WAR MACHINE

Mason (Alan Ritchson) is a grieving soldier who joins the elite 75th Ranger Regiment selection programme two years after the death of his brother in the line of duty. After a gruelling series of tests only twenty trainees make it through to the last stage of the selection process. They are dropped into the remote wilderness together to complete a final training mission. The exercise takes an unexpected turn when the group accidentally activates an extraterrestrial war machine that walks on two legs and is intent on annihilating them. What follows is a relentless barrage of explosions and casualties as the dwindling survivors are forced to retreat while trying to reach safe ground. The film feels like the thrupple love child of ‘Predator’, ‘Transformers’ and ‘Independence Day’. The character of Mason is a man of few words and his stoic lone-wolf act is reminiscent of every part ever played by Jason Stratham, whom I often criticise for his one dimensional hero roles. The plot offers little explanation for the alien presence or its motivations and the American military cosplaying the global saviour raised half my eyebrow. Relentless stunts tied to a recycled story. One for the bros.