"Who's the meathead calling me a moron?"
The elevator pitch for this in-your-face Netflix sci-fi actioner was probably 'It's Predator...but with an extra-terrestrial killing machine!', as a band of trainee elite army rangers at a remote Colorado training camp, led by '81' (the formidable Alan Ritchson), are on a final recon-and-rescue test mission where they unexpectedly find themselves up against a relentless alien murder-bot (think love-child of an AT-AT and ED-209). With a thunderous soundtrack, training montages and a haunted veteran hero, the first act offers all the military genre conventions it can muster, before turning into a straightforward cat-and-mouse survival thriller. The scenery/location settings looks spectacular (shot beautifully and used well), the violence is unflinching with well-executed stunt work, and the excellent sparingly-used effects work is integrated into the action well. Ritchson's committed presence sells the fast-moving story, with the rest of the thinly-drawn troupe likeable if disposable. War Machine is a familiar and straightforward but slick, well-executed and entertaining enough ride.
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