ajknexlang

Fair warning, this movie is not the "feel-good comedy" Netflix made me think it was. Ironically, I feel like the plot was ahead of it's time and labeled "comedic" because the corruption and subsequent extreme reaction seemed so absurd at the time. Doesn't really seem that absurd these days!

Overall, not a bad movie. The plot was more serious than I was anticipating, and it's filled with classic 80s cussing and casual racism. The plot made sense, acting was well done, and the cinematography and sound were well executed. I may have taken the movie a little too seriously, but I really only found two scenes actually "comedic" and it was more at the sheer absurdity than actual comedy. When you're talking abuse and police corruption, it's hard to find things funny.

I'd put the movie in the, "wasn't time wasted, but I won't watch again" category.

It really isn't as horrible as a lot of people are saying. It's obvious this was done on a limited budget but most the time it feels like they knew how to work on a limited budget. Most of the CGI is passable considering current state of tech. The costumes have a good amount of detail but it looks like a bunch of cosplayers were hired out to make them, painfully obvious EVA foam and thermoplastic. The "futuristic" armor pieces are almost comically ill-fitting and awkward but have enough detail to make it tolerable. Combat is rather non-sensical, they clearly did whatever felt cool and didn't cost any extra and paid minimal attention to any kind of real tactics or gunplay. The story progression makes sense if only by a thread. Nothing wrong with the acting. Cinematography absolutely feels like it's done on a budget but it's done well enough. Foley is well done if not a little too clean sometimes. Music is quite possibly the highpoint, absolutely spot on.

It's definitely a mediocre move. It's obvious there was a lot of work put into sets, costumes, and locations - although I did find it funny how they couldn't really decide what "Asian" actually was... it was fantastical enough that it wasn't jarring though. It's a shame the director doesn't know how to shoot action scenes well. The choreography actually looked half decent but it was so hard to actually see much of it, too many cuts and changing angles. As for the actors, all the supporting cast I felt did really well. Cage is just... well... yea... Cage... can't be anything except himself apparently. Christensen on the other hand, I feel like has come a long way since Star Wars (I think Jumper is the only other movie I've seen with him...) For the plot, I think the only time I was just utterly confused was right at the end. The final confrontation didn't make a whole lot of sense. The classic "don't let their deaths be for nothing" tropes with a perfect defensive layout.... that wasn't used... instead of using the caves the few left just walk out for the finale like all the deaths meant nothing..........

So overall, not enough to make me stop watching, but nothing exceptional.