Outside the Wire (2021)

Outside the Wire (2021)

4/10

Starring

Anthony Mackie

Damson Idris

Emily Beecham

Michael Kelly

Directed by Mikael Håfström

Here is one thing to note when watching this movie, not everyone is suited to play some roles. That thought hit me smack in the face when I saw this movie as Damson Idris who plays Thomas Harp is not suited for the role. I may not be a casting director, but this was a miss in my view. Anthony Mackie on the other hand owned his role.

If this is what to expect in this whole Netflix one new movie a week, I may not be game to see everyone of it. I had issues with some of the lines and the screenplay does not borderline on average, but drops below. The whole plan of creating a moral paradox and infusing it with the created forcing the hand of the creator (which was outlined in the end) was for me just a waste. This movie would have best been served as an action movie without the needed attempt of making a convoluted plot based on some moral dilemma. In the end the plot was not twisted enough to make me think and the bad pacing just summed up my rating of this movie, a total waste of time.

The movie is set in the future where modern warfare is not just humans, but machines also have been brought into the game. We are introduced to Thomas, a drone pilot who seems to be more into numbers than he is to the casualties his drone strikes causes.

He is being punished for making a call to deploy a drone strike to save thirty-eight soldiers at the price of killing two. His actions led him to be sent to a war front where they believe his seeing the casualties of war first hand will best serve in making him understand his actions.

In this future there is a war going on between the U.S. and Russia, the sad thing is it is happening in Ukraine. Devastating the region and causing the people to have their own local militia, which is against both parties. Russia wants to gain control of the nuclear silos in Ukraine left behind by the former USSR and the U.S. wants to stop them.

A certain Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie) asked for Thomas to be sent to work with him in his duty of locating the terrorist Victor Koval.

Captain Leo reveals to Thomas that he's actually a robot, and he picked Harp to help him on a secret mission to get nuclear codes before Victor Koval does, but they need to figure out where those codes are. During this mission Leo questions Thomas about AI, the greater good and as the movie progresses Thomas starts to suspect that Leo is going beyond his directive.

Leo seems to be good at manipulating people and was able to get Thomas to aid in breaking more rules, which aided Leo with the ability to go rogue. By the time Thomas was able to put it all together it seems late.

I do not see why this movie took the turn it did, I feel watching a robot fight and change the face of a war would have been a better film.