outside the wire (2021) review
Large chunks of Outside the Wire feel like the very best Call of Duty: Modern Warfare cut-scenes. The problem therein is the standards for a video game cut-scene are far lower than that of a Netflix original film starring one of the hottest actors in Hollywood (Anthony Mackie). It’s 2021 and we are still making movies where the central conflict is keeping nukes out of the hands of spooky foreigners? How come we don’t get any explanation as to the development or specifics of the science behind Mackie’s synthetic military officer, Leo? The movie is set in 2036, it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that we’ll have terminators by then. Outside the Wire is like fruitcake: the ingredients are quite appetizing but once you put them all together each element is somehow lessened and the final product looks and sounds a lot better than it actually is. The film presents a bevy of grand ideas on future warfare as well as philosophical psycho-babble on the ethics of utilizing sentient artificial beings for warfare. None of these ideas get fully fleshed out. It’s Terminator, Chappie, Training Day, and Universal Soldier in a blender. You’d be better off watching any of those films instead. That’s not to say I hate Outside the Wire. The action scenes are semi-interesting if a bit rote/uninspired and Anthony Mackie has the screen presence to keep you invested during the dialogue heavy portions. Newcomer Damon Idris as drone pilot Lt. Thomas Harp has a bright future. The film also benefits from being perhaps the first mainstream, big budget film to speak directly to drone warfare and the stark difference between flying a drone into an incursion versus walking into one. Outside the Wire, as with most of the 2020-21 “corona releases” debuting on streaming with little fanfare or marketing budget, is a perfectly fine and forgettable action flick.
Outside the Wire receives a score of 5.5/10 for general audiences and a 6.5 if you like the idea of a Call of Duty video game but just the cut-scenes.