Lazy science-fiction is truly annoying.
Actually, Netflix’s Outside the Wire barely qualifies; it’s really just a testosterone-fueled, shoot-’em-up war flick with superficial sci-fi trimmings. Scripters Rowan Athale and Rob Yescombe rely on attitude rather than the slightest hint of character depth, or the philosophical issues of their clichéd scenario.
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| Given that they're pinned down by enemy fire, Harp (Damson Idris, right) has good reason to be concerned. He needn't be, because Leo (Anthony Mackie) is about to demonstrate his enhanced fighting skills. |
Mikael Håfström helms this mess with the subtlety of a charging rhinoceros. No surprise, given a résumé of similarly undistinguished thrillers and horror flicks (Drowning Ghost, Derailed, Escape Plan, etc.). Ergo, we shouldn’t expect anything better here.
So.
The year is 2036, and Eastern Europe has become a relentless war zone; the Russians once again are the villains of choice. Good-guy Americans fight alongside lumbering robot soldiers pejoratively dubbed “Gumps” (presumably after Forrest Gump, which is pretty damn insulting). This isn’t any sort of advantage, because the bad-guy soldiers have their own Gumps.
We pause, for a moment, to explore this a bit. No mention ever is made, regarding how Gumps receive and execute their orders; no indication of who programs and controls them; no contemplation of whether they could be hacked by the opposition; and so forth. They’re just part of the noisy wallpaper. (Like I said, lazy writing.)
The ground troops are supported by drones controlled from afar by pilot teams such as Harp (Damson Idris) and Bale (Kristina Tonteri-Young). When a nasty firefight threatens to become catastrophic, Harp makes a needs-of-the-many choice that saves dozens of soldiers, at the expense of two who perish. Trouble is, that decision disobeys a direct order.
Rather than being court-martialed and sent home in disgrace, Harp is assigned to accompany Capt. Leo (Anthony Mackie) on a covert ground mission beyond the fenced American compound (ergo, “outside the wire”). Intel reports that a lunatic named Victor Koval (Pilou Asbaek) intends to obtain the launch codes for a handful of nukes, with which to terrorize the world (we assume); Leo wants Harp along because he “thinks outside the box.”
Ah, but — as Harp soon learns — Leo isn’t just any black-ops specialist; he’s “fourth-generation biotech.” (Again, questions: Where did he come from? Does this mean first-, second- and third-generation biotechs are wandering around? Answers come there none.)
What follows are the standard-issue melees up the bad-guy food chain, en route to locating Koval, which gives Leo ample opportunity to strut his awesome abilities. Alas, Håfström, editor Rickard Krantz and the sfx and stunt teams handle these skirmishes without any grace or golly-gee visual pizzazz; they’re not much different than regular, beefy human beings slugging it out.
Mackie is a far better actor than what he’s allowed to do here; even by popcorn movie standards, he has been far more stylish and cool as the Falcon, in numerous Marvel superhero entries. Here he’s always stoic and curt, because, well, I guess that’s how fourth-generation biotechs behave.
The various melees are interrupted by fleeting discussions between our two heroes, on the contrasting nature of humanity and artificial intelligence: superficial efforts at analytical musings that don’t make a lick of sense. When Athale and Yescomb have Leo opine that “perhaps humans aren’t emotional enough” — this, after Harp’s agonized decision in the opening act — I could only toss up my hands.
Idris does his best with the hackneyed dialogue and minimal scripted shading; he’s personable and passionate, and he equips Harp with intelligence and well-deserved wariness. He’s interesting, which is more than can be said for Leo (who, let’s face it, should be the story’s most intriguing character … but he isn’t).
Emily Beecham pops up as Sofiya, a well-placed contact whose actual allegiance seems … uncertain. That aside, and to Beecham’s credit, she has a distinct personality.
Like everybody else in this Eastern European setting, she speaks perfect English. (How convenient.)
At just shy of two hours, this flick is at least 20 minutes too long, even though Athale and Yescomb uncork a third-act “surprise.” Which also is a shopworn sci-fi cliché, which viewers easily will anticipate.
Netflix recently boasted its intention to deliver 70 original films during the upcoming year. If this one demonstrates how low the quality bar has been set, there’s no reason to be impressed.
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