War on terror is a unique species. It involves multiple state actors spanning different continents stacked against an asymmetric enemy who could inflict disproportionate damage despite operating with minimal resources. With the advent of drone based warfare, this war has transcended the borders of sovereign nations and is conducted from remote locations spread across continents using satellite communication and drones which can deliver lethal firepower at selected locations under surveillance to eliminate enemy threats. Noted South African director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) explores this scenario in an exciting thriller involving a drone based missile strike against the leaders of a terror outfit as they meet to plan their next offensive.
The leaders of Al-Shabaab, a dreaded terror group are meeting in a safehouse in the suburbs of Nairobi to plan their next terrorist attack. The meeting includes two British nationals who were radicalised recently and are being actively pursued by the British intelligence. British military intelligence officer Colonel Katherine Powell (Dame Helen Mirren) is heading a remote team stationed in rural Sussex that is actively tracking the meeting to capture the militants. They are supported by ground forces of the Kenyan military intelligence in Nairobi as well as assistance from two teams of US military intelligence – one based out of Hawaii for remote facial recognition of human targets and another team in Nevada which is an air force base where pilots remotely operate drones to deliver missiles on targets across continents with precision. 
Meanwhile, a Cabinet Committee on Defence consisting of the Attorney General, two ministers from the Government and Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) oversees the operation live from Whitehall. The Cabinet Committee is empowered to authorise the capture of the militants after receiving a final confirmation of their identities. These multinational intelligence teams are using an unmanned aerial vehicle armed with missile and some miniaturised drones operated from close quarters for their surveillance of the militant safe-house. 
However, the preparation of two suicide bombers inside the safe-house for an imminent attack on some civilian targets escalates the immediacy and intensity of the mission and consequently, Katherine seeks to convert the mission objective from capturing the terrorists to terminating them. However, any missile strike would also involve collateral damage to lives and property in the area which happens to be a bustling suburb in a friendly country. What follows is an intense and nail-biting finale filled with frantic events and disparate discussions across these multiple teams involving intelligence agencies, defence forces as well as dilly-dallying political leadership which is keen on political expediency than protecting lives.
The movie explores multiple contemporary themes through a taut narrative that keeps the viewer constantly at the edge of their seats. Besides being a tense thriller, the movie throws up multiple questions on the ideas including value of some lives over others, malleability of morality, acceptable levels of collateral damage, remote warfare which despite looking gamified could still present deep ethical dilemmas and political compulsions which could colour critical decisions of life & death. There are no easy answers to any of these questions and as a result, these questions would linger with the viewers to ponder long after they have watched the movie.
The ensemble cast consisting of Dame Helen Mirren, late Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul and Barkhad Abdi provide excellent performances as the movie puts our moral compass on a see-saw ride. Despite being a war movie, this thriller is stands out as it abjures from the time tested tropes of the genre with most of the key players being far removed from ground zero and operating remotely through screens in conjunction to pull a virtual trigger. While this scenario means a war without its quintessential grime and blood, it still holds the potency of violence and emotional scarring. After (Tsotsi), this is easily the most accomplished offering from Gavin Hood, especially coming after misfires like X-Men Origins – Wolverine and Ender's Game.
RATING – 3.5/5
