Blu-ray Review: ‘Man Of War’

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William Kaufman’s Man of War is an action thriller that leans heavily on aggressive firefights staged with grit and tactical precision. The setting and dramatic elements are almost irrelevant and merely a means to get to loud weapon-heaving action scenes. I found the movie to be dull and predictable, although the actions scenes are well choreographed. Viewers looking for mindless action and a serious military thriller will probably appreciate this movie.

The film is set in 2022 during the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though you could remove these details, making it a generic conflict in a fictional or unknown country, and the rest of the movie would not really change at all. It feels like the setting was merely an attempt to get more attention on the movie since the invasion of Ukraine rages on to this day.

The movie follows former special ops veteran Michael Connor, played by LaMonica Garrett (who was great in DC’s Arrowverse Crisis on Infinite Earths), as he enters a warzone to rescue his “niece” (the daughter of Michael’s deceased best friend) who is captured by invading soldiers, led by Koniev (Daniel Bernhardt), while on a video call with Connor. The premise is simple and there is little-to-no character depth, which allows the film to focus on the action and briefly touch on the horrors of war. Garrett has a convincing physical presence to keep the action believable even when suspense is lacking.

Overall, I would only mildly recommend this movie to audiences that enjoy war movies. Maybe I just was not in the mood for this type of movie, but I was not thrilled and I will probably forget it after I finish this review. Although, I could easily see it finding an audience, and maybe being a favorite, amongst those that love war movies.