WARHORSE ONE Review: Johnny Strong Stands Off Against The Taliban In The New, Overlong Wartime Survival Thriller
Warhorse One will release select theaters on June 30, followed by On Demand, and digital from July 4 from Well Go USA.
At two hours of runtime, writing/directing duo William Kaufman and Johnny Strong journey into the tumultuous end of the war in Afghanistan for one man’s last-minute rescue mission in their latest reunion, Warhorse One. The film also stars Strong who wears additional hats on the project including providing the film’s requisite soundtrack. It also marks their latest reunion since Kaufman solo-directed Strong for 2016’s audience action horror favorite, Daylight’s End, as well as 2010 crime thriller, Sinners And Saints.
Warhorse One sets things in motion when, just as the American military is pulling out of the region, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad alerts the Pentagon that a family of missionaries are trapped behind enemy lines. The Pentagon summons a SEAL team to help extract the family when the helo is suddenly shot down in the Kunar Province. Awoken from unconciousness after falling out of the chopper, Master Chief Richard Mirko (Strong), now the sole survivor of the unit, comes under attack by Taliban insurgents, and must use every resource he has within reach to find the family’s vehicle. Between fracas with insurgents and Mirko’s attempts to communicate with HQ, Mirko soon finds the vehicle and discovers most of the family has been murdered. Miraculously, the only one left alive is five year-old Zoe (Athena Durner), leaving it up to Mirko to guard the young girl with his life no matter what.
That’s pretty much the sum of what happens for the bulk of Warhorse One, and it’s really up to the viewer what they can flesh out with Mirko’s progression and development throughout. His introduction is prefaced with a brief narration pondering if actions are the result of things like “fate,” or “destiny,” or something more prodigious like “God.” Beyond this, the film struggles to build Mirko as anything more than the stoic soldier fighting his way through the bad guys and get Zoe to safety after losing his men. That incident comes and goes within a bundle of quick edits and is referred to later in a flashback sequence, and adds little – if any – depth to the character.
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Agreeably, there’s just as little room for any emotive connectivity for Mirko and Zoe as they pace through the Afghan wilderness, dodging bullets and booby traps in order to stay as many steps as head until HQ can send in assets to pull the two out. For this, it’s up to Mirko to draw the line as the one who is in charge, and anything remotely to do with levity goes out the window. What remains to be seen is how Zoe is affected by all the violence around her, and she’s exposed to it plenty of it, tries as Mirko does to hide her and keep a distance when insurgents approach. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, and the film affirms the trauma adequately at times, including during one scene where she freezes and a flashback occurs to the incident where her family is killed. At least one fleeting moment of reprieve in which Mirko gets to mentor Zoe’s, well…we’ll say “throwing technique.”
Warhorse One offers plenty to indulge in as an independently produced wartime drama with thrilling moments and epic locations to bring some much-needed substance. It’s only major shortfall is that anything the film has to offer is stretched in such a resultingly thin, slow-burn plot that waiting for the film to pick things up again can be an arduous task. It helps, generally, that Strong brings gravitas to the screen as an action hero moviegoers can cheer on. The film is also bolstered by Raj Kala’s performance as the principal sinister villain who thickens the plot nicely for the film’s pivotal final half hour.
While the action in Warhorse One is more subdued compared to the kinds of Tyler Rake-level barnburners in recent memory, the action is ripe with explosive gun battles, which are characteristic of just about any film by Kaufman if you’ve seen any of his previous films, including and especially 2019’s The Brave, which is a fave of mine. Strong also has a hand in the action along with stunt coordinator Scott Phillips, and even performing a good deal of the stunts where you can visibly see Strong putting the work in, between the run-and-gun battles, close quarters dust-ups, and at least one shot in which a camera is strapped to the lead actor as he jumps into a river.
Kaufman is currently readying releases of new action titles like The Channel and Saban Films’ Jason Patrick starrer, Shrapnel. Until then, you’re welcome to try your luck with Warhorse One. It falls flat for most of the way until the big climatic battles ahead which makes watching the film feel a bit straining, although it still stands to present a feasibly entertaining war flick enough that ardent fans of the star and director shouldn’t be too troubled.
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