The year is 2036 and the U.S. are involved in a peacekeeping exercise in eastern Europe where the Ukraine is fighting to keep it’s independence from Russia. Mechanized soldiers are deployed to assist with the war effort and drones controlled by pilots thousands of miles away provide over watch. One such pilot, Harp (Damson Idris) disobeys a direct order for what he believes is the greater good and kills two marines on the ground. His punishment is to be sent to the front where Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie) will be in charge of him. Leo of course is also a robot.

Outside The Wire is an incredibly mediocre, functional action movie that has a lot of talking and sporadic action. There is an effort here to talk about the ethics and implications of remote and robotic warfare but it is so badly fumbled it is hardly worth mentioning. Does being remote from the battlefield result in the acceptance of collateral damage and therefore the extension of infinite warfare? Well it seems this films answer is that this thorny question can be resolved by more remote warfare.

Mackie and Idris both act completely robotic throughout, which I suppose fits their characters especially given one is a robot. But that makes for literally no connection for the audience. The action sequences are just simply lots of people and/or robots firing lots of bullets and the occasional missile whilst Captain Leo does an occasional bit of super speed fighting (and of course shooting).

If you want to watch a good film about the implications of modern warfare seek out Gavin Hood’s Eye In The Sky. If you want to watch a throwaway action movie that takes itself a little too seriously and features an Avenger seek out Extraction. This is not really worth your time.