If you'd like to be totally surprised by the Outside the Wire film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:20, because it starts to give away parts of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the film, it's only the outcome at the very end we are not shown.
Outside the Wire, movie (2021) - Watch the trailer on YouTube
video © Netflix
The Outside the Wire (2021) is a futuristic action film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
Original title: Outside the Wire
Series: -
Setting: future alternate / fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic action, Style: sci-fi, futuristic, action, military, robots
Release: 2021.01.15
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.12), first time
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Outside the Wire, a futuristic action movie from 2021. It's about a pair of soldiers going on a mission beyond their own lines. The Outside the Wire film is interesting, with some logical problems, but I still recommend it to fans of the genre.
Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
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Review (spoiler-free) - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
When I’ve first met Outside the Wire, I though it was some kind of buddy cop crime story (probably due to the title and the cover), and I skipped the chance to watch it. Then, later I’ve read the taglines, got interested, and watched it, without checking the trailer.
The Outside the Wire movie is about a pair of soldiers going on a mission beyond their own lines.
The story is not perfect, but okay. It’s consistent from beginning to end. I’m not sure there are character arcs. I didn’t find any major logical problems, beyond the logical problems of the core plot.
The movie starts with an introductory exposition, that’s hard to follow and remember.
The cinematography is good. The vistas look good. The action scenes are good. There’s a variety of sets they are fighting in, and it’s easy to follow and understand the actions.
The characters are not particularly well developed. Even though there’s only two major characters, we practically don’t know anything about them. They are portrayed by the actors just fine.
The music (by Lorne Balfe) is good, it fits the themes.
Outside the Wire is an interesting futuristic action film, I think fans of the genre could enjoy it.
My experience
I was mostly satisfied with Outside the Wire (2021).
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). Outside the Wire is a well-made film, but there were many problems with the logic of the story.
Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). Outside the Wire is interesting, I liked it, except for a few problems.
Rewatchability: Probably high. I think it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested, but the action and the themes are good enough that you might want to watch this again for a couple of times.
Chance of watching it again: There's a chance. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again, but I liked it enough that I might watch it in the right circumstances.
Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it.
Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
Will you enjoy this?
If you like military movies, especially futuristic ones, you might like Outside the Wire.
If you like action movies, you might like the Outside the Wire movie.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you prefer visuals over story, you’ll still get to enjoy plenty of great scenes.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in military stories, I think it's worth watching the Outside the Wire movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look better if you watch it in cinema, but overall I think you get a very similar experience.
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Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
Review with spoilers - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
I liked the Outside the Wire movie.
I can really imagine this a prelude to the Matrix or Terminator.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Outside the Wire film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.
Promise of the first scene
There’s a drone pilot who shoots a missile disobeying orders, leading to the deaths of their own soldiers. I assume we’ll see his punishment in the movie, or one of the soldiers might turn rogue due to this, and want to take revenge.
Execution: Wow, indeed we’ve seen both, by different characters. The promise is fulfilled. I consider this a great first scene.
Plot summary / Synopsis
There are USA soldiers in Ukraine as a peacekeeping force in a civil war. While they are fighting, the drone pilot (Damson Idris as Lt. Thomas Harp), flying their air cover drone, fires a missile disobeying orders, killing some of the soldiers.
The drone pilot gets sent to a new place as a punishment. As he never experienced a real battlefield, only through flying drones, he gets sent to the warzone (Camp Nathaniel).
He meets his new commander (Anthony Mackie as Captain Leo), who works on removing advanced weapons from the insurgents. There’s a warlord (Viktor Koval), who wants to get some nuclear weapons in the next 24 hours. Their current mission is to deliver medicine beyond the protected zone, and in exchange they’ll get information about the plans of the warlord.
It turns out that the commander is a humanoid robot. They join a convoy of four vehicles, but they drive their own car, dressed as civilians. The other soldiers belong to the same team that lost those soldiers due to the drone pilot.
There’s a shot down truck blocking their way. The commander gets out to talk to the locals, to let them through. The Reds attack them from nearby buildings, destroying some of their robot soldiers. The commander decides to leave the convoy, and he and the drone pilot continues on foot.
They get to a Resistance camp. While they make the exchange, a Red sniper starts shooting at them. The commander shoots the sniper, and when he doesn’t talk about the warlord, the commander lets the Resistance people kill the sniper. The commander tells the drone pilot that he actually made the right decision to shoot against the orders, as not shooting right at that time would have meant that the whole squad would have been killed.
They then go to a mansion, where children are playing with robots. The commander talks to the leader of the mansion (Emily Beecham as Sofiya). She tells them that the access codes to the nukes are somewhere in this city, but she doesn’t know where. Luckily, she thinks she knows a man who does. They find the man. He tries to escape, but they catch him. The man tells them what he knows, then the Resistance leader kills him, because he was a traitor. They remove the tracker from the commander, as the Russians could detect it. They steal a car to reach the vault.
They go to the vault, fight some enemies. They call for reinforcements. The drone pilot rescues some civilians from the warzone, but he is informed that he should get away, as the place will be bombed to kill the enemy warlord, no matter the collateral damage. The commander chases the soldier carrying the codes to the nukes, and gets it. Although the place explodes, they both survive.
The commander tells the drone pilot that he requested to have the tracker removed, so the USA command will think he was destroyed by the bomb, and that he intends to go rogue. He knocks the drone pilot out.
The drone pilot wakes up alone, and there are some people with guns who capture him. It turns out he was captured by the men of the resistance leader. She tells the drone pilot that the enemy warlord wasn’t there at the explosion, and that the commander is going to get access to the nukes for the resistance. Russia wants back its former parts, and the USA wants to destabilise the war, so it would take longer, as it fits their agenda. That’s why the commander gone rogue, as he realised who the real enemy is. The drone pilot remembers some mentions, and realises that the commander wants to use the nukes to destroy major USA cities. The resistance leader is okay with that.
The commander goes to meet enemy soldiers. It turns out that he’s in friendly connection with the warlord (Pilou Asbæk as Victor Koval), and he promised the warlord to get the nukes for him. Then the commander suddenly kills everyone.
The drone pilot gets back to the command. He remembers that the commander probably uses the stolen car, so they send a drone to follow it. As the commander is already in disputed territory, they can’t send soldiers, so the drone pilot goes alone.
The drone pilot reaches the place, but they will only send a drone strike if he confirms that the commander is there, the nukes are there, and there are no innocents around. The drone pilot finds the commander, but he is quickly defeated by him. However, he later allows the drone pilot to shoot him down.
The heavily damaged commander tells the drone pilot that he had to go rogue so the army won’t make any more robots like him, and won’t trust non-human soldiers. Also, he has to destroy his creators, the USA. The commander trusted the drone pilot, as he chose to save 38 people, while killing 2 of them.
The hovering drone blows the place up, destroying the rockets. The drone pilot survives, and goes back to the base.
The setting
It’s set in the future of Earth, 2036. There’s a civil war in Ukraine. One side (the Reds) wants to join Russia. The Resistance opposes this.
The frontier is ruled by Victor Koval, a warlord. The USA deployed robots (GUMPs) in the war.
I consider the setting either an alternate timeline, or a fantasy one, as I don’t believe that they could create a human-like robot like Captain Leo in 14 years into the future.
Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
Futuristic USA army
They still have regular modern soldiers, who look like current soldiers.
They use remote controlled drones, that have so good connections that their pilots are sitting in the USA, while the drones are in Eastern Europe.
They also have robots - heavy humanoid robots, and dog robots. There’s also a prototype of special, humanoid robot.
They have military vehicles, that are similar to current vehicles.
The humanoid robot
The hands feel like normal human hands. Probably the face too. The rest of the body feels robotic. He can turn the robotic parts translucent.
There’s a tracker in the back of the robot, so the command would always know where does it go. The tracker is easily removed, and the removal doesn’t alert the command.
The robot feels pain. It’s programmed to understand human emotions.
The Captain Leo model looks like a black male, because this is what makes it more neutral and less intrusive according to the PR team.
Although it has to obey human commands, it can override this if the commanding human seems incompetent. It also doesn’t have a way to remotely switch it off.
The message of the story
Beyond the usual “War is bad” message, we get “Collateral damage is bad”. Also, probably “don’t use robot soldiers, stick to humans”?
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Outside the Wire film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. There are some flashbacks to scenes we have already seen, from different angles.
There’s no single viewpoint character, although for the first 75 minutes it’s the drone pilot.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
- I liked the look of the robots.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
From the works of the story and script writer (Rob Yescombe), and the script writer (Rowan Athale), I haven't seen anything else.
From the works of the director (Mikael Håfström), I’ve seen 1408 (2007), that was good. The direction in this wasn't bad either, it was the plot that was dumb.
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Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
Analysis of the story - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
I mostly liked the story, I didn't find major problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Outside the Wire.
Problematic elements
Too advanced technology: It’s 2021 now, and we are way further then 15 years to create a fully autonomous AI built into a robot that’s a perfect human replica.
Unlikely technology: The existence of a human-like robot with sentient AI is too big of a leap from those slow mechanical robots. There should be steps between those, or at least news of advancements. The drone pilot should be at least suspicious, instead of just accepting the fact that the commander is a super robot.
Not-so-secret agent: In the demilitarised zone, people seem to know and recognise Captain Leo. That means, that no matter what dress he wears, they will know it’s him, the USA soldier who kills all those people in a place, where the USA agreed not to let soldiers in.
Cruel robot: Soldiers need to make sure to do the least amount of damage to enemy soldiers that’s required to complete their goals. They can’t endanger them more than it’s minimally required to do their job. Using enemy soldiers as human shields is not among the legal options. The same with pushing soldiers off the roof. If the drone pilot sees this, it should be immediately suspicious that the commander doesn’t follow the conventions.
Removing the tracker: The tracker is there, so that the command always knows where does the robot go. Removing it should make an alert go off, that’s not part of the robot’s system, so it won’t be able to turn off. Also, the robot shouldn’t be able to even know about this alert system.
Trigger-happy robots: The robot soldiers seem to be very eager to shoot humans. They are using robots exactly for that reason, as they are able to stay calm and access the data, without getting stressed.
- When they approach the blown up truck, someone throws a rock at the robot, and the robot retaliates with shooting the man. As the rock is not able to penetrate the armour of the robot, it was not endangered, so it shouldn’t shoot.
- Why did the robot shoot at the hostage taking soldiers? Did it get orders from command? Robot soldiers have to comply to conventions, that’s exactly how they are programmed. And these robots didn’t look like they were remotely controlled, like the drones.
Repeating mistakes: To take out the enemy warlord, they are ready to bomb the place, killing the civilians, and destroying their own robots. I’m not sure this makes sense if a sniper would be enough, especially as they would need to confirm the identity of the body, so bombing it would make that pretty hard to do.
The “off” switch: There should be a way to switch off the robot remotely in case it goes rogue (like we see it does).
Four nukes against the USA: The commander intends to shoot four 50 year old missiles against the USA. I don’t think it would endanger anything, they wouldn’t reach their intended targets with our current technology.
Unanswered questions
What will happen to the humanoid robot program after the end?
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Possibilities of improvement
- Cutting the movie to be a single perspective story might improve it, and it wouldn’t require too much work.
- Cut the part where they destroy the bank building. When the commander gets the codes, they get back, but instead of reporting in, the robot knocks the drone pilot out.
How it could have been better?
Beyond some cool action scenes, there was no need for Captain Leo to be a robot. He could have been some veteran, broken by the war. He could have been a cyborg, kept alive by the military so he could still serve after all those years. Him being a robot made the whole movie less believable for me.
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
image © Netflix
Uses for the film - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
Plot
- An evil army / terrorist organisation wants to get weapons of mass destruction.
- Agents are sent into neutral territory to get information about the enemy.
- A robot goes rogue, and wants to destroy its creators. (It considers the whole USA its creator, and wants to destroy it with nukes.)
Scenes
- The scene in the beginning is good to show urban warfare.
- The scene when they ambush the convoy is good to show urban warfare against insurgents.
Designs
- I liked the designs of the robots, especially the Russian ones who got on all four, to be more stable, before employing their heavy weapons.
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Save everyone: One side has the doctrine that they have to remove every fallen soldier from the field of fire. This means that every time they lose a model, other models have to get to that place, and haul the body back, behind cover. Their leaders need to pass a Morale test before sending the units into dangerous situations. The compensate for these, the units either cost less, or they get +1 Morale as they trust their leaders, or they get extra medic models for free, or they get an evacuation unit for free that they can call if they lose a model.
The ambush: There was an ambush, and now the squads of the defending team are randomly deployed all around the playing area. The attackers can enter from any edge. The defenders win if they defeat the attackers. It’s a draw if at least half of the defenders leave the playing area.
Easier for the defender: There’s an air unit above them that provides intel and air cover.
Harder for the defender: The attackers have a combat vehicle.
Convoy: The playing area is full of obstacles (a ruined city, wrecks of tanks, lots of boulders, forest). The convoy team brings supplies that has to reach the other side of the playing area. The road leading to the other side is closed off by a wrecked vehicle that was attacked. The vehicles of the convoy can pull or push the wreck to make way. There are ambushers hiding behind cover, who want to loot the convoy. The convoy wins, if they bring the supplies in the convoy. It’s a minor victory if the supplies are carried on foot. The ambusher wins if they make the convoy team leave all of their vehicles behind. It’s a minor victory for them if some of the vehicles leave or get destroyed.
Assassination: A secret agent is sent with some bodyguards to meet an informant. An assassin is sent after them to kill the informant and the secret agent. The players set up the playing area together. Then they put civilians on the playing area. The secret agent player secretly writes down which civilian is the informant. The assassin player secretly writes down which civilian is the assassin. Then the secret agent units enter from one of the edges, and make their move. Then the assassin player moves d6 civilians. Then the secret agent player moves d6 civilians that were not moved by the assassin player. Then a new turn starts. The secret agent player can reveal the informant model any time. After the informant is revealed, the assassin player can reveal the assassin model any time. If both players have chosen the same model, then the assassin was able to find the informant before the mission, and took their place in order to kill the secret agent. If the assassin is revealed, the civilian models moved by the secret agent can attack the assassin. The secret agent player wins if they get in base contact with the informant and spend a turn together, then the secret agent is able to leave the playing area. The assassin player wins if the secret agent and the informant is killed. If the assassin is also the informant, then only the secret agent needs to be killed.
Capture: There’s a busy place, with multiple civilians. The attackers want to capture the leader of the defenders. The playing area is set up by the defender, with the base of the defender in the middle, then the defender troops and civilians are deployed. The attacker enter from any edge. The attacker cannot attack the civilians. After the end of the turns, the defender may move d6 civilians. The leader of the defenders may only leave the playing area, if that is the last model of the defenders. The attacker wins if they are able to capture the leader of the defenders. The defender wins if they defeat the attackers. It’s a minor victory for the defender if the leader leaves the playing area.
Hostages: There’s a place where the defenders took civilian hostages, or at least there are innocent civilians in the area. The attackers are the good guys, so they have to escort any civilians they encounter out of the playing area. The attackers can’t use area attack weapons if that would be dangerous to the civilians. The rescued civilians count towards their Victory points at the end of the game. The defenders can command civilians to move. They can use civilians as human shields.
Double strike: There’s a place that’s defended by system-controlled units (or a third player). The players set up the playing area, randomly determine the first and second objective, and randomly put defender units around. The first player enters the playing area through any edge. They have to reach the first objective, spend an action there, then get to the second objective, and spend an action there. The second player enters d6 turns later through any of the edges. They have to stop the first player. The defenders will attack both players. The first player gets major victory if they complete the second objective, and more than half of the team leaves the area; or a minor victory if they complete the objectives, but they all die. The second player gets a major victory if they stop the first player, then more than half of the team leaves the area. The defender wins if they defeat the intruders, with more than half of their units still alive.
Device (Harder for the first team): One of the models has a device. The device can be dropped, picked up and swapped by models. They have to reach the objectives with this device to spend the required action.
Specialist (Harder for the first team): Only some specialist models can operate the device. Any other model can carry it, but it must be the specialist who has it and spends the action at the objectives.
Veteran elite: The first team consists of one (or very few) very special veterans. The unit is more powerful, armoured and armed in every way than the defenders or the second team. Regular weapons just distract them, only heavy weapons can hurt them.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Soldiers: Human-sized modern human soldiers.
Robot soldiers: Large futuristic humanoid warriors.
Humanoid robots: Human-sized modern human soldiers.
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Similar stories - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
Novels
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818): In a historical setting, an artificial human turns against his creator.
Graphic novels
Black Widow v6 #1-12 (2016-2017): In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against her creators.
Bloodshot: In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
Wolverine: Weapon-X stories: In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
Movies
Black Widow (2021): In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against her creators.
Bloodshot (2020): In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014): In a contemporary high-tech setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
I, Robot (2004): In a near-future setting, a robot turns against his creators.
RoboCop (1987): In a near-future setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
Universal Soldier (1992): In a near-future setting, a super-soldier turns against his creators.
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Frequently asked questions - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
Is the Outside the Wire film based on a book or comics?
No, Outside the Wire is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Outside the Wire film a remake or reboot?
No, the Outside the Wire film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Outside the Wire? Does Outside the Wire have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Outside the Wire, however during the credits we see how an army of robots are made.
Where can I see Outside the Wire? Where can I watch Outside the Wire online? Is Outside the Wire available on Netflix? Is Outside the Wire on Amazon?
As of 2021.12.12, Outside the Wire is on Netflix.
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Resources - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
Official
Netflix: Outside the Wire: Official article.
Information
IMDB: Outside the Wire (2021): Database article.
WikiPedia: Outside the Wire: Database article.
Letterboxd: Outside the Wire 2021: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Outside the Wire 2021: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aYen5J
Reviews with no spoilers - Outside the Wire film (2021)
: Review video about the Outside the Wire film with no spoilers.¤
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/outside-the-wire-review-netflix-movie/
Reviews with spoilers - Outside the Wire film (2021)
: Review article of the Outside the Wire movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Outside the Wire movie (2021)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Outside the Wire.¤
https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/outside-the-wire-review-anthony-mackie-1234883716/
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/outside-the-wire-ending-set-up-a-sequel/
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/reviews/article-netflixs-outside-the-wire-is-robocop-for-dummies/
https://trendingnewsbuzz.com/outside-the-wire/
https://thecinemaholic.com/outside-the-wire-ending-explained/
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Buying the product - Outside the Wire, movie (2021)
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Have you seen the Outside the Wire film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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