The movie’s good, and it sort of slipped under the cracks a
little. It’s understated, methodical, and chances are that you may forget that
nothing has even exploded yet. The film is set over the course of a single day,
as a joint British-US-Kenya military operation commanded by Colonel Katherine
Powell (Helen Mirren) looks to identify several key Al-Shabab leaders and
eliminate them before they can recruit two new members, one a British and the
other an American citizen. It then deals with the ramifications of using drone
warfare, particularly its effects on citizens, and the viewpoints towards this
new type of action, etc. So all in all, a real “feel good” kind of motion picture.
It goes to great lengths to establish the complexity of the
operations: cutting between the UAV pilots in one area, forensics people in
another, Ms Mirren arguing with her superiors somewhere else, and the Kenyan
army on standby. While the editing has a difficult job to keep track through
several hard cuts, thankfully it’s held together and you remember the role of
each individual. If there were any mild complaints about the film, some brief
injections of humour in the film feel out of place, and their only function is
to continually delay the decision-making process. Additionally the focus on
civilians feels a little too melodramatic, particularly towards the end.
Otherwise, it’s a well-constructed film that makes watching
several monitor screens strangely compelling, and even tense in parts. As far
as “day in the life” films about drones go, it’s probably the best one I’ve
seen. It’s good to see a film actually play with your expectations about what
outcome it may or may not take, and one that isn’t pushing 150 minutes in
length like most modern contemporaries. Also, kudos to Alan Rickman for his
performance in one of his last films. As unlikely as it sounds, it would have
been great to see you reprise the role of Hans Gruber again.
