You, as me, might like war movies. Those thrillers packed of action with strategies where you can't but keep rooting for your side hoping for them to win and destroy, literally, the enemy, that usually plays a villain role, when usually there is more than black or white there, but still you can't denied that good feeling when they win or that sadness when they lose. And there's nothing wrong with that wen you are watching it on the big screen, surrounded by the loud sound of explosions and images of dead bodies flying all around. But when you realize that what you are witnessing is a recreating of real events, where real people were killed for stupid reasons and political interests and mostly clash of cultures, then things turn from fun to scary, and it might become a horror movie, but we are not ok watching a serial killer slashing teenagers all around the place but we approved to see men in combat killing another man in the most savages way as a way of survival. Why? Because they are fighting for cause and dying for a reason bigger than them? Is it not the same at the end? Just because someone is wearing a uniform and belong to the militia, that gives them the validation to kill other man while in battle? How about the victims?, Most of them didn't want to die or fight, but got caught in a battle that gave them no option other than a survival mode and even if they make it at the end, we've already talked a few times about the side effects and consequences of that. For any normal, sane, person, after witnessing the stress and horrors of war, there's something that sticks with you, hard to shake it out and will transform your life and mind from now on.
Playing with this scenarios, we got this summer an interesting story, a mix of a suspense/war film, that has some interesting points, playing as a psychological thriller, where lot of dialogue will take place and steal scenes over action sequences that we are used to for the genre, and a twist from other stories of war that we've heard previously, we get this month "The Wall" (2017), supposedly based on real events, This is the story of two soldiers, after the war is ended. This time the Iraq war. It's over. All troops are retiring, going back home, so it's time to pick up everybody and go back to the camp. But after a distress call, Allan Isaac and Shane Mathews are sent to check whats going on. But once they are the point of reference, everything seems like a dead zone. No one is there. They are hiding and monitoring the area, waiting for something to happen so they can intervene. But nothing happens. Time is passing by. The heat is on. Been hiding for a while under the sun and they get anxious. So Isaac make the call of go out there and explore the scene, just to find enough evidence of a previous attack, with some dead bodies from both sides that were probably protecting the oil pipes there, but no one seems to be alive to make the call, or maybe they did it before everything happened, but if so, what happened? war is over, why they would be fighting for?
Soon, they will find out, when the soldier gets shot. Where did that come from? Who's shooting? Isaac is down. Bleeding from his ribs. His injured, but still tries to fight back but more shootings keep coming so he falls down pretending to be dead. Mathews sees everything but doesn't know what's happening, so he's instinct is to run over to help his brother down just to find himself trapped in the shooting and get hurt in his leg, so since he can't do anything to help Isaac and bullets are flying all over the place, has no option but to retreat and crawl behind the stone wall close by. Once he is there, safe from now from the shooter, he starts damage control, taking care of his wound, trying to ask for help with the radio, just to find the antenna is broken, water is gone too, and Isaac is alive but he passed out. So now what? he is injured and can't walk, plus there is a shooter out there and can't tell where is he so he fades out until the sound of his intercom wakes him up. Someone is reaching out. Maybe they are looking out for them. He responds excited, asking for help, until he notices that this guy is not following the protocol, why he is asking so many questions about him? And then as the keep talking he notices a very light foreign accent. He is the shooter!
But he wants to talk. He wants to know about this American soldier ad why did he join to the army and wanted to come to the war and fight for his country. Why would someone like him, left his family and friends and is so scared to go back home? Maybe he's hiding from something at war that is scarier that sacrificing? Or maybe sacrificing his life in the name of his country is a way to repair some guilt that he's been carrying for a while? As we see how Mathews tries to solve the puzzle of this shooter playing mind games with him, knowing that he is trapped behind that wall, figuring out all the why's of what happened there before and what's happening now, the more we know about him and his motives to join the army and how this one brain washes anyone's set of mind to create a bond as strong as family, a brotherhood that makes them rectify their lives and fight for their brothers and nation. But he also wants to go back home. Once you face death, the realization that nothing can't be that bad to run away from and all the people that care for you. But the only way to go back home is to fight back this shooter and knowing where is he hiding will be the only way out. But this guy has more reasons than getting to know an average american soldier. He is the one who brought them there. He's the one asking for help to the Americans pretending to be an American soldier, using the information from agent Mathews.
A few we know about this shooter, only information is that he is well known around everybody as a menace because his skills and even war is over he still wants to kill as many American soldiers as he can. Why? Because they dared to come to his country and start a war. He represents the other side of the coin. As we said previously, war is made from two sides, as any relationship, and sometimes the ones that we seem like the bad guys, had another motives that the ones they made us believe, and they also have the right to fight for their own culture and believes. This guy represents his country. He was an average guy. Having a peaceful life as a teacher until war started and his country was invaded, his school has teared apart, killing hundreds and he had to witness. Consequences. The consequences of war change us all. And he has changed. He learned how to shoot and became a great shooter a now his purpose is to kill as many american soldiers as he can bringing them to this trap that he has created and it's working so far. We judge others by their actions not knowing what's behind. Being unconscious of their intentions when some of them are the result of our actions. We push them to some point where we are affected but the were affected first too. It's kind of selfish to expect that we can do whatever we want with no consequences . And not necessarily has to go that extreme but the fact that a soldier has to live with the damage of war or use it to hide from his past reflects the ugly truth behind it, and how it make things worse for everybody and the more people you get involve the more damage spreads out. Sometimes it's ok to build a wall literally or metaphorically to prevent getting in trouble. And don't miss the independent film that is running limited but deserves a look, with a great performance from young actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson and directed by Doug Liman, bringing interesting topics to the table that might not be solved but will raised some hands while keeping you at the edge of your seat. It's time to stop any war and avid fighting violence with more violence and this new proposal for a wasted genre.
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