Maybe it’s just me, but movies like “War Machine” don’t seem to come around very often these days. There has never been a notable shortage of genre films in movie theaters, direct to video store shelves, and now via streaming. But rarely are we treated to movies from the cool military sci-fi sub-genre. I’m talking about movies in the vein of “Predator”, “Starship Troopers”, or even the lesser yet underappreciated “Battle: Los Angeles”.

Enter “War Machine”, an unashamed and unapologetic slice of military sci-fi that openly wears its influences like badges of honor. The film routinely calls back to great movies that inspired it including the aforementioned “Predator”, James Cameron’s “Aliens”, and even “Top Gun”. Director Patrick Hughes keenly and confidently corrals all of these inspirations, fusing them together with visceral action sequences and jaw-dropping set pieces.

Alan Ritchson plays a soldier who has entered the Army’s Ranger Assessment Selection Program. It’s eight weeks of arduous testing, ending with a handpicked chosen few joining the ranks of the elite Army Rangers. Designated with the number 81, becoming a Ranger has a deeply personal meaning for him. While serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 81 witnessed his kid brother die during a Taliban attack. Guiltridden over his inability to save his brother, 81 sets out to keep their pledge to become Rangers.

Despite the concerns of his superior officers Sheridan (Dennis Quaid) and Torres (Esai Morales), 81 makes it to the final challenge, which is a recon and rescue simulation. He and his team are dropped high in the Rocky Mountains by two Blackhawks and given 24 hours to complete their mission. If they cross the finish line in time, they will be given their Ranger scroll. 81 reluctantly takes the role of team leader and leads the soldiers towards their objective.

Their military exercise turns into a fight for survival after the squad stumbles upon a strange metal wreckage. Believing it to be part of their mission, the team investigates. But in the process they awaken a massive mechanized monstrosity that is the size of a building and is armed to the teeth with out-of-this-world weaponry. Suddenly the soldiers find themselves under attack and hunted by the killer mech with ineffective weapons, jammed comms, and compasses going haywire.

Hughes (who co-wrote the script with James Beaufort) keeps the story simple, focusing most on the team’s fight for survival. You can’t miss the steady flow of familiar tropes. But Hughes cleverly integrates them rather than rely on them. And he smartly avoids bogging his movie down in some otherworldly backstory. Instead he leaves much of the mech, its origins, and its motivations a mystery. Also, it maintains a needed human element, mostly through 81’s emotional struggles with lingering trauma.

Ultimately it’s the spectacular action that drives “War Machine”. It’s intense, visually astounding, and at times shockingly gory. The effects are an impressive mix of digital and practical, while New Zealand and Australia (filling in for the Colorado Rockies) provide a perfectly rugged setting that’s both breathtaking and treacherous. As for Ritchson, he more than holds his own. He obviously has the imposing build and raw physicality. But he commits to every scene, whether he’s squaring off against a galactic threat or quietly wrestling with painful memories.

Those hoping for a more fleshed-out science-fiction deep dive might leave “War Machine” disappointed. It’s only at the very end that we get any significant world-building. But thats not this movie’s focus. Hughes wants to put us in the soldiers’ shoes as they navigate fear, isolation, and the unknown while facing overwhelming odds. Admittedly it does leave us with several questions along the way. And we get more cornball one-liners than answers. But I never felt shortchanged, narratively or cinematically. I was having too much fun, glued to my seat and anxious to see what Hughes was going to hit us with next.

VERDICT – 4 STARS