Movie review : Outside the wire

In the near future, a drone pilot sent into a war zone finds himself paired with a top-secret android officer on a mission to stop a nuclear attack.

PROS

• Compelling performance by Anthony Mackie (Leo).
• Easy to follow storyline with some good twists to it.

CONS

• Damson Idris’s character , Harp , was annoying at times despite him being the ‘hero’ of the movie , making him hard to root for him.
• There were a few holes in the plot that disturbed the flow of the movie.
• The ‘villain’ was not as menacing as expected.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Leo : “War is ugly. Sometimes you got to get dirty to see any real change.”

Harp: I don’t have any specialist training as a field agent.
Leo: Don’t worry. I’m special enough for both of us.

CONCLUSSION

Outside the Wire is a thrilling action ,sci-fi movie. The chemistry between Harp (Damson Idris) the morally troubled young drone pilot and the futuristic robot Leo (Anthony Mackie) was good , but it didn’t get deep enough for the audience to form an emotional attachment to the duo. Leo’s impatience with his hesitant underling may recall the dynamic between Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in Training Day, but that is the extent of the comparison between the two movies.

Set in the not so distant future ,in eastern Europe, the plot may at first glance seem like the usual generic USA vs Russia war flick , but luckily there are a few surprise twist in the story. Outside of the amazing actions scenes and special effect the movie asks questions about the morality of war and the acceptability of casualties of war.

Outside the wire is a good popcorn movie that will entertain you but may not live long in the memory.

RATING

3 out of 5