TIN SOLDIER (2025)

3 stars

Signature Entertainment. Prime Video. 23rd July

Onscreen title: The Tin Soldier. 

A PTSD treatment centre called ‘The Program’ was established some years ago to aid veterans. Except now the FBI are concerned that Prudhomme (Jamie Foxx), who started it, and is now known as ‘The Bokushi’ (why? Who knows) and his followers may be gearing up for some kind of domestic terror attack.

The opening sequence drops information without really explaining what is happening – it is raining heavily when Luke Dunn (John Leguizamo) arrives at the Snake River Compound of The Program. Heavily armed federal agents enter the building, whilst Mama Suki (Rita Ora) tries to enable a bunch of children dressed in cowls to escape the facility. Loaded onto a lorry, Luke manages to drive them to safety as stuff starts to blow up. At least I think that’s what happened!

Nash Cavanagh (Scott Eastwood) is a traumatised veteran wandering the streets at night. In a bar he sees the news on the TV of a stand off between the Bokushi’s followers and federal agents. He is approached by Emmanuel Ashburn (Robert de Niro). 

You see, Nash used to be part of The Program, and even met his wife Evoli there (Nora Arnezeder). However he is dealing with the fact that she is dead from an accident he thinks he caused, plus the trauma of being in combat.

Because of his knowledge of the compound, Ashburn wants him to help infiltrate it and kill The Bokushi. The carrot is the fact his wife might still be alive. We get flashbacks to him and Evoli in their early days in the cult. We also are treated to Jamie Foxx preaching and breaking into song (because he can). After initial reluctance Nash is soon leading a small team into the labyrinth of tunnels, to try and reach the leader of the group…

This is one of those movies with interesting ideas (which presumably drew in the cast) but doesn’t hang together. Lots of footage of The Bokushi preaching to his flock and Nash rambling via voiceover narration. This looks like this had a fairly decent budget, however one can only assume that De Niro and Foxx had bills to pay as this is fundamentally a B picture. The messy narrative jumps all over the place and gets more ridiculous as the so called plot progresses.

Steve Kirkham