with Anthony Mackie and Damson Idris at the ever-engaging helm, Outside the Wire gives us an intellectually subtle debate on AI technology as a war machine alongside human soldiers
an entertaining if inconsistent sci-fi actioner; "Outside the Wire" is probably too bombastic and inconsistent to take hugely seriously, but features some decent ideas and its intentions are largely honourable
a sci-fi-inflected action pic with its conscience on its sleeve; Anthony Mackie's presence will draw extra attention to the Netflix film, which proves to be a fairly conventional military-action pic despite its moments of Asimovian philosophy
a competent Netflix thriller toys with big ideas; There's a more interesting film buried here and it's the small nuggets of debate about the military and artificial intelligence that keep us going through the bloated, almost two-hour runtime
"Outside the Wire" never delves too deeply into the heady themes it touches on; However, it feels more satisfying and grounded; in the end, the movie is fairly forgettable, it's fun and entertaining enough to spend two hours watching
by Amanda M. Sink [The Hollywood Outsider ]
by Bob Strauss [San Francisco Chronicle ]
