War Machine is a quintessential action flick—provided your definition of cinematic excellence involves hyper-masculine soldiers locked in a desperate struggle against a relentless extraterrestrial threat across a jagged, hostile landscape. Directed by Patrick Hughes, the film serves as a sleek, contemporary homage to Predator, albeit with a few distinctive pivots. While the 1987 classic featured an ensemble of iconic action stars, War Machine relies almost entirely on the formidable screen presence of Alan Ritchson, treating the rest of the squad as little more than cannon fodder. Furthermore, the film maintains a disciplined sense of mystery; we never glimpse the biological entities behind the invasion, only their terrifying, automated weaponry.
Yet, there is one crucial departure from the Predator blueprint that I hope remains intact: unlike the franchise that inspired it, War Machine should resist the urge to ever produce a sequel.
Admittedly, the odds of a one-and-done release are slim. War Machine has already secured its status as a massive viewership win for Netflix—a platform perpetually hungry for original intellectual property. Hughes himself has teased a broader vision for the story, noting in recent interviews that he knows exactly where the narrative leads next. Ritchson even hinted at a potential title, War Machines, a linguistic nod to James Cameron’s Aliens. But despite the commercial momentum and the director’s enthusiasm, expanding this story into a franchise risks diluting the very elements that make it so effective.
[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the ending of War Machine.]
The narrative focuses on Ritchson’s character, known simply as “81,” who leads a group of Army Ranger candidates through a routine training exercise that turns into a nightmare when they stumble upon a lethal alien drone. Because they are equipped only with non-lethal training gear, the soldiers are forced to rely on ingenuity rather than firepower. In a pulse-pounding finale, 81 manages to disable the mechanical beast by obstructing its cooling systems, causing it to self-destruct.
However, the victory is short-lived. Upon returning to civilization, 81 discovers that the encounter was merely a scout for a global onslaught. Tens of thousands of similar crafts are descending upon Earth. The film cuts to black just as the apocalypse begins. While this cliffhanger is designed to leave audiences craving more, a follow-up would likely be a mistake.
The primary strength of War Machine lies in its ambiguity. We are never told who built these machines or why they have arrived. Are they autonomous AI? Are they piloted by unseen horrors? The absence of a “face” for the enemy enhances the sense of dread. A sequel would inevitably feel the need to explain the lore, stripping away the enigma that fuels the first film’s tension.
Furthermore, the ending’s bleakness is its most daring trait. Seeing the overwhelming scale of the invasion suggests that humanity’s chances are practically non-existent. To follow this with a standard sequel where Earth rallies and defeats the armada would feel like a regression into predictable tropes. The current ending offers a haunting, cynical edge that is rare in modern blockbusters; resolving it with a “win” for the humans would undermine the impact of that final revelation.
The intimate, claustrophobic atmosphere of the wilderness setting would also be sacrificed in a global-scale sequel. 81’s personal journey, rooted in a mid-movie twist, reaches a logical conclusion here. Forcing the character into a broader military epic would likely feel artificial.
One could point to Alien or Predator as examples of franchises that survived various hit-or-miss sequels. However, those films ended on definitive, somewhat hopeful notes. War Machine is a different beast entirely. By choosing to stop right at the edge of the abyss, Patrick Hughes has created a singular, memorable entry in the sci-fi genre. Attempting to build a franchise on top of it risks destroying the very foundation that makes it a future cult classic.
War Machine is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: Polygon
