Should You Watch Alan Ritchson's Sci-Fi Netflix Movie?

Picture Credit: Netflix

Netflix and Original Sci-Fi Action Films can be characterized, by and large, as slogs that border on painful to watch by their critics. The Electric State. The Rebel Moon films. Atlas. Project Power. Outside The Wire. All big star vehicles have middling to poor critical performance. So one could imagine that seeing Netflix try again this year with a burgeoning star in the breakout role of Alan Ritchson might make a critic like me bring those expectations down to the floor.

Produced by Lionsgate & Hidden Pictures, War Machine puts Ritchson center stage as a medal-winning combat engineer who enlists in the elite Army Ranger program, a final wish that never came true for his brother & fellow soldier who died following a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.

Haunted by his brother’s death which he witnessed first hand, Ritchson’s character (mostly addressed as “81” throughout the film) presses on in his honor, beating out wave after wave of recruits despite reconstructed knees and severe PTSD.

On one last grueling mission, 81 & his fellow finalists encounter something beyond their standard training exercises: an otherworldly killing machine with advanced weaponry & tracking abilities that won’t stop until it’s taken out everything that threatens it. When 81’s commanding officer is severely injured, it is up to him to take command of his unit and survive the alien robot long enough to warn the army of its presence.

Co-written & directed by Australian filmmaker Patrick Hughes (The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Red Hill), War Machine makes one smart decision considering Netflix’s past misfires within this genre pairing: it drastically tones down the sci-fi to an almost negligible degree. While many of their sci-fi blockbusters tend to rely on ruminations about topics such as AI, androids, cloning, or what the future holds for us as a society, this film wants no part of that at all.

Instead, the presence of an alien robot (think a transformer mixed with the machine they replaced Robocop with in the original 1987 film) who can’t communicate and only wants to kill is the most generic, non-confrontational way to approach villainy in the modern age. Is the alien here to destroy all mankind? Unclear. Are we sure this is alien and wasn’t sent here from another country? Also unclear.

What we do know is Hughes stripped all of the normal machinations of a sci-fi story to make a film about survival, moving forward, and a little about American exceptionalism, especially from a militaristic point of view.

He so desperately wants this movie to land in the Venn diagram of Predator (1987) & Independence Day (1996) with a non-speaking Transformer as its central villain. Unfortunately for us as an audience, there is no charm, wit, or humor to be had here. No Arnold. No Will Smith. Not even a smarmy, cantankerous military leader as opposition to Ritchson’s actions. No Carl Weathers or Jeff Goldblum either. No supporting cast with any backstory that isn’t directly related to 81’s tragic family arc. Mostly “red shirts” lining up to be smoked by an alien’s laser. This is as bare bones as you can get for a military action story with a sci-fi tinge.

War Machine is content with a personal story about individual fortitude, grit, determination, & the bonds of brotherhood; echoing the rally cries & values of an elite army unit. Ritchson, as a mammoth human specimen & an actor who can play stern and sullen, is a cheat code for a film like this. He dwarfs all the men around him. You believe in his abilities & his motives. You believe he can cross that finish line. If you’re looking for a reason to watch this uncomplicated story, Ritchson is it. Period.

But if you’re looking for anything else to cling to, sadly, War Machine doesn’t really provide it. A screenplay with minimal emotion & character depth, supporting characters given very little to work with despite some impressive actors embodying them (If Beale Street Could Talk’s Stephan James, Golden Globe/Emmy nominee Dennis Quaid, & Mission: Impossible franchise villain Esai Morales to name a few), and an alien robot killing machine that doesn’t live up to how cool that moniker sounds.

While not giving its audience some lame vision of the not-too-distant future in which to roll their eyes is welcomed, War Machine barely clears the low bar set by its Netflix Original Sci-Fi Action Film peers. Alan Ritchson is an undeniable star who shines brightest when he is given a chance to be a little more playful & witty when he’s taking on the world’s worst; something that he was never afforded in this one-note survival film.

Watch War Machine If You Liked

Predator
Transformers
Independence Day
Reacher
Red Hill
Outside The Wire

MVP of War Machine

Alan Ritchson as “81”

As a massive fan of “Reacher”, I’ve taken quite a shine to Alan Ritchson and try to catch a performance of his if I can. His combination of “one man army” build, deadpan humor, & believable conviction makes him a rare combination in the industry.

While his choice in leading man vehicles may not always draw my interest or hold them once started, Ritchson is rarely disappointing in performance alone. Even in War Machine, he takes a very simple alien survival story and embraces all the aspects that could possibly make it come alive: his rare big brother moment with Jai Courtney, the athleticism in his army training and action stunt work, & his commanding presence when he has to rise to the occasion.

While this film wasn’t what I hoped for, we will still get plenty more episodes of “Reacher” in the coming years, and one could wish for him to do more interesting work like his prior roles in Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare or DC/HBO Max’s “Titans”.

2.5/5Average

★★½☆☆

When I heard Reacher star Alan Ritchson playing a soldier fighting an alien, my 80s & 90s action film fandom made me take notice. But sadly, this film doesn’t come close to meeting that hype.