Detroit Evolution

This fan-film demonstrates the many dangers of basing a dramatic film on a video game. The characters remain stubbornly two-dimensional, the plot never progresses much beyond the limiting confines of the concept and the storytelling is basic to the point of total predictability. Somebody is "murdering" androids - but Detroit Evolution never even bothers to explore the ethical and legal notions behind how destroying androids amounts to "murder". How is it more than vandalism, especially in a world where androids are apparently reviled? In any case, the murder plot is so creakily obvious that anyone who has ever read a murder mystery will guess the outcome within the first ten minutes. Which leaves us with a sweet, but rather lukewarm gay romance between police detective Gavin and his android partner, Nines. The two leads are appealing enough, but there's not enough complexity to the relationship to maintain interest, even over the relatively short 75minute running time. Beyond the leads, the acting is pretty ropey, there's a seriously lame fight sequence and, worst of all, there's way too much talk and way too little action. (Could the original video game really have been this dull?)

So I saw a reviewer call this a flimsy gay romance, but it was clear he either didn't watch/play the source material or just didn't pay attention to it. So I want to give a review as an actual fan of the original game for other actual fans. The movie branches off of Detroit: Become Human, having little mention of the original main characters. Instead, it gives depth to two characters that became fan favorites for one reason or another: Detective Gavin Reed and RK900/Nines. It takes these two background characters and gives them backstories and relatability. Gavin is a great detective, but is constantly at war with himself and his past. Nines is trying his best to get past Gavin's walls and help him, but although his feelings for the detective are stronger than ever, he is insecure of himself due to a lack of certain... desires and parts. The mutual feelings between them only seem to drive them apart as neither thinks they are worthy of the other. The relationship between them is real and raw and unfiltered. The movie deals with things like trauma and other nitty gritty topics with grace and doesn't candy coat it. There is a wonderfully diverse cast of PoC and queer actors/characters. Every character in this movie feels like an actual person and not an exaggerated stereotype. On top of that, this movie is absolutely gorgeous. The lighting is stunning, the sets are perfect, and the editing and effects are practically flawless. The soundtrack is a definite treat for your ears and really helps immerse you into this futuristic reality. This movie is just all around remarkable, especially for a fan film. It will be a favorite of mine for a long time.

There was some pretty undeniable chemistry between Gavin and Nines, and though I'd managed to figure out who the culprit behind the murders was as soon as she showed up on screen, it was basically a nice piece of fanfiction brought to life, and I sort of wish the world-building and the later relationship between the characters were explored a little more.

When I watched this movie, I recently had lost interest in Detroit: Become Human, but this movie sparked new interest for me and made me a big fan again. I love the way the movie was shot and the locations chosen for the movie. The actors don't look like exact copies of the characters they're portraying, but the way they play them really fleshes them out and makes you instantly believe that they are the characters in that moment.

The script was well written and it's a movie that's enjoyable to rewatch (as I and many friends of mine have done so a few times). The humor stays funny and the sad moments still hurt after all those times. Add to that that it's a queer romance that includes realistic situations and feelings, and you know you have a good movie on your hands. (Especially since good queer representation is so scarce.)

The only thing that I didn't really like was the fight choreography, and even that I get in the context of the story. The characters that are fighting are both androids and thus would probably not get into messy situations, making it interesting to see what this movie's interpretation was of a fight between two androids.

Over all, this movie has a lot of awesome scenes and an interesting storyline, so I definitely recommend it!

It's a fan film with a small budget, and for that it is very very impressive. Especially Gavin's actor was amazing, I loved the characters, especially Chris and Tina were very funny. The lighting is beautiful, and if you like Detroit Become Human and Reed900, this movie is a must watch. I watched it three times already and it does a really good job at expanding on the universe and the two characters. The only thing I didn't like was the fight scene at the end because it was like..... really really bad but that doesn't change that I enjoyed the movie.