“The mission is not what it seems.”  Well, no kidding.  Virtually no suspense / thriller / action / drama made today is what it seems, because trickery and duplicitousness is what filmmakers think audiences want.  Double- and triple-crosses abound in even routine adventure films, even the comic ones.  A surprise once in a while is nice, and to be expected, but what passes for thoughtful entertainment now is often overthought and too generic in its trickery to be effective.  Studio execs must be saying “Let’s make ’em think one thing is going to happen and then wallop ’em with something else!,” as if that is good strategy.  Storytelling can work that way, of course, but not on a mass scale, as it is now.  This film begins with the liability of its tagline because it is perfectly obvious that things are going to go sideways from the get-go.

Tarik Saleh’s film has merit as an examination of how career military men are sometimes kicked to the curb for little or unfair reason, forcing them into looking for work with more shadier sponsors.  That’s what happens to James Harper (Chris Pine), a good man with a really bad knee, whose efforts to stay fit and reliable get him booted out of the Special Forces.  He reluctantly joins an outfit doing a job in Germany and soon he is on the run with his best friend Mike (Ben Foster).  Only his formidable survival skills and the good graces of others keeps him alive until he can return home and settle scores.

I want to emphasize that “good graces” remark, because it is important.  In the middle of all the chaos and distrust and killing that takes place in Germany, two separate men “on the other side” from James actually provide information or aid to him, simply because he levels with them, and they have consciences.  Those moments of honor, in conjunction with James’ own efforts to get back to his family and to avenge his own persecution, are key to appreciating the story’s message: that there are people who still trust and who will try to do the right thing.  If that message were not in this film the result would be utter nihilism.

Ultimately this is still a downer of an adventure because it centers on greed and taking advantage of every opportunity for personal gain.  In that regard it may be a prescient view of the modern world in which we live, but it’s still a downer to watch and experience.  Surely men and women from the military can find better things to do when they finish their service, and the help to keep them safe while doing so.  This is only a movie, and perhaps one without a true handle on the situations it presents, yet it raises a handful of important, timely issues and then utilizes standard yet exciting military action to reach its depressing conclusions.  That’s kind of a shame.  ☆ ☆.  6 August 2022.