{"id":27952,"date":"2025-06-24T00:14:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T23:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=27952"},"modified":"2025-07-24T11:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T10:17:59","slug":"film-review-warfare-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=27952","title":{"rendered":"FiLM REViEW: Warfare, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Whoa, Nelly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just watched this\u2026 and, well\u2026 it was pretty hardcore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A feelgood start\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The beginning of the film was outright weird. I thought something had gone wrong\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Warfare invades the domestic space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The scenario that is the the beating, pumping bloody heart of the movie starts with a military \u2018home invasion\u2019. The way this is handled – in the movie, that is – highlights an ugly truth: ordinary civilian life (never mind truth) is the first casualty of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A strong image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We follow the fortunes of a Navy SEAL squad, in Ramadi, Iraq, as they settle into their OP (observation point\/post). Elliot, the chief sniper – also a Corpsman, or medic – doing most of the \u2018scoping\u2019, very literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a long slow build-up, with \u2018military age males\u2019 observed assembling nearby, the ominous \u2018Allahu Akbar\u2019 starts to be chanted over a PA; civilians clear the area, and you know the action is about to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A grenade is lobbed through the sniper\u2019s viewing hole, and several of the men incur what appear to be relatively minor injuries. A \u2018casevac\u2019 – casualty evacuation – is called in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the team attempt to get the injured Elliot to the Bradley (armoured car), an IED explodes, killing one of the Iraqi soldiers attached to the group (for communicating with locals), and seriously wounding two of the Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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War is Hell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The handling of this scene is very<\/em> powerful. And very affecting. Lots of more recent war films have started using silence, followed by \u2018ringing in the ears\u2019 effects, and tinny sound, after explosions, to convey the effects of being close to an explosion. Here it\u2019s done particularly effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first you assume Elliot must<\/em> be dead. He\u2019s unresponsive, and his legs are shredded so badly that\u2026 well, watch and find out. Also injured – very similarly; ie legs mangled – is Sam, the group\u2019s LPO, or \u2018lead petty officer\u2019 (played by Joseph Quinn, who we\u2019d previously seen, in a very<\/em> different role, in the BBC series, Dickensian<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of these men – like the whole team – are based on real life soldiers. And the film as a whole is based on those soldiers recollections of events. With one of them – Mendoza (the radio guy, played in the film by the improbably named D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) – co-directing the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Casevac\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot to be processed. From the harshness of the combat, to the interesting depiction of US Navy SEAL (and general contemporary American) military gear and procedure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a movie with quite a narrow focus. Literally depicting, other than the intro, a near \u2018real time\u2019 slice of life\/death. And the focus is resolutely on the US troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of several Bradley armoured vehicles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So on the one hand this is a strikingly contemporary and somewhat unusual depiction of modern warfare. The building tension – from humdrum ennui to confused creeping fear – leading up to the \u2018action\u2019, and the chaos, stress and horror of combat, are superbly conveyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on another level, this is actually an ages old theme. And in American cinema its antecedents are the \u2018Cowboys & Injuns\u2019 movies. The SEAL unit are the beleaguered defenders of the circle of wagons\/fort (or in this case, Iraqi home); their attackers are the \u2018Injuns\u2019; and the Bradleys (and other support) are the cavalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very powerful film. Which I think I\u2019ll watch again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fascinating and I think brilliant aspect of the film is the soundtrack. The film starts in silence (even the MGM lion\u2019s roar is silent!), segueing into the music video of Call On Me<\/em>, still in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Say, wha\u2019\u2026 eh?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then the music kicks in, and we see the SEAL team enjoying a moment of hyper-macho bonding, to the steamy video and pumping feel-good music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, after that, as GQ writer Killian Faith-Kelly succinctly puts it<\/a>, \u2018a notable absence of score \u2026 allows the audience to arrive at their emotional experience of the film without any musical instruction.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare that to the unbearable and relentless sonic assault (I found it a form of torture!) of the Dunkirk<\/em> soundtrack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter was, in my opinion, grotesquely heavy-handed. And egregiously manipulative. The sound design of Warfare<\/em>, by comparison, is an object lesson in stripped down excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and talking of stripped down\u2026 I liked the little touch of unabashed realism whereby we get a glimpse of Sam\u2019s genitals, as they treat his appalling wounds. Actually a prosthetic. But a nice touch, nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And staying, briefly, with cock \u2018n\u2019 balls\u2026 sportsmen have their \u2018boxes\u2019. Surely by now soldiers, with their helmets and body armour, really ought to also have thigh\/crotch armour?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whoa, Nelly! Just watched this\u2026 and, well\u2026 it was pretty hardcore. The beginning of the film was outright weird. I thought something had gone wrong\u2026 The scenario that is the the beating, pumping bloody heart of the movie starts with a military \u2018home invasion\u2019. The way this is handled – in the movie, that is … <\/p>\n

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