* This review might contain very minor spoilers in the fourth paragraph *
Earth has been invaded by alien robots. Humanity has largely been defeated. The film follows a soldier who lost his memory and a doctor as they try to survive and find the remnants of humanity, in the closing days of the invasion.
Considering its budget, the film is a technical masterpiece. The camera work is good. The settings and atmosphere of the film is really great. They manage to pull off the post-apocalypse pretty well. There's some really solid special effects, which is surprising for a film of this calibre. The sound effects are satisfying. The acting isn't lacking and the direction is all in all OK. The plot is simple and to the point, but we need to talk about the writing a bit.
This film didn't work for me for two reasons: There's a big chunk around the beginning and middle of the film where essentially nothing is happening. It's just two people walking the savanna. I guess it gives us exposition on the destruction the aliens have wrought, but it's not that impressive. There's a couple action sequences in this part that kinda break the monotony but they are over quick. There's some really cringe montage shots spread throughout, that I didn't like at all, didn't achieve anything to connect me with the protagonists, and broke the immersion to an extent.
The other reason is that the film doesn't explain anything. Who are the aliens? Why are they here? Why are they gathering up people? What are those fighter jets flying overhead every couple days that don't seem to do anything? In my opinion this is the mark of an extremely poor sci-fi film. Particularly this film whose characters never really connected with me. I didn't care if they lived or died frankly. The only thing keeping me interested were the questions about the aliens. And then the film just ended without explaining anything. This is a cop-out by action "sci-fi" films that try to avoid plot-holes by not having an actual sci-fi plot. Just stuff that looks like sci-fi.
So while it's a competently-made film, it is not an enticing film. It's enjoyable to watch, even entertaining in a lot of moments, but for the most part it's either boring or barely engaging. I would recommend watching it if you like films of this kind. You'll like it. It's just not for me. And if you are like me, then it's likely you'll be far less forgiving than I was.
Earth has been invaded by alien robots. Humanity has largely been defeated. The film follows a soldier who lost his memory and a doctor as they try to survive and find the remnants of humanity, in the closing days of the invasion.
Considering its budget, the film is a technical masterpiece. The camera work is good. The settings and atmosphere of the film is really great. They manage to pull off the post-apocalypse pretty well. There's some really solid special effects, which is surprising for a film of this calibre. The sound effects are satisfying. The acting isn't lacking and the direction is all in all OK. The plot is simple and to the point, but we need to talk about the writing a bit.
This film didn't work for me for two reasons: There's a big chunk around the beginning and middle of the film where essentially nothing is happening. It's just two people walking the savanna. I guess it gives us exposition on the destruction the aliens have wrought, but it's not that impressive. There's a couple action sequences in this part that kinda break the monotony but they are over quick. There's some really cringe montage shots spread throughout, that I didn't like at all, didn't achieve anything to connect me with the protagonists, and broke the immersion to an extent.
The other reason is that the film doesn't explain anything. Who are the aliens? Why are they here? Why are they gathering up people? What are those fighter jets flying overhead every couple days that don't seem to do anything? In my opinion this is the mark of an extremely poor sci-fi film. Particularly this film whose characters never really connected with me. I didn't care if they lived or died frankly. The only thing keeping me interested were the questions about the aliens. And then the film just ended without explaining anything. This is a cop-out by action "sci-fi" films that try to avoid plot-holes by not having an actual sci-fi plot. Just stuff that looks like sci-fi.
So while it's a competently-made film, it is not an enticing film. It's enjoyable to watch, even entertaining in a lot of moments, but for the most part it's either boring or barely engaging. I would recommend watching it if you like films of this kind. You'll like it. It's just not for me. And if you are like me, then it's likely you'll be far less forgiving than I was.