Matt at the Movies: "Warfare"
In his first of three action movie reviews this week, Matt gives an 8.0 to this intense and immersive real-time film that leaves you wanting a little more.
Editor’s Note: This week, Matt at the Movies takes a look at three new action movies now in theaters.
The Action is the Juice
Here’s the scene: Tom Sizemore’s character, Michael Cheritto, sizes up an all or nothing heist just laid out for him by Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) in Michael Mann’s 1995 action crime classic Heat.
He’s already set for cash, has a nice lady, and there is a lot of potential risk for this plan to go sideways. Every instinct should be to walk away, with McCauley essentially spelling it out for him. This “one last job” cliche is both an action movie trope, and exhilarating to watch.
As Sizemore’s character internally weighs his options you can see the pure, adrenal rush across his face as he responds, “Well you know, for me, the action is the juice”.
The internal conflict of a thief, criminal, soldier, or fighter not being able to walk away for that one last adrenaline hit often leads to their demise - as it did for Cheritto. However, that certain type of crazy is exactly what you want as you sit down in front of a massive screen with a snack in hand, waiting to be entertained.
Some of the masters of this genre (Mann, Tony & Ridley Scott, John McTiernan, Kathyrn Bigelow, George Miller) stage epic set pieces mixed with quick edits and incredible sound mixing. They make use of both practical and digitally enhanced stunt sequences to push the limits of film. For the best action directors in Hollywood, the action is indeed the juice.
Last April, we had three action movies drop along a spectrum of quality including Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man, a surprisingly fun but underperforming Guy Ritchie entry The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and a divisive but ultimately excellent Alex Garland A24 film Civil War.
Action April continues into 2025 as we have been blessed with three straight weekends of all killer no filler releases. Today we review a “based on a true story” military snafu (Warfare), and later this week we’ll review a Jim Crow South depression era vampire action thriller (Sinners), and then and a sequel story that ratchets up the ante featuring an autistic forensic accountant and his paramilitary brother hell-bent on revenge (The Accountant 2).
Fire up the getting-the-crew-together montage and don’t forget to cut the green wire as we slow motion walk into our first film, answering one question above all for each of these three films: is the juice worth the squeeze?
“Warfare” is Impressive and Leaves You Wanting More
Former Navy SEAL and on-set military supervisor Ray Mendoza takes the helm in conjunction with Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Civil War) to direct a personal story from his time deployed in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006.
We are given little information as the film begins, and we’re immediately dropped into a reconnaissance mission with a SEAL platoon. As the soldiers take a civilian house and set up shop, we are inundated with procedure, military jargon, and the preciseness that makes up their daily operations. There are many familiar Hollywood faces you will notice from television and the big screen who occupy the roles of the different platoon members as they go about their routines, providing intel on the platoon’s surroundings.
We can feel the tension building throughout individual conversations, sniper scope visuals, and multi-channel radio transmissions. There is something about to erupt in the city. Men are gathering in the streets through secret rendezvous preparing for an ambush on the SEAL team that has blown its cover. Before we realize what is about to happen, a grenade hits and chaos ensues.
For the next hour of this wonderfully-paced ninety-five minute film, we watch the platoon deal with casualties, multiple assaults, botched rescues, IEDs, chain-of-command issues, and extremely realistic action scenes that make us feel like we were side-by-side with the frogmen.
The ensemble cast includes Reservation Dogs’ D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mendoza, as well as Finn Bennett, Noah Centineo, Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini, Cosmo Jarvis, Charles Melton, Will Poulter, and Joseph Quinn.
Warfare is both Mendoza’s story and his vision, and the film does not take clear political sides. It is neither pro- nor anti-war on its face - giving the audience agency in making that determination - insisting that it is simply the recollections of his team members accounts to what can happen during a real time battle. Of course, you may feel differently when you try to find meaning in the fog of war.
The sound was incredible and - at times - even over the top to have us really feel the disorientating aural stimulus of battle.
Mendoza worked with Garland on Civil War and there are clear parallels between the two films, including the feeling of being dropped into the moment with little context. In many ways Garland’s directing and script - which was also co-written with Mendoza - goes against the grain in that it forces us to digest our own feelings as events unfold. It’s neither didactic nor instructive, a welcome if challenging departure from being spoon-fed a narrative.
The small scope of the film worked well, but I would have appreciated a few scenes from Naval command to give us a broader scope of the operations at hand. Despite that minor criticism, Warfare is an impressive first showing by Mendoza and par for the course for Garland, who continues to build an impressive library.
Matt at the Movies Score: Recommend - 8.0
Warfare is an intense and immersive real-time film that leaves you wanting a little more.