The best things about Outside the Wire, an action/sci-fi movie about a drone pilot and android officer’s mission to a deadly militarised zone are the two lead performances. Young Damson Idris (Harp) is a talent indeed, and Anthony Mackie is convincing as android officer Captain Leo.

The action sequences were generally well choreographed. Still, that’s not to say that there aren’t moments when I’d have preferred different camera angles so I could enjoy better views of Captain Leo’s physical movements during the fight sequences.

As fun as the action/combat scenes are, including scenes that featured the robot army, most of the fun action doesn’t happen until we’re well into the second half of the movie.

Even though overall, Outside the Wire isn’t as well-written or exciting as hoped, I enjoyed the dynamic between young Harp and Captain Leo. I wanted to see Harp’s growth, especially following his rookie mistake at the start of the movie. I needed to know if he’d get out alive and how he’d do it.

For me, its a shame that the movie’s focus wasn’t purely about Harp’s journey. Firstly, because Idris is very watchable, but also because the turn that Captain Leo’s story took around the one hour, twenty-minute mark proved the most disappointing. Mainly because it’s so very cliché; while not being written cleverly enough to make the lack of originality less of an issue.

Even with all its issues, I mostly had a good time with Outside the Wire. As such, if you’re especially curious, give director Mikael Håfström’s movie a chance. It’s nowhere near Netflix’s best action/sci-fi movie; to be honest, I can’t think of any good ones right now. But, at the very least I’m glad I didn’t find it as infuriatingly disastrous as Extinction (2018).

Happy Film Loving

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