Movie Review: ‘Warfare’ | Moviefone

‘Warfare’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.

Opening in theaters April 11 is ‘Warfare,’ directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza and starring D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Michael Gandolfini, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, and Charles Melton.

Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Civil War’

Initial Thoughts

After showing us what a near-future conflict in the United States could look like with 2024’s chilling ‘Civil War,’ writer-director Alex Garland has teamed up with Ray Mendoza – a former Navy SEAL and Iraq War veteran who helped stage the battle sequences in ‘Civil War’ – to reconstruct a real-life incident in which Mendoza’s platoon was trapped by enemy insurgents in a Ramadi apartment house for several hours.

The result is ‘Warfare,’ a powerfully immersive and visceral recreation, told in semi-real time, of the events of a single day in November 2006. That’s when the platoon of Navy SEALs in which Mendoza was a communications officer, embedded in an apartment building on what was supposed to be a routine surveillance mission, found themselves surrounded by Al-Qaeda insurgents and under attack. The movie strips away almost anything not related to that single chain of events, making it both succinct and displaced in time, yet still an overwhelming visual and auditory document of the brutality of war.

Story and Direction

‘Warfare’ is based on the memories of Mendoza and others in his platoon about a single afternoon in which they find themselves pinned down in an apartment building in a dangerous neighborhood in Ramadi, while on what is supposed to be a low-key surveillance mission.

The first half hour of the movie starts out in almost restrained fashion, as the platoon quietly occupies the top floor of the building and tries to reassure the family they find there. A certain amount of tedium sets in as the SEALs settle into position and begin watching the area – but that tedium quickly gives way to unease and tension as they start to see a buildup of insurgents and weapons in the building opposite and realize that an attack is imminent.

When a grenade is hurled into the building, injuring lead sniper Elliot Miller (Cosmo Jarvis) and another SEAL, all hell breaks loose. An attempt to transport the injured outside to an armored vehicle ends with an IED exploding literally under their feet, killing a couple of Iraqi escorts and gravely injuring Miller (again) and another man. The platoon must retreat into the house and hope that reinforcements can come in time, all while defending their position against the encroaching insurgents.

The plot of ‘Warfare’ may be lean, as is the 95-minute running time, but what happens during that time is nothing less than an incredibly potent assault on the senses. Garland and Mendoza, aided by the extraordinary efforts of the production crew, immerse the viewer fully into the panic, terror, violence, and fog of battle. Bullets rip through walls and whine past soldiers; explosions shatter the confined space; smoke and debris cloud the vision; the air is filled with the screams of men in agonizing pain, the constant rattle of gunfire, barking voices over radios.

Mendoza (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) does his best to keep Miller calm and still and safe even as chaos erupts around him and he continues to bleed out from his mutilated legs. The platoon leader, Erik (Will Poulter), goes into shock and melts down, unable to keep control of his nerves or the situation. Most terrifyingly, the men must wait for a second platoon to get to them and shore up their defenses, while sitting tight for hours until more armored vehicles can attempt another evacuation.

All of this happens in direct, no-nonsense style that plays out as a combination of high-octane action film and almost documentary-like authenticity. There are no triumphant victories, no heroic Hollywood moments, no musical score to tug at the emotions. What Garland and Mendoza simply aim to do is place the viewer right in the middle of a real-life “war is hell” nightmare, letting the pure, unspeakable intensity of the situation do all the heavy lifting – and they succeed.

Now there are two areas in which ‘Warfare’ may or may not fall down, depending on your perspective. Like other war films – particularly Ridley Scott’s ‘Black Hawk Down,’ to which this film does owe a large debt in some ways – ‘Warfare’ sacrifices character development for immediacy. We don’t really get to know the guys in the platoon, and as always seems to be the case, it’s often hard to tell who’s who in the midst of the most concentrated action. But the counterpoint to this is that ‘Warfare’ strives to be as realistic as possible, and in real life the sort of character-defining moments or arcs that occur in conventional Hollywood writing simply don’t happen. These are men (and it is all men this time) trying to do their jobs under the most harrowing circumstances possible, and we don’t have time for speeches or back stories.

The other area in which ‘Warfare’ may come under criticism is that of context: it’s widely established that the Iraq War was fought under false pretenses – making it more of an illegitimate invasion than a genuine war – but the movie does not address the geopolitical environment in which these troops fight at all. And again, the response is that this may be the point: ‘Warfare’ does not set out to make political statements – it shows what’s happening on the ground to the troops who are sent to fight whether they want to be there or not. And trust us – if ‘Warfare’ proves anything, it’s that almost no one in their right mind would want to be there. Stripped of context and traditional Hollywood tropes, ‘Warfare’ gets one point across: war is hell no matter where you are and who you’re fighting for.

Cast and Performances

With little character development in the screenplay, it’s notable that the cast of unknowns and kind-of-knowns manage to make some discernible impressions. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (‘Reservation Dogs’) is striking as Mendoza himself, the soldier battling his own fear to keep his friend Miller alive and protect himself and his fellow platoon members. Charles Melton (‘May December’) also makes a powerful impression as Jake, the authoritative leader of the second platoon who arrives late in the game to reestablish command. That happens after Will Poulter’s Erik loses his grip, with the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ star giving perhaps the most complicated performance in the film as a smart commanding officer who suddenly finds himself barely able to function at the worst time possible.

While the rest of the platoon does feature some familiar faces under their helmets, masks, and grime (Joseph Quinn and Noah Centineo among them), the actors stand out not for individual character moments but for their credibility as an ensemble – they certainly make you believe you’re watching a well-trained, well-organized group of soldiers who are doing their best to follow orders, protect each other, and stay alive.

Final Thoughts

It’s difficult to say where Garland’s direction leaves off and Mendoza’s begins, but we’re guessing that the latter worked more directly with the actors based on his experience, while Garland handled the technical and practical side of the filmmaking, expanding on the expertise he’s developed on films like ‘Civil War’ and ‘Annihilation.’ Either way, it’s a seamless effort, aided immensely by the immersive cinematography of David J. Thompson, the precision editing of Fin Oates, the production design by Mark Digby, and especially the gut-churning sound design of Glenn Freemantle.

The result is a movie that defies standard Hollywood filmmaking conventions, and while some may find that jarring, well, we have no doubt that “jarring” doesn’t begin to cover the real experiences that Mendoza and his comrades went through. And even without political context or attempts at standard character journeys, ‘Warfare’ manages to bring forth the real cost of war for every human being involved with an incredible level of detail, horror, and authenticity. It’s brutal – as it should be.

What is the plot of ‘Warfare’?

A platoon of Navy SEALS on a mission in insurgent-held territory during the Iraq War find themselves trapped in an apartment building by hostile forces and forced to wait for extraction.

Who is in the cast of ‘Warfare’?

• D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Ray Mendoza
• Will Poulter as Erik
• Cosmo Jarvis as Elliot Miller
• Joseph Quinn as Sam
• Kit Connor as Tommy
• Michael Gandolfini as Lt. McDonald
• Noah Centineo as Brian
• Evan Holtzman as Brock
• Charles Melton as Jake

Directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s ‘Warfare’. Photo: A24.

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