Alan Ritchson has developed quite a following through three seasons of Reacher, and while Season 4 is on the way — “the best season we’ve ever made by a long shot,” the actor says — we don’t have to wait for its release to see Ritchson return to action. War Machine hit the 2026 movie calendar on March 6, streaming with a Netflix subscription, and critics are sharing their thoughts on the sci-fi action flick.
War Machine sees Alan Ritchson playing Staff Sergeant 81, who sets out for a field exercise with his fellow Army Ranger recruits, only to happen upon a large robot hell-bent on destruction. James Dyer of Empire says the movie is “big dumb fun,” rating it 3 out of 5 stars. It’s a “brainless, bombastic, bomb-tastic action romp, this is absurd on almost every level, and far more fun than it has any right to be.” The critic continues:
There’s precious little here in the way of characterisation — 81 is essentially Jack Reacher with a gammy knee, the bulk of the squad serve mainly as (plasma) cannon fodder — and the dialogue is often more mechanical than the alien automaton. However, what War Machine lacks in sophistication, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm, staging a series of enjoyable encounters … that it’s hard not to get swept along with. And, as Ritchson has demonstrated across three seasons of Reacher thus far, there’s something inherently satisfying in watching a man who is 80 per cent bicep hit things with varying degrees of extreme force.
William Bibbiani of The Wrap calls War Machine both shameless pro-military propaganda and “straightforward, b-movie fun.” It’s basically a bad knockoff of Predator, but the critic says nothing matters other than this:
Ritchson fights a giant robot, damn it. That’s what you clicked on and that’s all you’re gonna see. At least Ritchson is able to carry a film like this. He looks comfortable in this particular skin, playing a stalwart hero whose still waters run (vaguely) deep. When War Machine finally weeds out the chaff and pits him against the robot, mono-a-mecho, we buy it. We’d have preferred to buy something smarter, but this is a decent substitute, especially since it’s on Netflix and we’re not paying full price.
Caroline Siede of AV Club grades it a B-, saying the new action movie finds its groove in the second act, offering “squelching impalements and shocking dismemberments” with an admirable amount of the action filmed without use of CGI backdrops. Unfortunately, War Machine doesn’t end on as strong a note, as Siede writes:
The whole thing loses some steam in its final act. The alien death machine attacks shift from unnerving to repetitive as the soldiers fail to make any attempt to figure out how to evade its sensors. And the set pieces get less creative as their reliance on CGI becomes more obvious. Given all the tangibility that came before, the final two disappointing action sequences feel more like a cutscene from a video game. Still, the fact that it’s not really trying to be clever on top of it all helps its case. War Machine may not aim all that high, but that only makes it easier to hit its mark.
Monica Castillo of RogerEbert rates the movie 2 out of 4 stars, saying it’s not meant to withstand big questions. Rather, this high-octane action thriller is way more fun when it goes off the rails, Castillo says, writing:
With a long history of action movies and TV shows, Ritchson delivers a perfectly serviceable performance as a man wrestling with his grief and trauma, but he’s also the only one with the experience to keep his ever-shrinking unit moving away from danger. It’s not a memorable performance, but it’s physically demanding and requires a level of stoicism.
Matt Fowler of IGN gives the 2026 Netflix movie an “Okay” 6 out of 10, saying there’s just enough juice here — mostly thanks to its star — to keep it from being a snoozefest and is possibly one of the better disposable streaming action movies available. The critic concludes:
War Machine has just enough spark here and there when the action dials up and the fodder flies to push it into decent streaming movie territory. It can feel like a powder keg taking too long to explode at times, and visually it’s flavorless, but the charisma of Alan Ritchson carries it across the finish line like a wounded brother in arms.
Critics’ reactions to Alan Ritchson’s latest project are fairly middling, most careful to categorize it as “fun” more than “good,” but the response seems to be leaning positive, with 21 critics averaging a score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing.
There’s certainly something to be said for a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously or force you to think too hard, and if that sounds appealing to you, go ahead and hit Play on War Machine, which is streaming now on Netflix.
