LOS ANGELES, March 28 (UPI) -- War films have become more immersive and visceral since 1998's Saving Private Ryan raised the bar with its intense Omaha Beach sequence. Warfare, in theaters April 11, applies modern filmmaking techniques to embed the audience with a team of Navy SEALs in Iraq.
On Nov. 19, 2006, a platoon embarks in Ramadi, Iraq, to surveil Al Qaeda activity. They gently take over an apartment building, leaving the residents unharmed but also confined to a bedroom.
Sniper Elliott Miller (Cosmo Jarvis) watches activity on the street through his scope. When the SEALs hear a call to jihad, specifically to kill the American SEALs, commanding officer Erik (Will Poulter) keeps his cool while waiting to see if they'll follow through.
Writer/directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland are not able to single out every individual SEAL. However, they make it clear the SEALs all know each other, by the way they personally mess with each other in quiet moments.
The battle begins with a grenade thrown into the building. The SEALs must retrieve their gear from rooms under fire, lest C4 fall into insurgent hands, and reach an evacuation vehicle.
Support is delayed by a battle the audience never sees because they are embedded with the SEALs. Soon, the SEALs are dealing with their injured squad members while trying to hold off insurgents.
Injuries and deaths are graphic, and the screaming of the wounded is deafening. Airplanes fly over the street, shaking the ground and buildings, which is effective against insurgents without even deploying additional weaponry.
Drone footage shows activity in the streets of Ramadi, both insurgent activity and support approaching the SEALs' location.
The soundscape is as immersive as the visuals. The bustle of the street activity contrasts drastically with the eerie silence once the insurgents go inside to plan their attack.
Devastating strikes are shocking. Artillery comes from all sides of the theater, but the SEALs' weapons are the loudest and most immediate because they are closest to the camera, i.e. the viewer's point of view.
The radio communication between the SEALs and other units provides a soundtrack without a musical score. They speak in code but clearly reference characters visible on screen so the non-military audience can follow.
As the battle escalates, the radio chatter becomes chaos as commanders are asking for information, and updates from multiple squads are coming in simultaneously. Mendoza, played in the film by D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, was the communications officer relaying information between his platoon and base while under fire.
The cast - - which also includes Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman, Henrique Zaga, Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton - - convey the SEALs humanity within their professionalism.
Characters ask for help when they are overwhelmed, and fellow SEALs step up. Poulter especially shows the panic gradually set in as the battle wears on.
The film's opening text states that the story is based on memory, implicitly those of Mendoza and Miller who were involved directly with the film. Warfare makes those memories as vivid as possible to those watching them unfold in the comfort of a movie theater.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
