When an aid worker vanishes in the first hours of war in Ukraine, a former Navy SEAL and CIA operative crosses into the shattered country to bring her home-facing mercenaries, shifting battle lines, and ghosts he thought he left behind.
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- jackmeatJuly 13, 2026My quick rating - 5.2/10. There are bad days, and then there are "your aid worker friend calls to tell you Russia has invaded Ukraine before immediately getting kidnapped" bad days. Man of War doesn't waste any time getting to the action. It opens with radio chatter announcing the invasion of Ukraine before giving us a sweeping aerial shot of Barcelona on February 24, 2022. Down below is Connor (LaMonica Garrett), doing his best impression of someone who's holding the last bottle of booze on Earth. Sure enough, his phone rings. Riley (Rosmary Yaneva) calls to say the Russians have crossed the border, and moments later she's dragged away by armed militants. Helpful bunch too. One of the kidnappers even grabs the phone long enough for Connor to get a good look at him. That's either incredibly arrogant or surprisingly accommodating. Either way, if you've ever watched an action movie, you already know the next step. Connor calls his old CIA contact Charlie (Jason Patric), demands a flight into a freshly invaded war zone, and before long they're on their way to Kyiv. Once there, he's teamed up with local guide Dany (Andrew Howard), who quickly learns Connor isn't the type to stop and negotiate. The local mafia certainly finds that out the hard way. Filmed in Bulgaria, Man of War actually does a respectable job selling the illusion of a devastated Ukraine. The production design carries more weight than you'd expect, helped by the involvement of Ukrainian refugee actors whose real-life experiences inspired many of the small background details throughout the film. Those touches give the setting an authenticity that stands out more than the fairly standard rescue mission at its core. Connor eventually joins forces with a hardened team of private contractors led by Bunny (Linds Edwards) as they push deeper into occupied territory. Their target is Koniev (Daniel Bernhardt), the mercenary commander responsible for Riley's capture. What follows is exactly what the trailer promises. Artillery barrages, drone strikes, collapsing buildings, and enough bullets fired to make you wonder where they are carrying all these magazines. Garrett makes for a likeable lead, similar to his take on Lioness. Bernhardt is always welcome, especially when he turns up as the villain. Director William Kaufman keeps the action moving at a brisk pace, even if the story rarely surprises. Every beat feels familiar, from assembling the team to the inevitable final assault on the enemy stronghold. I honestly kept expecting Michael Jai White to stroll in because this has that exact STS action feel of many of his recent films. That's not necessarily a bad thing if that's what you're after. Man of War delivers plenty of shootouts, explosions, and tough-guy one-liners without pretending to be anything more. It's my definition of an average action flick. Nothing terrible, nothing particularly memorable either. If you're looking to switch your brain off for 110 minutes and watch heavily armed people solve every problem with more gunfire, it'll do the job just fine.
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Man of War was released on July 3, 2026.
Man of War was directed by William Kaufman.
Man of War has a runtime of 1h 50m.
Man of War was produced by Yanko Ushatov, Stanimir Stamatov, Isaac Lewis, Andrew Lewis.
When an aid worker vanishes in the first hours of war in Ukraine, a former Navy SEAL and CIA operative crosses into the shattered country to bring her home-facing mercenaries, shifting battle lines, and ghosts he thought he left behind.
The key characters in Man of War are Michael Connor (LaMonica Garrett), Dany Sundakov (Andrew Howard), Bunny (Linds Edwards).
Man of War is rated R.
Man of War is an Action, Thriller, War film.
Man of War has an audience rating of 5.2 out of 10.