A few years ago, when details started emerging about George Miller’s failed attempt at a Justice League movie, the biggest heartbreak for me was losing Armie Hammer as Batman. I’ve been a big fan of Hammer’s since his early appearances on the horror-comedy series Reaper; in my book, he’s on the same level as someone like Chris Pine, another actor who possesses the marquee good looks of a Hollywood leading man but the instincts of a character actor. And despite working in big summer movies with some of Hollywood’s most visionary directors, Hammer has watched his opportunities slip away due to middling box office returns and bad reviews. He’s been good; his movies, not so much.

So maybe that makes 2017 a year where the actor takes on a few smaller projects to remind everyone of his potential. We’ve already heard wonderful things about his performance in Call Me By Your Name, one of the breakout hits of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now we can throw a fun little action-thriller into the mix with Mine, a movie about an American soldier in the Middle East who must survive 52 hours in enemy territory with one foot on a landmine. It’s not the kind of movie that will win you awards — I mean, we’re not talking about Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper here — but for genre buffs like myself, it’s a great opportunity to see Hammer show off his skills without also having to answer questions about, oh, I don’t know, Johnny Depp’s cultural insensitivity?

It’s also worth pointing out the vague similarities between this and The Wall, the upcoming Doug Liman film starring John Cena and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. In that film, two American soldiers are pinned behind a wall by snipers and try to survive until help comes; in this film, two American soldiers are trapped on a minefield and try to survive until help comes. This isn’t intended as a slight against either film; my appreciation for Hammer and love of war thrillers means I’ll see both, similarities be darned. There’s just comfort in knowing that, in an uncertain world, we can still count on Hollywood to green-light similar movies in fear of missing out on some key demographic.

Here’s the full plot synopsis for Mine:

After a failed assassination attempt, a soldier finds himself stranded in the desert. Exposed to the elements, he must survive the dangers of the desert and battle the psychological and physical toll of the treacherous conditions.

In addition to Armie Hammer, the film stars Annabelle Wallis and Tom Cullen and will hit theaters on April 7, 2017.

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