Spiderhead

Your enjoyment levels of 'Spiderhead' are going to require some suspensions of disbelief. You're going to have to accept Chris Hemsworth as a scientist, you're going to have to accept Miles Teller as a prisoner and you're going to have to accept possibly the most unrealistic prison environment ever put to screen. If you can get past those things you should have a decent time.

The premise was a bit of a let down for me. In theory there are some interesting concepts stemming from it that they could've explored, but they seemed intent on not straying too far. The script really does get the bare minimum out of the idea.

Teller and Hemsworth are what keep this afloat. Even if their casting may seem a little silly, their charisma makes up for it. At least one of the them is on screen in every scene. I can see this film totally falling flat without their star-power in the lead roles.

I didn't hate this film, I just wanted more. There was a point where I thought it was actually setting itself up nicely to have a dark and twisted turn. But it never came and what played out was pretty forgettable and uninspired. It's not a terrible watch but don't go in expecting anything game-changing. 6/10.

Spiderhead banks heavily on its lead performers, and both Hemsworth and Teller deliver the goods when the plot struggles to. Very early on, you smell a lighter version of Ex-Machina (replace the robot with mind-control drugs), with several random tonal shifts. The writers (Rhett Rheese & Paul Wernick) are known for tickling the funny bone, but I think this film would have benefited from a more serious, psychological approach - which, credit where it's due - it did to some extent. The romantic subplot, while nice to see, ended up being exploited (such a cliché) as expected. The conclusion isn't all that exciting, because by then, Spiderhead has fully embraced its weirdness and is unfortunately stuck between making viewers care and giving closure to the plot.

An intriguing premise alone isn't enough to push this film into "good" territory. You keep waiting for something really interesting to happen, but it just sort of fizzles out near the end without ever reaching a satisfying crescendo.

Hemsworth's charm is on display and is the highlight for sure. Teller is fine, as are most of the other cast members. The story seems to be building towards some big twist or crazy moment, and while there isn't nothing, I feel it didn't quite justify the two hour expenditure.

Firstly, flawless acting performances from the main cast, you can see the emotions switch with the most subtle of facial changes. This film was just, okay. Not terrible, not amazing, just okay for Friday night viewing. But the makers seemingly didn't know what genre of film they were creating. It starts off all light hearted and you're lured into believing its a comedy, then you're fixed within a drama/thriller through the middle, only for it to end as a light hearted comedy in its climax?

The premise is great but it could have done much more with these themes, being very predictable on his structure. Chris Hemsworth is great on this one and there is a fantastic soundtrack to listen. However, it feels much longer than it is, being a bit repetitive at times. There is a reasonable number of fun and inspired moments though.