THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When I heard that Netflix would release a film every week in 2021, I was easily invested to see the array of what was coming. In the first month of the year, there was Outside the Wire. Did I like it? I honestly wish I can yes.
PLOT
The film centers on a fictional 2036 and there is a civil war in Ukraine. The United States are involved as they deploy peacekeeping forces. During an operation, a Marine team and robotic soldiers known as 'Gumps' are ambushed. Drone pilot First Lieutenant Thomas Harp fires a missile at a suspected enemy launcher, sacrificing the lives of two out of forty soldiers on the ground. As punishment for his disobedience, he is sent to Camp Nathaniel, the US base of operations in Ukraine. There, he meets his assigned superior Captain Leo, an enhanced android super soldier, posing as a human officer. Their mission is to stop terrorist Victor Koval from collecting codes that'll gain access to nuclear missile silos from the Cold War. They begin to search for the terrorist under the cover of delivering vaccines to a refugee camp. After an exchange at a friendly aid truck, they get ambushed by pro-Russian insurgents in which they barely escape with their lives. They do encounter Resistance leader Sofiya (Emily Beecham), leading to them taking down an arms dealer that knows Victor is heading to a bank that has the codes for the silos. The two get to the bank and while Leo chases down Victor, Harp tries to rescue civilians caught in a crossfire between Gumps of both sides. Leo does get the codes but takes down an insurgent, meaning Victor wasn't there. Harp calls in a drone strike which stops the action he barely survives. He does reunite with Leo but he admits he's been using him the whole time and his own plans with the codes. When he leaves him behind, the young pilot encounters Sofiya and realizes that he will launch the missiles at the US. This point is proven whereas he kills Victor for it when he doesn't give him access to the silos. Harp then goes back to Camp Nathaniel and warns Colonel Eckhart (Michael Kelly) that the super soldier has gone rogue. With help of his friend and fellow drone pilot Bale (Kristina Tonteri-Young), he is able to find the silo Leo went to. He is able to stop him with stronger firepower but is unable to stop the launch. As he dies, Leo admits that his actions were to ensure the super soldier program to fail. After this revelation, Harp calls in another drone strike in which he survives again. With the world saved, the film ends with Harp leave Camp Nathaniel as he was promised by Eckhart that he would go home due to his actions.
THOUGHTS
I barely heard about the film when it came out and because I hadn't watched any trailers, I had no idea what to expect. This is one of those movies where it shows potential by laying out creative lore but it backfires as the execution shows that it's trying to be the next big thing. Mikael Håfström can normally make solid films like 1408 but it doesn't look like he is trying to make this one appear to be a fun viewing. Instead, it's already the most boring of the year. Because the visuals are bland for me, I can barely say that the action sequences are solid to see. I was not into Anthony Mackie was the only reason I watched this movie and it seems that he is the only one trying to give a good performance compared to the rest of the cast we see. I can admit that his character Captain Leo is supposed to be a badass because he's a machine with emotions. The top reason for his badassery is how he's smarter than everyone thinks he is. Breakout Damson Idris doesn't exactly impress with the role of Harp. Sure he presents him as someone who is willing to bend the rules to gain victory. He was able to sacrifice two lives to save thirty eight others, which is bold because he knew it was a better decision than losing all forty to a launcher. The problem is that there were so many times where he acted like a wimp on the battlefield. Sure it doesn't seem that he ever had ground experience but he overdoes it here. And I couldn't be anymore upset on how they wasted Pilou Asbaek because he doesn't get enough screen time to bring whatever intimidation Victor Koval is supposed to have. And to top it all, there were too many things in the story that are gonna bother me if I dare to see it again. First off, what the hell does Leo mean that 'If you knew we were killing people, you wouldn't be here'? That technically is part of the job whereas killing people is eliminating the threat. Why is Leo the only one to remove insurgents beyond the wire? It does make him sound cool but it makes sense for him to have backup at all times. While we want to really get started with Leo in the picture why pick a guy like Harp who has no ground experience? Why not pick a guy who had a similar situation like Harp but still has ground experience? How did this decision get approved, do they want the guy dead? I mean it doesn't completely make sense in the long run other than he was being used. The sergeant assaulting Harp for the two fallen soldiers was so pointless to see. Of course he's pissed off but he's not even trying to be sneaky about it. I was also annoyed on how Harp kept getting surprised of Leo's actions pre-twist. He disobeyed an order which led him to his predicament, so I feel like he shouldn't be surprised at all. Also if Leo he had to get rid of his failsafe, why didn't he do it before they left the camp? If he wants to ensure he's presumed dead, that should've been the first thing to do. While it sounds interesting for him to use nukes to end the program he's based on, why did he think this was the only way? It does work but it feels like there had to be another way before leading to this. And lastly, I know we're supposed to root for Harp but I have a hard time believing he made it to the car before the drone missile destroyed the silo. And if he did, shouldn't he be exposed to some kind of radiation? If he did, I'd like to have confirmation on that. To get things over with, Outside the Wire is disappointing for not capitalizing with its creativity. If you have Netflix and like a cheap action flick, good luck getting through this one.
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