Animals in War: The Animals are Ukrainian, the Savages are Russian

They might be animals, but at least they are not vicious savages, like Putin and his Z-emblazoned war-criminals. Through their reckless invasion, millions of animals in Ukraine, both wild and domestic, have been slaughtered needlessly. Seven Ukrainian filmmakers examine the idea of what it means to be a humane human during a time of national crisis in Animals in War, the anthology film conceived by producer Oleg Kokhan, which just released on VOD and Film Movement Plus.

Perhaps logically, Animals in War begins with its biggest star, appearing in a relatively weaker installment. Director-screenwriter Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s “Eagle” follows the remote collaboration between an American producer (or some such role), working on a documentary project in the spirit of Animals in War with a Ukrainian cameraman-documentarian in the field, but some sort of interference plagues his audio feed. It is a lot of Sean Penn (yes, him) showing us he cares, but the conclusion still hits hard.

Yuliia Shashkova’s “Cow in the Fog” also hits hard, but right from the start. Unfortunately, the Russian marauders reached a teenaged boy’s village just as they started evacuating, so his mother sends him off to a friend’s home through the forest. Underdressed for the cold weather, the boy’s only source of warmth is a wayward cow. There should be no mincing words. “Cow in the Fog” depicts war crimes. Yes, it is fictional, but, like all the constituent stories, it is based on cold hard reality.

In fact, Maksym Tuzov’s “Rabbit: There and Back Again” is directly based on the filmmaker’s separation from his pet bunny. However, it is largely seen from the bunny’s POV, which certainly distinguishes it. It might also build to one of the more “feel good” conclusions, but sadly, there is not much competition in that respect—again, thanks to Putin.

Indeed, Oleksii Mamedov’s “Sonny” basically takes a two-by-four to your soul, bashing it over and over again. Of course, the psychological circumstances are probably a bit more complicated, but essentially a mother suffered a severe psychological break after the murder of her young son. Consequently, when she hears a wounded wolf pup, her mind transforms the animal into her late Sonny. This is a film that could have easily gone wrong, but instead it really packs a wallop. Oleksii Zubkov also deserves tremendous credit for his portrayal of the military doctor who is so tired of seeing death, he agrees to operate on an “animal.”

Set in an aquarium, Sviatoslav Kostiak’s “Underwater Adventure” initially appears to be an allegory, but it isn’t. Arguably, it and “Eagle” have the weakest thematic links to Kokhan’s overall theme. However, it will certainly resonate with parents who might imagine the difficulties of raising children amongst such danger and horror. Frankly, it is quite powerful, even if it stands out as a bit of a ringer within Animals in War.

Ivan Sautkin’s “Torpedo” also uses misdirection with brutal effectiveness. Yet, it ultimately best represents the realities of war. As it happens, Torpedo is a goat and his owner is a granny, working as a highway spotter for her grandson in the Ukrainian defense force. Tragically, she will see a lot.

The Gunman: Sean Penn’s Congo Temp Gig

Seriously, why bother assassinating a government official of a failed state? A small team of mercs will do so anyway, because a job is a job. Unfortunately, the shadowy outfit managing the contract has started tying up loose ends. Those would be Jim Terrier and his former comrades-in-arms. He just might be the only left who isn’t part of the conspiracy, but he should be enough to bring them all down in Pierre Morel’s The Gunman (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

For a while, Terrier was really enjoying the Congo assignment. While secretly working for Lawrence Cox’s death squad, he volunteered as a relief coordinator by day to maintain his cover. That is how he met and fell hard for Annie, the professional do-gooder. Unfortunately, just when both their romance and the country’s civil war are heating up, Terrier is assigned to the team taking out an uncooperative natural resources minister looking to renegotiate terms (in real life, the mining companies would just say fine, call us when you have a working legal system). Since he will be the trigger man, Terrier will have to vanish afterwards, leaving Annie to the creepy advances of Felix, his smarmy corporate contact.

Haunted by his collective guilt, Terrier returns to Congo, hoping to do penance, like Jack Bauer in the two-hour special 24: Redemption. However, when an unusually well-equipped hit squad shows up gunning for Terrier, he realizes someone is out to get the old gang, but they all seem to be dead, except for him and the suspiciously chipper Cox. Felix also seems to be acting excessively obnoxious, but that is just sort of how he is. For understandable reasons, his wife Annie has mixed emotions seeing Terrier again, but the sparks are still there. She tries to guilt trip him, pointedly asking: “what did you expect showing up after all this time,” but since they just slept together, things are probably exceeding his expectations (but not necessarily ours).

Frankly, the early scenes of the hard-bitten assassins doubling as relief logistical specialists are rather intriguing and hint at dramatic possibilities the film opts not to take. Of course, we have to deal with the film as it is and not what it might have been. Granted, the narrative drive and internal logic start to sag in the second act, with the former rebounding and the latter utterly imploding down the stretch, but nobody can blame Sean Penn. Gunman is really his coming out party as a middle aged action figure, where he indeed shows he has the chops and the presence. He also clearly put in the time at the gym.

However, Idris Elba is even more impressive, getting second billing over Javier Bardem for maybe two days of work, tops. Appearing as DuPont, the Interpol agent, he just drops in, makes an extended treehouse analogy and then disappears until it’s time for the mopping up. Yet, he is still totally badass. Ray Winstone does his old hardnosed thing as Terrier’s trustworthy associate Stanley and Mark Rylance’s Cox chews on a fair amount of scenery. Frankly, it is hard to know what to make of former Bond villain Bardem, but at least he isn’t playing it safe as the whiny, petulant Felix. On the other hand, it is safe to say Jasmine Trinca (so subtle and earthy in Valeria Golino’s Honey) is woefully wasted as the problematically passive Annie.

There are some nicely executed old school actions scenes in Gunman, but some sequences are undermined by questionable editing. On several occasions it looks like Terrier is in the immediate path of assorted perils, only to find him safely outside the line of fire an abrupt cut or two later. Taken helmer Morel gets the attitude right, but he largely keeps the film on a medium tempo rather than a break neck speed. You just leave the theater suspecting in most alternate universes, this movie is totally awesome, but the one we get is just okay. It will satisfy hardcore Penn fans, but the rest of us should feel no urgent need to rush out to see it when it opens this Friday (3/20) in New York, at the AMC Empire.