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'War Machine' Review: Alan Ritchson Survives Humorless 'Predator' Clone
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'War Machine' Review: Alan Ritchson Survives Humorless 'Predator' Clone

#War Machine #Alan Ritchson #Predator #Netflix #Sci-fi #Action Film #Film Review #Patrick Hughes

📌 Key Takeaways

  • War Machine is criticized as a humorless 'Predator' clone lacking originality
  • Alan Ritchson's performance is described as lacking emotional depth compared to his other roles
  • The film heavily borrows from multiple sci-fi classics without adding anything new
  • Despite its flaws, the film contains solid action sequences that may appeal to a specific audience

📖 Full Retelling

Mark Keizer, a seasoned film critic and member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, published a review of 'War Machine' on March 6, 2026, criticizing the Netflix sci-fi action film for being a humorless 'Predator' clone that lacks originality. The review describes the movie as half military recruitment film and half Predator reboot, targeting Alpha males with its testosterone-fueled content. Directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Alan Ritchson, 'War Machine' follows U.S. Army Rangers fighting an unstoppable alien threat, borrowing heavily from numerous sci-fi classics without adding anything new to the genre. The film's plot centers on Ritchson's character, known only as 81, who joins Ranger training after his brother's death in a Taliban ambush, only to face a Transformers-style alien robot during a live simulation exercise. Despite its generic nature and derivative storytelling, the review acknowledges that the film contains solidly mounted action sequences and graphic violence that may appeal to a specific audience seeking mindless entertainment.

🏷️ Themes

Sci-fi Action, Film Criticism, Military Drama

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🌐 Nashville, Tennessee 2 shared
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👤 War Machine 1 shared
🌐 Transformers 1 shared
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Predation

Predation

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Netflix

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Action film

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War Machine

Marvel Comics fictional character

Alan Ritchson

Alan Ritchson

American actor (born 1982)

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Original Source
'War Machine' Review: Alan Ritchson Survives Humorless 'Predator' Clone By Mark Keizer Published Mar 6, 2026, 3:01 AM EST Mark is a long-time film critic and member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association . He's previously written film reviews for publications such as Variety , A.V. Club, Boxoffice Magazine, Cinegods and L.A. CityBeat. Mark also co-hosted the long-running Digigods podcast as well as the live-streaming film review show, Stupid for Movies. Mark is also an Emmy nominated Executive Producer. He was Executive Producer of Discovery's Josh Gates Tonight, as well as Seasons 5 and 6 of Comedy Central’s The Man Show, co-hosted by Joe Rogan. Before that Mark was Executive Producer of New Media at E! Entertaiment Television and Segment Producer for the Howard Stern Interview and the Roseanne talk show. Having been born in New York, Mark is also a lifelong New York Mets fan. Condolences are welcome. Sign in to your MovieWeb account Half military recruitment film, half Predator reboot, War Machine is such a stone-faced, lizard-brained action extravaganza that men may feel extra hair growing on their chest as they watch it. Netflix , famous for how finely it parses potential audiences for streaming releases, was probably compelled by its almighty algorithm to target Alpha males who watch movies on leg day while double fisting Red Bulls with their laptop perched on the hood of their Humvee. These folks are best equipped to enjoy this humorless slab of sci-fi action that’s equal parts every movie you’ve ever seen about a small group of over-matched but resilient humans fighting an unstoppable alien threat. In this case, the humans are U.S. Army Rangers and their leader is played by Alan Ritchson, in another shaky attempt to follow in the footsteps of previous genre heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger . Not helped by director Patrick Hughes’ boo-ya script (co-written by James Beaufort), Ritchson comes across as more of an anonymou...
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