The Ugly American (1963)

When a tyrannical emperor(Ben Kingsley) executes her father, an exiled princess(Aisha Hart) rallies rival tribes to fight for their freedom.

Unfortunately, Desert Warrior is another example of inaccurate marketing that sabotages a great film. With trailers that featured Anthony Mackie, we half-expected to see “Captain America:The Desert Avenger”. Be aware, Mackie is not the designated protagonist. He is barely in the movie at all. He usually drops in just to grunt a few lines in a pretty decent Arabian accent then disappears for 20 minutes.

Although his performance does bookend the movie, it’s not enough for him to be recognized as the “desert warrior”. It’s only by the end of the movie do we realize that Hind(Aisha Hart) is the titular character and the heroine we should be cheering on.

Audiences are treated to an international film with a Princess of Mars feel. It’s not a sentimental, romanticized, hero movie with a Caucasian protagonist. Most of the cast were of Middle Eastern descent, with cultural sensibilities from that region. There were plenty of swords and galloping horses but also a few camels. The battles were realistic but not gory. They would cut away just before the blood splatters which was an interesting technique further identifying it as a film meant for an audience not accustomed to gratuitous violence.

There’s been a longstanding criticism of sci-fi films about its lack of Black characters. For the past few years, Anthony Mackie has been successfully representing Black masculinity in the otherwise homogenous genre and I am here for it. The ‘Outside The Wire’ star continues to fight annihilating monsters in  ‘Elevation’ alongside veteran sci-fi actress Morena Baccarin. 

After humanity is overrun with mysterious, homicidal creatures, those who are left are forced to flee above 8,000 feet into the mountains of Colorado and the surrounding midwest. Survivors have created a network of communities with the expectation of never leaving.

Netflix’s first original film of the year is the sci-fi thriller Outside the Wire. Before any comments, let’s set the scene.

The year is 2036, and a destructive civil war has broken out in the middle of Eastern Europe. Not too much is revealed, only that US forces were deployed to Russia to act as peacekeepers. Oh, there are also “Gumps,” which essentially are robotic soldiers. During the fast-paced opening act, drone pilot Lieutenant Harp (Damson Idris) disobeys a direct order, killing two teenage Marines.

Harp faces the consequences of his actions, traveling to Camp Nathaniel (a deadly warzone) to experience war first-hand. There, he is assigned to work with android combat soldier Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie). As the two embark on a mission to take down terrorist Victor Koval (Pilou Asbæk), things arise that shift the film and eventually pit Harp and Leo against each other.