Arès

Ares is not the kind of film I'd normally watch, I've just had a spate of good luck with French cinema lately so hoped for the best.

It tells the story of a struggling futuristic France where 15 million people are unemployed and even more homeless. Prize fighting has become big business and our story follows a washed up fighter reeled back in by big pharma and their legal enhancement supplements.

Despite the subject matter this isn't the brainless macho action feature you'd expect, it's fairly smart and paints a grim dystopian future where people are desperate while the top 1% manipulate them.

I appreciated everything they did here, though it's certainly not my kind of film that made something out of a very played out formula.

Good writing saves it to a degree and I'd say this is a watchable affair for anyone who likes their action films with a hint of intelligence.

The Goood:

Well written

Fairly smart little film

The Bad:

The brainless aspects still exist

Not as polished as it could have been

Amazingly well done. An excellent example of what genuine quality writing and story telling can do, without having to rely on big budget CGI and cliché' gimmicks.

The premise of the film is not at all implausible, and much of the precursor elements that are the core criteria of this story are readily observable in current times.

If anything, this darkish glimpse into a foreboding near future realm may be a bit too realistic for some, who are already keenly aware of these precursor elements in their current form.

Stylistically, it does have some hints of the original Blade Runner tone to it, though not nearly as far into the future realm that BR portrays. The premise of Ares is much more gritty, down to earth, immersed into the frailties and challenges of the human condition, extruded through the mandrill of a dystopian near future world of crushing economic disparity mapped against corporate intrigues and corruption with a particularly ironic twist, the relevancy of which becomes immediately apparent within the first few minutes of the film.

This is one of those productions which could have turned out very badly, if mishandled with clumsy direction or cheesy cardboard characters, which has become all too common in typical Hollywood productions.

Thankfully, however, this is not one of those examples, but rather a refreshingly rare example to the contrary.

Aside from a couple of minor plot holes, which the viewer can discover for themselves, I give this production a very solid 9 out of 10 stars.

In France of the future the corporations are all powerful. Despite owning pretty much everything they seem bent on ruining everyone's day for more profit. It is now legal to test chemicals and robotics on people, leading to some great gizmos and some very messed up test subjects.

The title character is a boxer who ekes a living by getting his head kicked-in on cable TV. He is a quiet, moody pragmatist dedicating himself to survival.

His sister and niece have much grander ideas.

What follows is a great character study. It is the realist verses the idealist. If nobody tries to make a change then nothing changes - on the other hand you have to accept the cost that you and those around you are going to pay.

The action is fairly light, there are some fisty-cuffs but nothing to get excited about. The characters are very interesting and well cast. The filming is purposely dark and grungy - don't expect too much of Sci- Fi this is mainly about a clash of ideals.

Definitely worth a Netflix watch.

I'm always interested in new plot ideas and this one was different. My main gripe was that it was pretty slow. It really didn't pick up until the last 20 minutes and then ended super quick. It was a short movie and there wasn't a lot of dialogue so I didn't mind the subtitles at all.

Like Blade Runner it's a dystopian future, and in this is mass human experimentation by heartless corporations, as well a brutal prize fighting. But it's not a martial arts movie. It's a movie about the sacrifices that one man makes to try to save his family. I thought it extremely well done and compelling, and somewhat sad. There is a hint of the original French revolution throughout, which is interesting. The setting is Paris.