War on Everyone (2016) Reviews

• Worse than I expected.

  TheTopDawgCritic2019-01-07

  Alexander Skarsgård and Theo James performed fairly decent, but Michael Peña seemed bored and too monotonic in his role. Interesting story, but weirdly played out. Directing and cinematography was decent. IMO, this film failed to deliver with such a great cast. 6/10 from me.

• A weird modern tribute/homage/caricature of 70's cop fiction

  nanstamps2017-02-06

  I really liked War On Everyone, to me it was an alternate reality made through the trope of American cop movies and TV from the 70's. Not the real 70's but the film fiction of the 1970's but with the movie actually set in modern times. I also noticed the viewer has to pay attention or you will miss the connection of each scene to the next (no checking your cell phone). War On Everyone is a tightly woven film where a homage to 70's film/TV style might be too obscure for anyone under 50 or someone who never watched old 70's cop stuff. The movie probably needed some objective editing from someone besides the writer/director. I'm 54 and I thought War On Everyone was very funny. :-) I have a tomboy mom who took me to every car chase movie that came out in the 70's - R rated included - and her favorite TV shows (that me and my brother were 'forced' to watch) were Mannix, Dragnet, and Adam 12. I loved Starsky and Hutch 1975 (Huggy Bear reference in WOE). It probably helped me like the movie. The movie does not pull it's punches in swearing, offensive racial slurs, and bawdy humor but it strangely passes the Bechdel test when the two main female characters have a scene where they talk to each other about their travels. War On Everyone is movie where everyone has their faults but seems to ask the questions, "Does societies definition of right and wrong mean anything, are there acceptable degrees of wrongness and is there a line that even "bad" people won't cross?"

• black comedy that won't please everyone

  obloco2017-02-20

  This is one of those movies that you'll either love or hate. I loved it. The opening scene had me thinking that it was too over-the-top, and I wasn't going to like it, but I just kept laughing. Out loud. Being from New Mexico, some of the jokes at the expense of the ABQ PD had extra spice. Black comedy isn't for everyone. If you don't like the dark side, you aren't going to enjoy this one. I can understand the reviews from those who like their comedy dark but just didn't connect with this one, too. Different strokes and all. It is wacky, crazy, and out there, not just black. I found the chemistry between the two buddy cops great, there are some truly wonderful lines amongst their banter. If you can get over the "silly factor" involved with being so over-the-top, I think you'll enjoy the ride, otherwise you'll be one of those that "HATED IT".

• Crazy Wonderful!!

  yossarian1002017-01-08

  Two Wild and Crazy Guys who pull out all the stops is what John Michael McDonagh had in mind when he created this totally outrageous over the top masterpiece. I loved the chemistry between Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena, I think more than any buddy movie I've ever seen, except for maybe "Freebie and the Bean," with Alan Arkin and James Caan. They were just great together, and together they hit this one right over the center field wall. I'll own this because I definitely plan on watching it again and again. If you like black comedies where they've thrown out the rule book, you're going to love this. My highest recommendation for pure unadulterated entertainment.

• Crazy friggin' movie... I loved it!

  zkot-839-4527312017-01-05

  I agree with the review "Unstructured Mess," by Greg from Ontario. Except I come to a much different conclusion: This is simply cinema showing us the utter meaninglessness of it all -- not necessarily a point I agree or disagree with. So we must endure it all, strange, bizarre, baffling, stupid, ridiculous, and so on, all in the midst of an utter wasteland. As such, we can only live in the present moment, the best we can. The soundtrack is over the top, with its Latino/Rock/Glen Campbell mix. The music makes the meaninglessness bearable! So as Greg from Ontario writes, it's pure, unstructured mess. In my opinion, that gives you two choices: Take it or leave it!