Formulaic

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2016)

War Dogs
One could sum up this movie in a single word, "formulaic."
If you've ever watched any of the movies about West Coast drug-dealing of the 80s (Blow), or any movie with Benicio Del Toro in it (Snatch, Traffic), you will quickly recognize one or more of the stylistic techniques stamped all over this movie:

Off-camera narration by one of the protagonists talking about how smart or stupid they were at this point in the adventure.

Wackiness in the face of danger.

Celebration of the stoner mentality.

Overhead shots using helicopters or drones.

Overuse of circular camera dolly around two subjects quibbling to suggest "tension."

Cool music.

Oddity
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Choice of music. The setting for the movie is the early 2000s, and these guys are in their 20s, yet the music is a collection golden oldies from 60s. Is that the music the producers like? Is it aimed at the suspected target audience?
Nitpicks
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The lead character says "Bro" more times than any character in any movie in history. Guess that's a refreshing change from "dude." LOL.
Aside from all that, I still liked the movie, just thought is was hackneyed and formulaic.