Jarhead 3: The Siege (2016)

Elevator Pitch: A new marine, Albright, joins the elite guard of a Middle Eastern American Embassy, where nothing much seems to be happening, until someone turns up with a local informer who has info for the ambassador. Albright identifies suspicious activity outside the gate, and soon after they are attacked by seemingly endless numbers of armed locals who in addition to their Kalashnikovs have a couple of truck mounted machine guns, and some RPGs. Help is on the way, but will it arrive in time.

Content: No sex or nudity, or drug taking but they might have had beer. There is a bit of getting the band together as the new boy is joshed about, and then the attack starts. I did look at my watch but it must have been an hour of almost continuous  gunfire. The marines seemed to be more accurate in their firing than the Muslims? many of whom were dispatched but were instantly replaced by others. Meanwhile a STOL aircraft was flying in the direction of the battle full of soldiers, we were hoping they would get there in time.

A View: This was a straight to video release, and I found myself wondering why it was so awful, and why Black Hawk Down was so riveting, considering that they are essentially the same, American troops versus terrorists. It must be the structure, the ability of the writer and the director to create tension, and to keep us, the viewers on track. Just as a by the way, while Jarhead was terrific, a sort of ironic commentary, these sequels have no real relationship with the original. So, not really a watch, even for nothing.

Additional Info: I was pleased to see that Scott Adkins had been promoted to sergeant, this is an actor who had started off in “Holby City”, a BBC medical soap.