The Fix

In the near future, toxin in the air is killing the world. People need to wear respirator masks to survive. Big pharma Aethera has created AIRemedy which is the only known antidote against the toxin, but there may be a limited supply which must be taken constantly. Ella McPhee is the face of AIRemedy advertising. She is depressed over her mother and the world in general despite having a secure supply of the drug. At a party, she takes an overdose of a new drug without knowing the consequences.

This is a South African sci-fi. It is obviously referencing the recent pandemic. Some movies hit that note too hard making it fall flat. This is one of those and it's weird that the toxin has no name. The story is a bit messy. At one point, the movie turns into The Fly including the ear, but then it turns into something else. It wants to be bigger, but it doesn't get there.

A more than decent premise that with a bigger budget and in the hand of an expert director like Luc Besson could have made a big entry into the sci-fi / mutation genre like Lucy did back in 2014.

Impressive are the idea of it, not the first though, but from a contaminated air point of view, nearly the first mutation average flick. Not so impressive are the plots, flow and ending of it that could be polished in a sequel.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 5.5
• Production value/impact: 5.5
• Development: 5.5
• Realism: 6
• Entertainment: 5
• Acting: 5.5
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 7
• VFX: 7
• Music/score/sound: 5.5
• Depth: 6
• Logic: 2.5
• Flow: 5
• Action/sci-fi/drama: 5.5
• Ending: 3.5.

South Africa's "The Fix" is one of those movies that, had it a better cast, director and script, it might've been interesting at least. But as it is, I was confused throughout, and I don't know if it was caused by my boredom or if my boredom caused the confusion. In any case, I really didn't get it.

Had the actors been better-let's say Cate Blanchett in the lead instead of Grace Van Dien-the charisma and ability to comprehend emotions and bring a competent script to life would have done wonders. And how about deCaprio as the scheming scientist? Let's add a director like, say, Christopher Nolan to make exciting scenes exciting and dramatic scenes dramatic. And the script...egads, let Christopher pick. I trust him. Because honestly, I think this film had promise as a big budget whatever genre this was. But as a lower budget effort with only one seasoned actor (Clancy Brown in a small role), it just couldn't pull off what it was trying to accomplish.

I give it 4 stars for effort, but gosh it was a jumbled mess that I had no desire to rewatch in order to attempt to understand it.

A toxic gas has spread across the globe, affecting all life on earth. People are wearing various types of masks to try and survive, even some dogs have masks on. The gas is not instantly fatal, but without masks or one drug that can keep people alive, there is no future. And the drug is in short supply, so the company really can decide who lives and who dies. But there is resistance from within the drug company, with a rogue employee who has smuggled out a possible antidote. Ella is a model, and appeared in one of the companies ad. But being a model doesn't make her rich, and through a convoluted route winds up taking a large dose of the possible antidote. This drug starts to change her physical make up, giving her some interesting powers. And the drug company is after her, since by harvesting her immunity, they can provide a larger supply of an antidote drug, and make lots of money by providing it to those they deem should survive. So can she survive the mutations the drug is giving her, and will the company be able to capture her? And interesting variation on a routine story about a greedy drug company and their desire to reap wealth, and a small group who are opposed to what they are doing. The special effects of her change are perhaps the best part of the movie, and well done. Decent enough movie, but not great. In different hands, with perhaps a larger budget and more refinement, it could be a great thriller.

Weird. This movie started off pretty strong just to go down the cheap route. It felt like a whole different movie the second half. The music was also strange. It didn't set the mood and the loud/strange music didn't match the scenes. Honestly, it's so strange how the feel of the movie shifted. Also they dressed the lead very poorly. The clothes hung off her like rags. Her white shorts for the party looked like oversized bloomers. I really had expectations for this movie. It seemed unique and a fun watch outside of my normal genre. The budget was a lot more than I was expecting though you can see certain scene they cut back on (glitching while cutting the fence).