War Dogs: Movie Review

“War Dogs” feels like a film lost - not knowing what identity it wants to have. At first glance, it tries to be funny and witty. On the other hand, it wants to be serious even profound. And if it wasn’t obvious enough, It also wants to be cool. With all the things it wants to be, it never really gels into anything substantial. While the flashy visuals might suck you in for the first portions of the film, by the time the credits roll, it was pretty easy to see that “War Dogs” stinks.

Two friends in their early 20s during the Iraq War find a legal exploit to a little-known government initiative that allows smaller businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in bigger contracts and bigger money and start living the high life. But the pair gets in over their heads when they land a $300 million deal to arm the Afghan military — a deal that puts them in business with some very shady people - not to say the least an arms dealer considered as a terror threat by the U.S. Government.

"War Dogs" starts off well and with Todd Phillips at the helm, it seems that the unconventional story and characters it portrays was a perfect mold to his zany style. But nothing really sticks with "War Dogs". It is a film that turns out to be shallow, featuring unappealing characters that audiences would have a hard time rooting for. Worse, we found the comedic portions lacking with both the leads, Miles Teller and particularly Jonah Hill, having lackluster performances. As for length, the film seemed too long or at least it felt like it was a complete drag to watch. Pacing was off and we felt that the film never finds the scenes it needed to focus on. Let's just say that "War Dogs" was all over the place. May it be its story and its characters.

Rating: 2 reels




Why you should watch it:
- the premise was interesting stuff

Why you shouldn’t watch it:
- the film was too long and too slow
- the comedy was mostly missing