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Netflix unleashes a new and improved (and deeply earnest) War Machine

It may not aim all that high, but that only makes it easier to hit its mark.

By Caroline Siede  |  March 6, 2026 | 3:00am
Photo: Netflix
Film Reviews Alan Ritchson
Netflix unleashes a new and improved (and deeply earnest) War Machine

It’s not hard to imagine that somewhere along the way, someone thought of pitching Netflix’s new sci-fi action thriller War Machine as “not your grandma’s war movie.” Any film that shifts from an extended army training sequence to an ominous alien asteroid barreling towards Earth certainly seems worthy of the distinction. But the best thing about War Machine is that it kind of is your grandma’s war movie. Though writer/director Patrick Hughes starts his story in the modern combat zone of Kandahar, he serves up earnest, sun-dappled Americana that calls to mind not just the Tony Scott films of the 1980s, but the John Ford films of the 1950s. Forget the gritty realism and quippy one-liners that so often define the modern action genre, War Machine is proudly, almost guilelessly old-fashioned. 

The opening 30 minutes essentially speedrun the plot of Top Gun only without the shirtless volleyball and drunken karaoke. Reacher star and human boulder Alan Ritchson plays an affable, unnamed soldier yukking it up with his brother (Jai Courtney) as their convoys cross paths under a golden sunrise in the Afghanistan desert. When an attack hits the group, however, Ritchson is left wounded, traumatized, and ready to prove himself by completing an Army Ranger selection course run by Dennis Quaid and Esai Morales in the two days they were on set. (Though the script otherwise doesn’t really concern itself with realism, it does somewhat hilariously pause not once but twice to clarify that the 43-year-old Ritchson is just under the age cutoff for such a thing.)

Redubbed “81,” the lumbering cadet is too closed-off to bond with his fellow recruits, who—befitting this kind of movie—get about half a personality trait each. For a while, it seems like War Machine might just be a straight military training drama about a troubled soldier pushing himself to his limits and learning to reconnect with humanity in the process. Then the requisite “last training mission gone wrong” sequence takes a dramatic turn. Instead of a mock battle, 81 and his fellow trainees find themselves facing off against a giant, bipedal, AT-AT-style walking alien weapon that eviscerates anything in its path. 

War Machine finds its groove in its second act, as its old-fashioned tone smashes up against a modern level of brutal, bloody R-rated violence. Each battle sequence is filled with squelching impalements and shocking dismemberments. When the hits hit, you feel them. Yet this is also the kind of movie where, once the troops get swept away in some river rapids, the camera immediately pans back to reveal the waterfall they’re careening towards. Nothing here is ironic or “elevated” or charged with social commentary. It’s a series of classic action tropes delivered with tactility by Hughes, who stages an admirable amount of the action on sets and locations rather than CGI backdrops.

The film strives for a Predator-meets-Terminator-meets-Aliens vibe as the unstoppable alien weapon continues to pick off soldiers through all manner of forest and mountain terrain. Yet what sets War Machine apart from those souped-up ’80s classics is the almost WWII-era sincerity behind 81’s commitment to getting an injured squad member (Stephan James) back to base. Instead of bonding through standard comedic banter, the two men bond over genuine words of support and encouragement. While War Machine knows it’s kind of a ridiculous movie, it’s also unembarrassed to wear its heart on its sleeve rather than hiding it behind a winking sense of sarcastic detachment. (A far cry from Hughes’ previous directorial work on The Expendables 3 and The Hitman’s Bodyguard films.) 

It’s a shame, then, that the whole thing loses some steam in its final act. The alien death machine attacks shift from unnerving to repetitive as the soldiers fail to make any attempt to figure out how to evade its sensors. And the set pieces get less creative as their reliance on CGI becomes more obvious. Given all the tangibility that came before, the final two disappointing action sequences feel more like a cutscene from a video game. Still, the fact that it’s not really trying to be clever on top of it all helps its case. War Machine may not aim all that high, but that only makes it easier to hit its mark.

Director: Patrick Hughes
Writer: Patrick Hughes, James Beaufort
Starring: Alan Ritchson, Dennis Quaid, Stephan James, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale, Daniel Webber
Release Date: March 6, 2026 (Netflix)

 
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