Reviews

"War Inc." has certainly left some critics cold. Those who do not get it, remind me of the thick-headed folks who wet themselves over the macho Reagan-era law enforcement depicted in "Robocop" without ever realizing that the film is in itself a satire of the Reagan era: outlandish weapons systems,a trend toward privatization, and deregulation that is so out of whack that, at this point, in the future, even the police force, OCP, is run for corporate gain. As for the military and pirate capitalism; what kind of oversight do we have for mercenary "security firms" like Blackwater, lead by an intern from the first Bush White House, or Haliburton, intimately connected to the Vice President of the current White House? None whatsoever. More blood will be spilled, and these greedy mothers will keep raking in the dough."War Inc." reminds me of Bill Murray's advice at the beginning of Rushmore, it gets these criminals in its crosshairs and takes them down. It's a Sergio Leone Western for the Bush imperial era, but there's also an element of Greek tragedy in the haunted eyes of Cusack's Brand Hauser, whose every swig of hot sauce, is like another trip to purgatory. You know, like Charlie with the candle in "Mean Streets". This film is a damn rebel yell of the soul. Somewhere Joe Strummer is smiling.

To all the long-faced dimwits bemoaning the decidedly uncontentious tone of this picture, I've three words: Get a life! First off, the "The Killer Elite" is a rip-roaring gasser about the most offbeat assassins to ever walk the earth. Burt Young versus ninjas? James Caan and Robert Duvall serenading CIA safe houses? Where do I sign? Maybe some also bellow on about how watered-down "The Killer Elite" is amongst the Peckinpah pantheon, but I put this to you: how many "PG"-rated pictures include defectors getting their brains blown out, as sanguine life sprays the walls? Not many. Third off, the nihilistic corporate pecking order as portrayed in the film sums up the old "Alfredo Garcia" "no heroes" mentality quite nicely. Mako and Gig "Fred C. Dobbs" Young are there to party, Caan, Duvall, and Young seem to be having the time of their lives, so what are we waiting for? "Let's go bananas."