Review of War, Inc. (2008) by John S — 03 Jan 2016

I love a good political or social satire. "Thank You For Smoking", "How to Get Rid of the Others", "Land of the Blind" and "Idiocracy" are among my favorite films. "War Inc" attempts to be a film just like those, but if fails in every way.

"War Inc" takes place in a fictional country. Where "Land of the Blind" shows us a country that reminds us of at least half a dozen of countries and eras (from 18th century France, Mussolini's Italy and Lenin's Russia to '50s South-America and '70s Northern-Ireland), "War Inc" gives us nothing but a poor American caricature of the Middle-East. At no time did Turaqistan remotely seem like an actual country, not even a Middle-Eastern country like it's supposed to be. As a satire, however, this recognisability is essential for it to work.

The humor in "Thank You For Smoking", "How to Get Rid of the Others" and "Land of the Blind" is all clever and subtle. "Idiocracy" gives us a shallow layer of "Beavis & Butthead"-like retarded humor and a deeper layer of intelligent humour actually making fun of those who enjoy the first layer (which many seem to miss). "War Inc" gives us none of that. For most of the film, the humor usually seems either absent or too over-the-top ("Scary Movie" style), totally losing its effect for me.

The story is not very interesting either. The story of occupation and corporate greed is overshadowed by the dull interaction between a frustrated deep cover assassin, a self-conscious anti-war journalist and a confused teenage pop star, making most of the film completely uninteresting.

Who would I recommend this film to? I honestly don't know. Personally I don't think it's worth wasting your time on.