Film Review: War Machine (2026)

Title: War Machine

Director(s): Patrick Hughes

Screenwriter(s): Patrick Hughes & James Beaufort

Studio: Hidden Pictures, Huge Film, Range Media Partners, Emu Creek Pictures

Released: 2026

Runtime: 1h 45m

Starring: Alan Ritchson, Stephan James, Keiynan Lonsdale, Esai Morales, Dennis Quaid

This is an American-Australian sci-fi action film and is not to be confused for the 2017 film of the same name written and directed by David Michôd. The 2017 film is a satire starring Brad Pitt and is not a bad film even though the satire needs to be more biting, but I digress…

This 2026 film is formulaic mindless action that is supposed to be fun—the key word being “mindless”. This brief review will contain a few minor spoilers; they don’t ruin the film as it is predictable anyway.

A US Army Engineering Corps sergeant in Afghanistan (Alan Ritchson) loses his younger brother in an attack whilst trying to fix the Humvee. Although not in the same unit, they presumably did not mind being deployed together.

Two years later, despite his prior injury and age, he manages to enter the Ranger selection program and is given the number 81. He and his younger brother had aspirations to try out for the Rangers, so now he is doing it for his brother. Basically, he is the candidate with issues, but he tries to play it cool and not talk to anyone. Meanwhile, there is a large asteroid approaching Earth, the idea clearly resembling 3I/ATLAS.

Other candidates are cardboard. They include 7 (Stephan James), the mildly charismatic and reasonable guy; 15, the clown “conspiracy theorist”; a quiet and cautious guy; a token Asian guy who gets killed early; and, of course, a token chick who doesn’t get killed too early.

Candidate 81 (Alan Ritchson)

So, the opening act covers candidate 81 as he advances through the program. There is the usual cheesy dialogue of commanders asking if anyone has been deployed for real. As if they haven’t read all their files and know the key points anyway. Of course, hearing 81’s background, everyone suspects he is “that guy” from “that incident”. And, somehow, almost drowning doesn’t disqualify him even though the commanders would rather he voluntarily withdraw.

To the writer’s credit, the opening act is not rushed even if it is cheese. The final stage of the program is a mock rescue mission of a downed pilot, including destroying the downed aircraft. The team comes across what they assume is the wreckage when it actually turns out to be one of the things that detached from the asteroid body.

So, the film follows the team as they try to survive what is basically an alien mech. It is as if the producers want to sell the idea that 3I/ATLAS is hostile (whilst making fun of so-called conspiracy theorists). Also, one has to wonder whether a mock mission becoming real is a thinly veiled representation of a so-called false flag.

The design of the mech takes some inspiration from the MechWarrior franchise, but otherwise adopts the typical current approach of blocky forms and sharp edges. Still, it looks cool enough. Of course, whilst the thing is advanced, it conveniently does not have the best aim and its weapons are powerful enough to throw people without killing them when the plot needs it.

As the plot progresses, more of the team members are killed and 81 figures out how to kill the mech for the final act. It’s not a bad idea but the aliens are clearly not the best engineers. Thankfully, it is not “kill the mothership” nor does it involve a virus, biological or digital, and the mech does not have a cloak (at least none that is shown in the narrative).

The conclusion includes an unhurried denouement by providing the broader picture of what is going on. This is mostly well done except for the cheese because 81 sorta passed the test and is now a Ranger and a hero, blah blah blah.

The production is not bad. The CG and special effects are clearly that but they are partially hidden and mitigated by the grittiness so there is consistency. In this way, it mostly looks good enough. Otherwise, it is shot and edited quite conventionally for the genre. If anything, it can be more heavily styled but it presumably is trying to avoid that.

Setting aside whatever message it intends regarding alien invasions, it has action and some moments of tension. In essence, the film is like the 1987 classic Predator. But with a mech. It is set in the forest with a waterfall, and the even opening and closing shots are essentially a copy of Predator.

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