Outside the Wire
review by Bobby Blakey
While Anthony Mackie has kicked ass in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Falcon he has been around much longer and keeps stepping up his game. Recently he starred in the cool flick Synchronic and is now stepping into a future world with his latest film Outside The Wire. The film co-stars Damson Idris, Michael Kelly, Emily Beecham and Pilou Asbaek. Could this action flick with a sci-fi twist bring the pain as promised or will it fail to find its target?
Outside the Wire follows a disgraced drone pilot, Lt. Harp who is sent into a deadly militarized zone after disobeying orders and finds himself working for Capt. Leo, an android officer tasked with locating a doomsday device before insurgents do. I had seen a trailer for this one and it looked to be promising, but with these kinds of films it is hard to tell if it is going to get in its own way or just let it take the reins and go for it.
While there is some predictable nature to it all I really had a good time. Despite the film being in the future and bringing in robot soldiers into the fray, it stays pretty grounded in the real world. The idea isn’t too far off until you get into Mackie’s character that stretches into the more film future, for now at least. I really like the design they used which you get a glimpse of in the future. The set-up of it all is one that you know will come back into play in some fashion, but the build-up is worth a mission going on.
Mackie has already showcased he can do action, but here he carries the biggest load on his shoulders and kicks some major ass. There is a ton of action sequences in the film, but its Mackie’s fight scenes and shootouts that steal the show. Co-star Damson Idris brings the humanity to the film and does a good job. He is the humanity of it all that has more to learn about being human to find his own soul.
Mackie and Idris work well together and are the reason this film works at all. The story is simple with twists and turns to keep you guessing, but also sticks pretty close to a by the numbers format that makes it feel all too generic at times. Thankfully this isn’t trying to be a film that is doing anything other than just bringing the action and fun and it does just that.
Check out Outside The Wire exclusively now on Netflix.