So it was with some amusement that I read the No. 1 movie on Netflix last week was War Machine, which I watched like all those other viewers. When it ended my wife said, “I can’t believe I watched that whole thing.”
Although it’s filled with military jingoism and very, very improbable circumstances I have to tip my hat: It’s certainly a riveting flick. Alan Ritchson plays an Army vet, designated as “81,” who wants to go through Army Ranger school due to an unfortunate back-story involving his brother and some explosions. Against all odds he makes it to the final “training” mission in the Colorado Rockies. Meanwhile a series of meteors crashes to the earth and guess what? They aren’t meteors. Soon the alien robot war machine is blasting all the recruits to smithereens. With the foolish and overhyped War on Iran going on it’s easy to root for these guys and indulge in mindless violence, directed only against alien robots. It reminded me a bit of another, better movie: Battle Los Angeles (2011), starring Aaron Eckhart—which had actual aliens invading L.A. and wreaking havoc.
