The Abandon

Okay, so yeah, I watched the whole thing because Jonathan Rosenthal was pretty to look at. But the movie is highly derivative and highly claustrophobic. And it doesn't have enough cleverness to sustain its minimalist setting without long stretches of me shouting "get on with it!"

Once the mystery is resolved, it is a matter of thinking to yourself - "oh, yeah, that was one of the possibilities I thought of while having plenty of time to think while watching this." So it is not really a twist or even a surprise.

The filmmakers get a C for effort. And the lead actor gets a YOWZA for his presence. That averages to a middle of the road movie.

I dont know how the movie came out in 2022. But just now getting released just now to the public. It really should have been abandoned from writing or reading the script or before production , casting , filming. We atleast know that the movie theaters did abandon this from ever being on there big screens. As most should read most of the these reviews and abandoned all hope of watching this and think something will happen or it will get better as the movie begins. That alone was hard enough to make it out of the first few minutes of the movie. I thought it was a comedy at first just going with the bad acting wild lines and just the overall look and feel of the beginning. Maybe it was cause it was a joke and in the end. I just laughed at myself for watching the whole entire movie without turning it off or shall we say Abandoned it.

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.

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.

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.