Kandahar

Kandahar (2023)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh

Starring: Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal, Bahador Foladi, Nina Touissant-White

From: Open Road... along with Saudi Arabia and some other entities

There is a Humvee in the room I have to address. It's not how I saw the movie already (some AMC cinemas had a preview screening yesterday evening, for some reason under the pretentious name of “Investor Connect Screening”) or that from plot description alone I know the story is rather similar to Guy Ritchie's The Covenant. Rather, it's how this movie was made in... Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom had some sort of influence. My seeing this is NOT an endorsement of that country's government. 

I do feel a little dirty as even though I've watched plenty of films involving problematic people or entities, what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is rather reprehensible. Then again, I've seen some modern Chinese films which have government involvement and I'm not a fan of that government either... point is, whether or not you want to see the movie because of this detail will be personal preference.

For all you Gerard Butler fans, you probably will be satisfied w/ the end result. I've seen precious little of his filmography—heck, this was my first Butler theatrical experience period. For the most part, this is what you'd expect when you hear the plot is Butler as a CIA operative in Iran who runs into trouble on a mission in Afghanistan w/ an Afghan translator so they're on the run as multiple parties are after them. Note that there is both ISIS AND the Taliban. 

However, this is not “rah rah patriotic” like London Has Fallen, which is reviled by some due to its questionable policies. The region is shown to have multiple parties that don't get along with each other and some are sell-outs for the common dollar; there is also some shade thrown at the West for their negative impact in the Middle East throughout history. Heck, Butler plays a Scotsman formerly of MI6 so he even gets to use his natural accent.

As for the plot and action, it's all acceptable and should satisfy genre fans, although nothing is spectacular-either in terms of being great or on the other side of the coin a complete disaster. The Covenant is likely the A movie to this film's B movie status but I'm sure both will work for their prospective audience, and/or are fitting for a double-bill in your own home. If you like the films from Mr. Gerard and the whole Saudi Arabia thing is not a deal-breaker, then there's a good chance you'll like this as well. I can say that the country does have some lovely scenery.