protagonists, at times suggesting that Harp is even more cold and inhuman in his decision-making than his robotic counterpart. While Håfström uses this pairing as a means to probe the disconnect between drone pilots and the death and destruction they cause from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away, Outside the Wire’s arguments against endless war end up seeming more than a bit disingenuous, especially given how much time it spends glorifying the actions and morality of those who help buoy ongoing American occupation of foreign nations.Īs Leo gives Harp a crash course on live combat tactics, the film offers some intriguing parallels between its human and A.I. The story is a mélange of familiar sci-fi and war movie tropes that, because of how haphazardly they’ve been thrown together, never enliven the film’s attempted critiques of modern warfare.Īfter disobeying orders and making a call to sacrifice two men in order to save 38 others, Harp finds himself thrust into real combat for the first time, under the direct command of the domineering Leo. is taking a two-pronged in its attempt to prevent a genocide in Eastern Europe, using remotely located drone pilots, like Lieutenant Harp (Damson Idris), and an array of on-the-ground troops-some human, others robots called Gumps, and one an A.I.-enhanced supersoldier named Leo (Anthony Mackie)-to help stave off the increasing likelihood of nuclear holocaust. Set along the Ukrainian border in 2036, Mikael Håfström’s Outside the Wire finds the United States in an all-too-familiar position: purportedly playing peacekeeper in a war zone while wielding its unequaled military might.
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