WARHORSE ONE: The Best Moments Are the Quiet Ones

WARHORSE ONE (Blu-ray)

2023 / 126 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Tiger the Terrible😽

Though considerably longer than it needs to be, Warhorse One is a decent example of auteur filmmaking on a limited budget.

The auteur in question is Johnny Strong. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he’s had small roles in such films as The Fast and the Furious and Black Hawk Down. He’s all over the end credits in this one (to an amusing degree). Not only is Strong the star, he co-directed, wrote the screenplay, composed the music and a slew of other things behind the camera. 

Strong plays Master Chief Richard Mirko, a Navy SEAL during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. On a mission to extract a dignitary's family, he’s thrown from his chopper when it’s hit by an RPG. Mirko miraculously (ridiculously?) survives the fall and continues the mission on foot. He arrives to discover everyone but the six year old girl, Zoe (Athena Durner), has been murdered by the Taliban. 

Bring Your Daughter to Work Day.

Now he must protect her while trekking across the Afghan wilderness to reach an extraction point, a task made more arduous by the band of Taliban on their tail. Sporadic action sequences have Mirko battling them with guns, knives, explosives and lethal traps. These scenes are competently done, though the outcome of each bloody skirmish is seldom in doubt, since Mirko is essentially a one man wrecking crew whose injuries don’t appear to affect his job too much.

With the exception of their leader, who of-course refers to the Americans as infidels, the Taliban themselves are caricatures that mostly serve as cannon fodder. On the other hand, the developing friendship between Mirko and Zoe is genuinely engaging, probably the best aspect of the narrative and given considerable heft by convincing performances from the two leads.

Still, I don’t think Strong really needs over two hours to tell this story. There are sequences, particularly during the final act, that drag on too long. I like a good bloody climax as much as the next guy, but this one eventually feels like watching someone else play a round of Call of Duty. Warhorse One ultimately works best during the quieter moments. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - Director and star Johnny Strong offers commentary on about an hour of the film.

TRAILER