An Owen Wilson War Movie Launched A Franchise We'd Rather Forget

When you think of Owen Wilson movies, you probably think of lovable, sarcastic quips, shenanigans with Vince Vaughn, and copious usage of the word "Wow." You probably don't think of his 2001 war feature "Behind Enemy Lines," where Wilson plays a navigator shot down in a warzone amid the Bosnian War and uncovers a genocide taking place.

It wasn't exactly a hit with critics, garnering a 36% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many felt it to be a shallow war movie, like Stephanie Zacharek, who wrote in her review for Salon, "If you're looking for anything beyond flashy entertainment, 'Behind Enemy Lines' feels out of whack from the start." And many critics point to Wilson feeling miscast as a war hero, making him one of many comedic actors who floundered in dramatic roles. 

Despite getting lambasted by critics, "Behind Enemy Lines" did all right at the box office, making $91 million globally against a $40 million budget. That was probably enough to allow it to break even, maybe even earn a little bit of a profit. It definitely doesn't feel like the kind of movie that would lend itself to sequels, yet that's precisely what happened because Hollywood will run anything and everything into the ground if it can. 

To be fair, "Behind Enemy Lines" is a franchise in name only. None of its sequels have anything to do with the first other than the fact that they all deal with military operations, so I guess it exists in the U.S. Military Propaganda Cinematic Universe. The first sequel, "Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil," came out in 2006 and follows North Korea's nuclear weapon expansion. The movie also inexplicably stars cinematic treasure Keith David, yet it currently stands at a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, admittedly with only five professional reviews counted. 

Next up was 2009's "Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia," which sees David return and Joe Manganiello added to the mix, which is about U.S. Navy SEALs ensuring peace talks within Colombia go off without a hitch. Spoiler alert: They don't. And finally, there's "SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines" from 2014, following Navy SEALs trying to stop a sale of weapons-grade uranium. The franchise lost David and Manganiello at this point, but gained Tom Sizemore, which is a good indication that a series has run its course. But that wouldn't be the end of "Behind Enemy Lines" persisting into the 2010s. 

"Behind Enemy Lines" inspired a TV pilot that would've been a military thriller following a crew stuck in Latin America trying to get back home, but finding themselves in the midst of a vast conspiracy. It didn't go anywhere as Fox passed on the pilot, which mercifully appears to have brought this franchise to a close. It feels weird that "Behind Enemy Lines" got this much mileage, but it's likely a testament to the film having a cool yet generic enough name to where you could slap it on anything for brand recognition.