Review: New film ‘Warfare’ will keep you on edge — it’s supposed to

Alex Garland s built a career out of blowing audiences minds while making them squirm in their seats His previous hot potato Civil Wars sent chills throughout this fractious broken nation since its thesis seems horribly plausible maybe even inevitable Warfare is a different beast even though it too cattle-prods you out of your comfort zone and jackhammers every raw nerve in your body It s also lean just over minutes efficient focused and is an outright technical masterpiece from the sound effects to the incredible editing to the arid surreal cinematography that makes you want to choke at times Garland teams up with first-time director Ray Mendoza to adapt a story drawn from Mendoza s own harrowing tour-of-duty in the Iraq War as part of the Navy s SEAL Crew Specifically Warfare is inspired by Mendoza s mission in Ramadi Iraq And after seeing what he encountered it s a wonder that Mendoza and a great number of in his troop escaped with their lives Not all did Warfare gains cred and authenticity from Mendoza sharing directorial and writerly duties and his influence better informs the film It results in one of the largest part visceral takes on what it s like to come under unrelenting enemy fire than multiple combat films except Saving Private Ryan Whereas that Steven Spielberg war piece did permit you to come up for air occasionally Warfare does not It s a singular focused experience about an American troop setting up a surveillance operation in a family s apartment where what begins as a monotonous and mundane operation turns into bloody chaos as these young men all played well come under heavy gunfire and attack Warfare does wring you out but what s ingenious about it is that it is not a mindless rah-rah gung-ho war movie but a sobering look at what truly happens in battle and the valor and courage of those in uniform as well as the loss of limbs and life incurred The cast is huge and while it s hard to single anyone out the actors that sear into your subconscious are D Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as the wide-eyed but reasoned Mendoza Cosmo Jarvis as lead sniper Elliot Miller his is a grueling physical performance and Will Poulter as the rattled shell-shocked lead officer Erik Kit Connor Joseph Quinn and Charles Melton lend strong endorsement But the real stars here remain on the technical side in particular those sound effects geniuses who pierce your ears as if you were in battle Even the opening scene is inspired and unexpected almost making you feel like you wandered into the wrong theater It s also one bit of rowdy testosterone levity a bonding moment that comes before the storm arrives to spin you around and spit you out Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy gmail com WARFARE stars out of Rating R violent graphic war scenes Starring D Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai Will Poulter Cosmo Jarvis Joseph Quinn Kit Connor Finn Bennett Director Ray Mendoza Alex Garland Running time hour minutes When where Now playing in Bay Area theaters Details stars out of opens in theaters April