In Netflix’s newest sci-fi romp, “Outside The Wire,” something of a mismatched buddy film meets generic genre actioner, a rookie infantryman is paired up with a pearls-of-wisdom-dropping, veteran cyborg-y android super soldier and early on, is told to, “think outside the box,” encouraged to improvise and break protocol when necessary. Unfortunately, neither director Mikael Håfström, nor writers Rob Yescombe and Rowan Athale, ever heed this advice, instead, delivering a rote, paint-by-numbers affair that says nothing meaningful about fighting wars or the future.
There’s little to say about the premise that hasn’t been seen before, especially following a handful of title cards establishing the near-future setting and a vague U.S. military conflict. The bombed-out overseas environment that’s cut to a moment later evokes unfortunate comparisons to “Chappie” in numerous ways—it’s at this point where drone pilot Lt. Harp (Damson Idris) and his situation soon receive their respective introductions; following Harp’s reassignment from desk jockey to combat duty due to having disobeyed an order which saw the deadly launch of a missile, he soon finds himself punished by teaming up with Leo (Anthony Mackie), an android with some of Mackie’s Marvel charm and little to offer beyond that. As the two embark on a mission to overthrow a local warlord, who’s bent on nuclear annihilation, and Harp’s backstory is revealed, any chemistry one might expect between the two leads becomes less the quality of “Training Day” and more the dreariness of “Gemini Man,” with several twists easily foreseen as the plot plays outs-then again. If a scene involving Emily Beecham‘s resistance fighter Sofiya engaged in a scuffle using a coat as her weapon seems like an exciting addition, then this is your movie.
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In the arena of story development, one expects characters to learn something, grow and mature in some fashion. However, outside of the overused “war is bad, drones will be the death of all” message, little else is advanced forward in this regard. Dialogue between Leo and Harp flows with all the usual banter present in so many buddy dramas that serve as predecessors, both sci-fi and otherwise, but even this fails, thanks to a groanworthy amount of exposition. As Harp learns more about himself, his job, and the moral dilemma therein, one gets the impression that all those involved with bringing this film into the cultural zeitgeist wanted to say so much more and ask the big questions about the next several decades of warfare. But unlike the third act revelations in ‘Saving Private Ryan” or essentially the entirety of “The Thin Red Line,” nothing new is presented that isn’t already widely known, or blatantly telegraphed beforehand as the story unfolds.
Conversely, the manner in which Leo is introduced, listening to ancient jazz records while discussing things with Harp in such a way that his inhuman nature isn’t quite as evident as that seen in “The Terminator,” and the juxtaposition with his abilities in battle actually does work—these moments of action scattered throughout attempt to inject some much-needed adrenaline into the sluggish pace, thanks to a variety of quick cuts and shakycam that serve to highlight Leo’s superhuman nature. Though it’s worth mentioning, these pulse-pounding moments are sadly over as quickly as they begin.
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A particular plot point involves robotic soldiers referred to as Gumps who accompany their human counterparts in the field—though it’s not unfathomable to imagine this sort of technology materializing in real life at some eventual point. But even this idea is undercut by the look of the robots, which appears to have originated as rejected character designs from either “RoboCop” or “Chappie” once again. Additionally, the film has this odd, super-clean aesthetic which doesn’t typically fit the grim and grit the smorgasbord of better war films that have come before captured in a far more flawless manner. Director Mikael Håfström, best known for the Schwarzenegger/Stallone 2013 actioner “Escape Plan” missed the chance to add a final tag towards the beginning that viewers expecting something akin to “Escape Plan” are in for much of the same— subpar action mixed with a wealth of missteps. At best, it’s forgettable, and at worst, it’s uninspired.
Ultimately, nothing transpires throughout the course of its near-two hour runtime to save “Outside the Wire” from the bottom of a department store bargain bin nestled snuggly against a battered DVD copy of so many duplicate films that came before. Mackie, who also helped produce the film, should count his blessings for his Marvel Studios alliance and such sure-fire hits as the upcoming “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” waiting in the wings. Looking back, it’s easy to imagine all that went wrong inside the production of “Outside The Wire”, and in this case, the answer appears to be everything. [C-]
“Outside The Wire” is available now on Netflix.