The Abandon

I watched this movie because I like escape room style of movies where you can solve riddles and root for the people entrapped. But with this main character, it was really hard to feel any empathy or root for him because the character is highly dumb, loud and pathetic. I disluked him so much, I was looking forward to him getting more hurt or dying. Whoever wrote this charecter and his ridiculous lines should het another job. Also, this movie brings nothing new to the game besides being dumb, it taked the Idea of cube and puts it into a war scenario, thats all. Save your time and do something more fun like watching paint dry.

The concept is definetly interesting, and the main actor is incredible with it's expressions. The writting is enough to keep someone entertained, but not to satisfy.

On top of this, the set is always the same. After a bit of the movie, you realize it really is everything the movie has to offer. Some dialogue, some small setbacks, a problem and a guy stuck in a cube. Nothing more.

If you're an enthusiast of action or science fiction movies, this is definetly not for you. The initial scene is a trap that makes you think the movie is going to be loaded with war scenes, and the ending is as underwhelming and expected as it can be. You will most likely finish this movie disappointed.

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.

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.

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.