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I’m not going to lie, when I first heard about Warfare, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The movie was directed by the odd-couple filmmaking duo of genre veteran Alex Garland and a complete newbie to the director’s chair, so I was a bit hesitant about it. I’m a huge fan of Alex Garland, but rookie directors are notoriously hit or miss, so I really had no idea how the film would turn out. Would it be up to Garland’s typical standards? Or would his inexperienced co-director drag him down? I had no idea, but in a surprising twist, that uncertainty actually intrigued me. I just had to see this movie for myself, so when tickets went on sale, I booked an opening-weekend seat as soon as I got the chance.
Warfare was written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, and it stars D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henrique Zaga, and Charles Melton. Like a lot of movies, this one is based on a true story, but unlike most of its cinematic peers, it’s made by one of the people who lived that story. Co-director Ray Mendoza was a US Navy SEAL in Iraq, and Warfare recounts a particularly harrowing experience he and his platoon endured during their time together. When the film begins, the troops station themselves in a multi-story house in the middle of enemy territory, and not long afterwards, they come under heavy fire from hostile forces. They have to do everything they can to escape with their lives, but as you can probably guess, that’s much easier said than done. From that brief plot synopsis, you might not think Warfare sounds terribly interesting, and in a certain sense, you’d actually be right. The story is just as straightforward as it sounds, so there aren’t too many surprises. Sure, you don’t know exactly how it’s all going to play out, but for the most part, nothing truly unexpected happens. On top of that, Mendoza and his fellow warriors are all rather thinly drawn. In typical military fashion, these SEALS largely lose their individuality and function primarily as parts of a well-oiled fighting machine, so aside from a handful of familiar faces like Will Poulter and Joseph Quinn, it’s tough to remember who’s who in this platoon. Those rigid, almost wooden qualities keep Warfare from being a traditionally good movie with memorable characters and a captivating plot, but don’t let that fool you. This is far from a bad film. In fact, if you leave your expectations at the door and accept the movie for what it is, you’ll be blown away by the experience. And when I say “experience,” I mean it. The way I see it, the primary purpose of this film is to give those of us who’ve never served in the military an inkling of what armed combat is really like. It completely eschews the machismo and bravado we often expect from action movies, and the filmmakers don’t even give us a score or a soundtrack to remind us that we’re watching a fictionalized account. In fact, the only time we ever hear any music is in the opening scene, when Mendoza and his crew hoot and holler while watching an overly sexualized music video (thankfully, these images aren’t on screen for very long). The rest of the time, we’re left to stew in the sounds of war and the near silence that precedes it, and that hyper-realism is genuinely breathtaking. From the moment these troops set out to occupy the house, you’ll be on the edge of your seat. Even when nothing particularly thrilling is happening, the mere fact that this is a warzone is enough to crank the tension up to eleven, and when the fighting begins in earnest, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Much like co-director Alex Garland’s last film, Civil War, this one doesn’t sugarcoat or glorify the disgusting reality of war. The deadly attacks these soldiers have to endure and the brotherly concern they demonstrate for one another show just how much of an affront to human life and human dignity war truly is, so you can’t help but hope and pray that you’ll never find yourself in a similar situation. It’s a legitimately harrowing depiction of a scourge that’s plagued humanity for millennia, and for Catholics, the best thing I can compare it to is probably The Passion of the Christ. Granted, these two movies are very different, but they both use disturbing violence and gore to convey uncomfortable truths many people would rather ignore. The Passion of the Christ highlights the horrific reality of Roman crucifixion and the suffering Jesus endured for us, and Warfare sheds similar light on the horrors of war. It’s not pretty (but it’s beautifully shot!), and it’ll probably be a “one and done” for a lot of moviegoers, but it’s well worth that one viewing. It brings us face to face with arguably the darkest part of the human experience, so this isn’t just one of the best films of the year so far. It’s also one of the most important.
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Horror comedies are tough to get right. They usually lean a bit too far in one direction, so if a director can consistently find the perfect goldilocks balance between these two genres, I’m automatically a fan. Unfortunately, not many filmmakers fit that bill, but there’s one who can seamlessly blend laughs and scares in his sleep: Christopher Landon. This guy directed both Happy Death Day movies and the fantastic slasher comedy Freaky, so it should come as no surprise that I’ve been looking forward to his new movie, Drop, ever since it was announced. I was confident it would be another hair-raising and hilarious success, so I bought a ticket for opening night as soon as I got the chance.
Drop was directed by Christopher Landon, and it stars Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, and Jeffery Self. In the film, Violet is a young widow ready to get back on the dating scene. She met a guy named Henry online, and now they’re going out in person for the first time. It’s a big step for Violet, but even she couldn’t have imagined just how momentous this date would be. Almost from the moment she walks into the restaurant, she starts receiving anonymous AirDrop messages on her phone, and she eventually learns that someone wants her to murder her date. If she doesn’t, this mysterious stalker is going to kill her son, so Violet is faced with an impossible choice: commit murder herself or let the most important person in her life die. It’s a fairly simple setup, so you might be wondering if Drop can sustain the tension for its entire 90(ish)-minute runtime. After all, our protagonist doesn’t appear to have a ton of options here, but somehow, director Christopher Landon finds a way to make it work. He takes a bit of time building up to Violet’s hellish dilemma, and once we get there, the woman proves to be pretty quick on her feet. She stalls for time in a number of inventive ways–like trying to move to another table and faking clumsiness–so even after she receives her ultimatum, Landon still manages to milk this seemingly shallow idea for all its worth. And let me tell you, it’s worth quite a bit. Not only is the back and forth between Violet and her anonymous interlocutor thrillingly tense, but Drop is also a bit of a whodunnit. The woman has no idea who’s sending her these ominous messages, so it could be anybody in the restaurant. Is it the cheesily sleazy piano player? Or the nice bartender? Or could it be the random guy she bumps into a few times? In the words of Scream, everybody’s a suspect, so your head will quickly start spinning as you try to figure out which one of these characters is the culprit. That mystery multiplies the fun exponentially, but tension and suspense can only get you so far. Drop also needs likable characters to put in its villain’s crosshairs, and thankfully, Violet and Henry are more than up to the task. Actors Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar both seem like cool, fun people to be around, but they also imbue their dynamic with the kind of awkwardness you’d expect from a couple on their very first date. That slight but noticeable unease makes them surprisingly relatable and very easy to root for, so you’ll care quite a bit about both of them. You won’t want Violet to lose her son, but you also won’t want Henry to die. Those seemingly contradictory desires put you in almost as much of a pickle as Violet herself, so you’ll become invested in these characters and their story in no time. All that being said, I don’t want to give the impression that Drop is a perfect movie. It’s not. In fact, even though I enjoyed the experience overall, I wouldn’t quite say it’s one of the best films of the year so far, and that’s largely due to two main flaws. For starters, as I mentioned before, Christopher Landon is usually great at mixing scares with laughs, but Drop, shall we say, drops the ball on that front. Sure, the movie has a couple of chuckle-worthy moments here and there, but way too much of the humor falls completely flat. In particular, the main source of comic relief here is Henry and Violet’s waiter, and I found him more annoying than funny. I cringed just about every time this guy opened his mouth, and if you ask me, there are few things worse in a film than ineffective comedy. On top of that, Drop is also very thin thematically. To be fair, the movie actually deals with some weighty themes–abuse, seemingly insoluble moral dilemmas, and a parent’s duty to protect their kids–but the story doesn’t go into much depth with any of them. Every time one of these ideas comes up, the film merely touches on it and quickly moves onto something else, so when all was said and done, I left the theater feeling a little empty. I just thought Drop could and should have had more to say, and when you combine that thematic listlessness with the unfunny comedy, you get a thriller that doesn’t live up to its full potential. Don’t get me wrong, I had a pretty good time with this movie, and I recommend giving it a watch if it sounds like something you’d enjoy. But it’s not quite as good as I wanted it to be, so if you decide to see it, you should probably temper your expectations a tiny bit. As Catholics, we know vengeance is wrong (especially if it involves killing people!), but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a good revenge film every now and then. Movie characters don’t have to be perfect, so we can still appreciate what these stories get right without condoning vengeance in the real world. In fact, I'd even say there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing despicable criminals get their comeuppance, so it should come as no surprise that I've had my eye on the upcoming revenge film The Amateur for a while. I thought it looked like a great new spin on a longstanding cinematic template, and when I got the chance to catch an early screening of the movie, I couldn’t say no.
The Amateur was directed by James Hawes, and it stars Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Danny Sapani, and Laurence Fishburne. In the film, Charlie Heller is a tech genius who works for the CIA. He’s much more of a behind-the-scenes guy than a field agent, but that changes when his wife, Sarah, is tragically killed in a terrorist attack. He wants his superiors to go after the people who perpetrated the attack, but despite their assurances, they seem reluctant to take any action. Eventually, Charlie decides to use his unique skills to avenge his wife’s death as only a “nerdy fellow who works on computers” (to quote the trailer) can, and he blackmails his boss into letting him do it. Unsurprisingly, Charlie’s insubordination doesn’t go over too well, so he now has to deal with two problems: the people he’s going after and the people he works for. As you might be able to guess from that plot synopsis, The Amateur isn’t your typical revenge flick. Sure, it has a few bursts of action every now and then, but for the majority of its runtime, this movie plays more like a drama than anything else. In fact, the script goes out of its way to tell us that Charlie is no John Wick, so if you’re expecting a nonstop whirlwind of guns, car chases, and hand-to-hand combat, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Instead, this film is a cerebral thriller that relies primarily on its characters and the sly cat-and-mouse games they play, and it knocks it out of the park on both fronts. Let’s start with the characters. This entire cast is excellent, but hands down, the best of the bunch is Rami Malek. He plays Charlie, and he totally nails the entire gamut of this guy’s emotions. For example, when The Amateur begins, you can tell that he genuinely loves his wife. It’s on his face and in his voice whenever she’s around, so you just know the woman’s death is going to hit him like a ton of bricks. And when the inevitable happens, Malek doesn’t miss a beat. Charlie isn’t the most emotional guy around, but Malek finds a way to effectively portray the character’s grief without the typical sobbing and screaming you often see in these situations. It’s a great performance that makes the injustice of Sarah’s death almost palpable, so when Charlie decides to go after the people who killed her, you’re completely on board. You want them to get the comeuppance they deserve, and thankfully, Charlie’s unorthodox methods are an absolute blast. The filmmakers come up with a number of truly inventive ways to use the character’s considerable brainpower, and in a genre often driven by brute force, this more intellectual approach to on-screen vengeance is a breath of fresh air. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat just like more common revenge tactics, but it’ll engage your mind way more than these movies typically do. It adds a great new wrinkle to this time-honored cinematic template, but it’s only half the story. The other half is the CIA’s hunt for its rogue agent, and that side of the film is just as engaging. Granted, it doesn’t have the emotional pull of Charlie’s quest, but it makes up for that by adding some action to its brainy thrills. We get an automotive getaway amid heavy fire, a foot race in a crowded part of town, and even a fun fight involving Laurence Fishburne’s character, so this movie just about has it all. My only knock on it is that the story is a bit thematically confused. See, Charlie’s conflict with the higher-ups at the CIA highlights the bedrock ethical principle that good ends don’t justify evil means, but that’s an odd point for a revenge film to make. Cinematic vengeance seekers openly flaunt that moral maxim, so unless a movie like The Amateur is trying to subvert the entire revenge blueprint (which this one isn’t), it shouldn’t draw attention to the deficiencies in its protagonist’s moral compass. Instead, these films should just focus on what their main characters get right (namely, that evil people shouldn't get away with their crimes), but The Amateur tries to have its cake and eat it too. I guess there’s some noble intent in that, but I don’t think it ultimately works. Like I said before, it just comes across as a bit thematically confused. Thankfully though, that one flaw doesn’t ruin the entire experience. The Amateur is still a riveting, well-acted adventure that puts a more cerebral spin on the typical vengeance template, so if you like seeing heinous criminals get the punishment they deserve, I think you’re going to enjoy this movie just as much as I did. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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