Yet Another Spec Ops Vet Goes Off the Books in Movie Thriller 'Section 8'

In the Hollywood movie universe, there's nothing more dangerous for a family than a father and husband with a military career in special ops. James Reece from "The Terminal List," John Kelly/Clark from Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse," and John Wick all have one thing in common: Bad things happen to their families and their deaths kick off a revenge spiral.

"Section 8" is the latest movie to tell the story of a spec ops hero who sets out to avenge his family. This time, the movie opens with Jake the operator already in prison serving a life sentence for murder. Bad guys killed his family and he took the law into his own hands.

As we all know from reading military thrillers, world governments don't want men with a particular set of skills to rot in prison, so Jake (Ryan Kwanten, "True Blood") is given the opportunity to leave lockup if he goes to work for a mysterious "off the books" agency.

"Section 8" will premiere in theaters on September 23, 2022 and will simultaneously stream on AMC+. We've got a look at the trailer.

Obviously, going to work for guys in suits who won't reveal all the mission parameters is never a good idea, and the trailer suggests that Jake has been engaged to assassinate a United States senator. That's not going to sit well with a man who was willing to spend his life in prison in defense of his family, so things are definitely not going to turn out how the puppet masters planned.

Have we seen a dozen or more versions of this story before? Sure, but "spec ops guy defending the sanctity of his profession and rubbing out shadowy figures who want to exploit patriotism for nefarious ends" is a plot that never gets old. It's all down to the execution.

Ryan Kwanten may not be best-known for action pictures, but the production has surrounded him with some big name movie asskickers. Dolph Lundgren ("Universal Soldier") and Scott Adkins ("Avengement") appear together for the fifth time in a movie. They're joined by Mickey Rourke ("Iron Man 2") and Dermot Mulroney ("Young Guns").

Director Christian Sesma may be best-known for a series of movies with action star Luke Goss ("Paydirt," "The Night Crew"), but a promising bit of intel reveals that he's already completed another movie ("Lights Out") with Scott Adkins and is in pre-production on another ("War Paint"). Adkins is legendarily rigorous about the action in his pictures and he likes Sesma, so there's a good chance that "Section 8" will deliver.

Keep Up With the Best in Military Entertainment

Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.