loose (the men watch and dance and laugh along with the music video "Call on Me" by Eric Prydz), followed by many moments of stealthy quiet, waiting and watching.
It's only when that first grenade goes off that things kick into high gear. There are moments during which even a seasoned viewer will want to turn their heads or close their eyes or cover their ears. But, as Warfare winds down, our thoughts go to the people that chose a life of service.
|
