Tropic Sprockets / Warfare

By Ian Brockway

From the idiosyncratic and edgy Alex Garland (Civil War), “Warfare” centers on the Iraq War. The film is part of a long line of war films including “Redacted,” “The Green Zone,” and “Three Kings.” Co-directed by Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza and taken from his own experiences, the film is tense, anxious, and direct, and doesn’t hold back. It is an excellent study of strength and survival. [Showtimes and trailer at Tropiccinema.com]

During the Battle of Ramadi, a team of Navy SEALS is sent to enter a house. They utilize the house as a sniper post but have notice of a group of jihadists. They try to squelch activity, but time is not ideal. After several tense and tedious minutes, they are cleared to fire but the jihadists grenade an opening. Two men are severely injured. The commander of the unit manages to enlist medical aid, but after great planning, the medical transport tank is hit by an IED, which plunges the street and its soldiers into Dante’s Inferno. 

The film is tense, gritty and 100% accurate. Time passes on stinging pins and needles. The film captures the ennui and the otherness of the servicemen as foreign persons in a foreign land as if on Planet Mars.

This film is no vicarious or free escape, it is pained, sulfuric, horrid and claustrophobic. This is the life of a soldier without glory or glam. Time bears upon these men like weights of iron. 

Bombs percuss on them. Blood pours from them and their limbs transform into horror. The gore on display is not for tranquil hearts and this film is not one of ease or harmony. One sees the cacophony of combat and pain.

Actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Ray Mendoza is superlative in his headliner role, as are Will Poulter as Officer Erik and Cosmo Jarvis as the almost supernaturally resilient Elliott to whom the film is dedicated. 

The men portrayed are no mere matinee cutouts, but heroes of hemoglobin and heart.

The documentary segment at the end featuring the real SEALs meeting their double shadows will have your heart trembling with emotion.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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