There are many places this movie falters, but not for lack of ambition. This feels like a number of partial high concept films fused into a contemplation about the price of war. To be fair, this was adding up to a decent movie, despite a ton of gaudy, gibbering frightless ghosts. If anything, there’s a macabre humor in the combat between the hardened soldiers and the spectral opposition.The true terror lies with an undercurrent of existential dread, as the characters are confronted and corrupted by atrocities witnessed and committed. The acting is above average, a bunch of vaguely recognizable c-listers even shackled with stock rote characters, the vaguely recognizable c-list actors are invested and deliver. Unfortunately this movie gets so overstuffed with ideas, explorations and twists it feels like the writers skimped on necessary setup elements, and thus resort to long bouts of exposition. The last act goes legitimately bonkers, dropping rapid fire game-changing twists and exposition dump before ending abruptly with no pretense of resolution. This last bit is extra infuriating, as everything had reached an interesting development amidst the crazy chaos and might have made the investment of time worthwhile. As it stands, this is almost a decent movie, filled with talent, excellent production values, a number of intriguing notions, genuine thought and almost manages to deliver, but then gives up and goes home. As it stands, I might still be intrigued enough to consider watching a sequel, if only to get my desperately needed closure.
Ghosts of War (2020)