Review of War Dogs (2016) by Dennis J — 15 Aug 2016

War Dogs definitely met my expectations on almost every level, while coming in just shy on a few them.

I'll talk about what I didn't like first, since everything I didn't like took place in the first 25% of the movie. My fear going into the movie was that it would be overloaded with exposition, and side stories we don't care about - which it was. Super slow!! The story felt poorly written, the actors had no chemistry, and it was heavily weighed down by the "before picture" for Miles Teller's character's life. It kind of felt like the director didn't want to take any chances, and made the actors do everything exactly the way it was written, which felt stiff.

However, after act two started, it felt like a completely different movie. The chemistry/ bond between the characters picked up almost instantly. The jokes came more frequent, the story found its footing, and the enjoyment set in.

Everything they set up in the beginning eventually came full circle, which made for nice comedic as well as dramatic moments. I'm trying to be as vague/ spoiler free as possible, so when you see the movie you'll understand.

The movie was really a roller coaster between comedy and drama, but in a good way. The balance between these was something I feel can make or break a movie. However, this movie knew when it's moments were too serious to try and fit a zinger in, and knew when it was time to laugh, and kept the seriousness for another scene. I appreciate that in a movie.

One other gripe I had with the movie is I never really had a laugh out loud moment, which was disappointing given the actors. However, with a great story, a great cast, and great pacing, the movie was full of entertainment and I would say I'd pay to see it in theaters.... If I didn't already have more free tickets to see it again before it comes out.