Verdict
Summary
A simple, but very effective military actioner with very well staged and executed (and sometimes very brutal) action, Man of War from genre veteran William Kaufman (whose similar film Warhorse One was fantastic) is an entirely satisfying film for fans of the genre. It delivers in every way on its simple setup and premise. We’ve seen this movie all sorts of times, but when it’s done so well, there’s really nothing to complain about. Star Garrett, who can be seen in Kaufman’s film Osiris and on TV in Lioness, does exactly the sort of thing action stars Wesley Snipes or Jean-Claude Van Damme did in their heydays, and he looks great and delivers in every way in the action department. He’s got great support in Bernhardt who plays a scuzzy villain, and I really have nothing to complain about here. Solid stuff.
Plot:
A special ops soldier goes to war-torn Ukraine to rescue a friend’s daughter, who has been captured by Russian soldiers.
Review:
Suicidal special ops soldier Connor (LaMonica Garrett) receives a video call at exactly the right moment from Riley (Rosmary Yaneva), a friend’s daughter, from Ukraine, but instead of seeing her face, he sees the face of a cruel Russian soldier named Koniev (Daniel Bernhardt, always welcome), and Connor takes a screenshot. He knows his friend Riley has been captured by Russian soldiers, and his first call is to Riley’s father, who is his dear friend Charlie (Jason Patrick), who is in intelligence. They have a plan, which goes into effect immediately: Connor will go to Ukraine and rescue Riley. Bing, bang, boom. Connor arrives with some Special Forces guys, who have their own mission, and Connor meets up with a Ukrainian local named Dany (Andrew Howard), who will be his guide to finding Riley, who is being held prisoner deep behind enemy lines. When Russia launches a full scale invasion in the meantime, Connor and Dany have their work cut out for them to survive their mission, while inching closer to Riley, whose captors have no idea the hell that is coming their way …
A simple, but very effective military actioner with very well staged and executed (and sometimes very brutal) action, Man of War from genre veteran William Kaufman (whose similar film Warhorse One was fantastic) is an entirely satisfying film for fans of the genre. It delivers in every way on its simple setup and premise. We’ve seen this movie all sorts of times, but when it’s done so well, there’s really nothing to complain about. Star Garrett, who can be seen in Kaufman’s film Osiris and on TV in Lioness, does exactly the sort of thing action stars Wesley Snipes or Jean-Claude Van Damme did in their heydays, and he looks great and delivers in every way in the action department. He’s got great support in Bernhardt who plays a scuzzy villain, and I really have nothing to complain about here. Solid stuff.
Well Go USA brings Man of War to Blu-ray and DVD, and the disc comes with some bonus features. Fans of the genre would do well to add this one to their shelf.
