By Jennie - 04 August 2021
Outside the Wire, Netflix's original sci-fi film, is set in 2036, when the breakthroughs of drones, robotic soldiers and biotechnologies have subtly transformed the look of modern warfare. Working with a human biotech officer on a secret mission to protect the Homeland from dangerous elements and prevent the nuclear bomb from falling into their hands.
Starring Anthony Mackay, who made his Hollywood career in marvel's The Falcon, he recently produced and starred in several feature films on different platforms, The Banker, which was released in limited release in a few theaters and exclusively on Apple TV+. "IO" and "Outside the Wire" are in partnership with Netflix.
The great thing about "Outside the Wire" is McKay's star power in some moments. Working with the choreography of the John Wick stunt team Georgi Manchev, Dian Hristov and others, McKay does seem to have the talent to be an action star. Unfortunately, the film has few other advantages. Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom, who directed Evil and 1408, has made few works, and his personality is not visible here
The most confusing thing about Outside the Wire is that it's a thick collage experience. As an audience member, I can't really understand what the story is about. What kind of style is it trying to convey the entertainment effect? In many cases, a collage of style and genre narratives can surprise the audience, but in this case it's mostly just exasperating for not understanding it.
From a background point of view, the film is designed to be a novice field worker who is too indifferent to the value of life, working with a bright and decisive biological soldier. The combination is reminiscent of Anthony Fuqua's classic Training Day, with Ethan Hawke as a rookie cop working with a veteran officer (Denzel Washington). In fact, The plot of Outside the Wire is roughly the same, but due to the limitations of the plot, the two main characters don't really have a moral argument, and their conflicting positions and values are mostly diverted by some strange setting, like a nuclear bomb crisis or A.I. safety mechanism.
In addition, the film tries to add some interesting things in contemporary science fiction films, such as drones, robotic soldiers, biochemical technology, etc. The psychological impact of modern drone warfare on soldiers can be seen in Good Kill, and the moral issue of harm can be seen in Eye in the Sky. The robot Soldier is designed in a style reminiscent of a Neil Blomkamp sci-fi film; Bionic cyborgs. Science fiction movies are full of them. The short summary: there's nothing here that we haven't seen.
In its soft sci-fi atmosphere, Outside the Wire sometimes tries to use yellow light with a touch of alienation and mystery both inside and Outside; But at other times, the live-action scenes make it feel like a modern war movie, with the natural light and subjective input of live action.
The close-quarters combat and parkour of the movie have a realistic atmosphere similar to that of a spy action movie, but then we turn around and see a bunch of robot soldiers firing rocket guns at each other. Before he knew it, McKay was already warming up by running at high speed on screen, miming Captain America's high speeds and superhero powers.
