Review: Warfare

Official Synopsis: A platoon of Navy SEALs embark on a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, with the chaos and brotherhood of war retold through their memories of the event.

I normally only write reviews of new releases on my blog, and share my thoughts for what I watch at home for my letterboxd, but Warfare blew me away and I just NEED to talk more about it.

I almost went to see this so many times in theaters, and inevitably something always came up. Now that's it's available on HBO Max, I finally took the plunge, and I'm kicking myself for not throwing some theater money at this. 

I can't think of another film that captures the pointlessness of the Iraq war more than this one. Co-director Ray Mendoza,(who is played by D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai in the film) wanted to tell the story of this mission. In fact, the entire screenplay was written around his and his fellow SEALS recollections. What struck me was how easy it would've been for them to leave out the parts that make them look bad, but they don't. You don't just feel for these men who start the film dancing to a stupid youtube video and end it with death, lost limbs and a life time of trauma. You feel for the Iraqi families who were made hostages in their own home while the military staked out the Taliban. You feel for the translators helping them only to be put in the worst situation possible. It's dire and frustrating.

The actors involved are all great and have excellent chemistry with eachother. It's stacked with up and coming talent like Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton, Michael Gandolfini, Cosmo Jarvis and so much more. But the biggest standout is the sound. There's no score in this film, so you really have time to appreciate the sound editing and mixing here. I'll probably scream if this doesn't get any Oscar love in the Sound category. 

This is easily one of my favorite films of the year, and I never expected to be saying that about a war movie. Especially a war that took place during my lifetime and played a big part of shaping my politics. I can't stop thinking about it.  

Grade: A+