“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’.” That’s a part of a song just about everyone knows. Maybe not the rest of it, but the opening is iconic. And Hollywood loves a good war film. Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, Black Hawk Down – the list could go on and on with the dozens and dozens that have been pumped out to high praise and even Oscar wins. The biggest problem with these though is that oftentimes the battle scenes, even if realistic, are meant to titillate and thrill the senses as our heroic good guys blow the bad guys away to the patriotic score swelling in the background. But that’s not how real-life battles play out. Warfare, though, manages to establish what the experiences of the people on the frontline are actually like and ends up playing out more like a horror movie than an action film.
Considering that a lot of this needs to be experienced first-hand with little previous knowledge, I’m just going to say that a group of Navy SEALs gets pinned down by insurgents in a small Iraqi town, and the whole movie revolves around their trying to escape.
Alex Garland co-directed this with Ray Mendoza, and they previously worked together on last year’s Civil War. I had a huge gripe with that film in that the third act heavily devolves into Call of Duty porn and detracts from the story they were trying to tell. Ray was a consultant on that movie, so there was some trepidation that this would be the same thing. It’s not.
For starters, this is as much Ray’s story as it is based on actual events. He was one of the SEALs pinned down, and he went back and interviewed the rest of his squad to get as accurate an account as possible. Many shows will say they are inspired by real life; this one actually is. And to ratchet up the tension and authenticity, it plays out in real time. It’s only about 90 minutes long, but when they call out an evac is coming in five minutes, you can literally count down to four minutes to hear them call it out. Thus, as their stress level rushes from zero to 100 in a matter of moments, yours does too.
I said it’s more of a horror film, and that has a lot to do with the sound design. Garland proves masterful here as the way the bullets and explosions envelop you, you would swear that you’re going to get hit with them. Once again, this is a solid way to make you feel like you’re in the scenes with these actors.
Not only does the sound get you, but as soldiers move from one side street to another trying to get away from the insurgents, it’s almost as if they’re looking for Freddy or Jason who are hiding for them in the darkness. And just when you think you have a moment of respite, you’re stuck behind a pillar with heavy fire trying to decimate your hiding spot. Add to that some truly horrifying moments when people are getting injured, and it’s hard not to avert your eyes.
There is an important point to make though, is that with as much shooting and ‘splosions as you have, Warfare is not, in any way, glorifying violence. No heroic music swells up to encourage our heroes (there is actually no score which adds to the realism). No Billy badass picking up two guns and firing away as he fireman carries another soldier to safety. In fact, with one exception, you don’t see anyone get shot. These SEALs are more interested in putting down covering fire to protect their movement than lining up a sniper shot on the “bad guys.” If anything, we could say the SEALs themselves are the antagonists since they are interlopers on Iraqi soil, but even then, it manages to show them as what they really are – heavily trained and elite soldiers who are also human and can succumb to emotion like the rest of us.
Speaking of the characters, this is full of up-and-coming actors who we are going to be hearing about for decades to come. Some may be familiar with the leads – Will Poulter, Charles Melton, Kit Connor, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, and Joseph Quinn (to name a few), but they are going to be household names in the near future. Each delivers a stunning performance that is believable and gut-wrenching. This story lives and dies by its actors, and they couldn’t have done a better job.
It’s rare that I call a film perfect, but Warfare is the epitome of that. After the initial 15-minute setup or so until long after it is over, every moment will stay with you. From the masterful way it’s written, directed, and immerses you in the tension, to the few quiet moments when you get to see these soldiers as they really are, just people, there is nothing that could have been done differently or better here. It truly shows us the horror of war and the fact it’s generally just rich old people sending young people out to die in their place. So yeah, it is good for absolutely nothing, and if this can’t make you see that, nothing will.