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‘Warfare’ Review: Alex Garland’s Iraq War Film Is Full Of Bombastic Aestheticism That Leaves You Feeling Empty
At best, Warfare is an artfully made recreation; at worst it is naked military propaganda set during one of the country’s most egregious moments of imperialism.
Even summarizing Warfare’s plot feels like a pyrrhic exercise, so thin is its premise and so anonymous are its characterizations (something that the filmmakers themselves couldn’t have been totally unaware of, as the credits pair the actors with their real-life equivalents, most of whom have apparently chosen to have their face blurred in an accidental nod to the preceding, mind-numbing ninety minutes). In his attempt to portray the brutal “realities” of war, Garland has only glorified it; close-ups of shattered flesh and bone and prolonged periods of men screaming in pain only reify the film’s vision of service people as inherently good. But it is limited to its mechanical processes, and, if the entire film is based solely on its ability to knock you back into your seat, it is merely a blustery, futile gesture – the cinematic equivalent of a military show of force.
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