The Abandon

I'm a huge fan of single location movies like Buried or Last Call. However the dialogue in the first 30 minutes of the movie doesn't make any sense. Only after the main character gains a bit of trust with the other party does it start to make sense, and the character development starts, but by then, I had lost a lot of the interest.

It did pick up well enough for me to finish watching the whole movie. Even if it doesn't bring a lot of new things to the table, it's still a decent enough movie that keeps you guessing what the hell is going on (even though that's never the real point of these movies). Don't expect it to be explained to you -- the ending will keep you guessing, and that's fine.

The sci-fi bits and the very few effects of the movie are quite good, but the attempt to mathematically explain what's going is absolutely nonsensical.

The movie feels like they threw Cube, Buried and Last Call into a mixer, but didn't add any other ingredients and forgot to blend or shake it. Still an entertaining watch if you're a fan of the genre.

Having read a few reviews I decided to jump into the Abandon expecting a little more than I discovered.

The film follows a soldier called Miles who while at war in Iraq encounters a bright light and awakens in a a strange cube structure.

That one paragraph has saved you watching the first ten minutes, but the rest of the film felt as limited as its own restricted setting.

Theres sadly very little meaning or thought with most of the film feeling like a convoluted filler to try and keep the audience thinking long enough to sit through the entire film.

Unfortunately you never quite know what's going on, and just as things start to make any sort of sense, you're hitting the last 15 minutes.

I'm a big fan of sci-fi and films that make you think, but the Abandon sadly feels very forced, if you only caught the first 5 minutes and the last 15 minites, you'd know just as much as someone who'd watched the film 3 times which leaves it feeling a little dissapointing.

It's a shame that the last 20 secodns was probably the most interesting part of the whole film, which could potentially point towards a sequel heading in a slightly different direction which could make for a great adventure, but if the rest of the film is anything to go by, it's more e than likely just one scene which actually clicked well and got me thinking, unlike the rest the other hour and a half.

Reviewing and rating this movie isn't straightforward. On the one hand, it's a noble attempt at reformulating the tried and tested high concept single location sci-fi mystery (think Cube, or Circle). On the other hand, it's a jumbled mess of ideas that ultimately lead to an underwhelming and disappointint conclusion. What compelled me to write this review is the need to inject a balanced view amid the overly harsh 1* reviews, and the utterly ridiculous 10* review that I can only assume was written by someone involved with making the movie. It's not terrible - I was intrigued enough to watch the whole thing, and only started to get bored in the final stretch of the 3rd act. Equally, it's not great. But honestly, I applaud the attempt. Here's hoping the director learns from this and comes back with a stronger script for his next feature.

American soldier Miles Willis (Jonathan Rosenthal) is fighting in the Middle East. He is shot. A bright light shines down and he finds himself in a cube room with no exit.

This is drawing heavily from Cube, but it doesn't have the fun of a good mystery. It feels known and random. The variable gravity is interesting for awhile, but Miles annoyed me for not wearing his helmet. It's the first thing that I would do. I would also try to grab all the stuff before they come flying at my head. This doesn't have the mystery solving fun and the final reveal falls a bit flat. It's no sin to copy Cube, but this doesn't do much with it.

No pun intended - this reminds me, that I have to rewatch the ... I'll call it classic movie (this has taken a few notes from) ... called the Cube! I wouldn't say that it is a copy (or uses the same blueprint ... see what I did there?) ... but you can see and feel that it tries to create a similar mood.

Having said that it does try to do things differently - you get a different story and some interesting twists. I assume you can see many things coming before they happen. But still it is suspenseful enough to work its "magic" - well again no pun intended. You may lose track of time too - which might or might not be a pun ... special effects are good. It's a shame it can't keep it up (not an innuendo, but certainly a pun - no matter which side you turn it to ... sorry had to) ... hopefully you are not claustrophobic ... this might be the end of you.