Certain that I was going to enjoy this movie, I sought to get the highest quality download... as usual, anyway. And it was for two reasons. Michael B. Jordan is in it, apparently from the future, and there's a plasma gun. What I was about to find out was if the cover was all there is to the book.
"That weapon you're holding, kid, it doesn't belong here. You're one of us and that's why the gun works for you." Standing by a space-time portal, it seemed, Michael B's character said to the kid in a way that felt like he was talking to his younger version. That 1-minute YouTube short had me in search of the 2018 film it was from.
Chased by a vengeful criminal, the feds and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, an ex-con and his adopted teenage brother go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection. IMDb
Eli, on a day he should be in school, wandered off to some abandoned buildings and scrapyards. Finding a couple of dead guys in strange, seemingly high-tech suits, boy found this cool-looking stuff that then opened up into a gun. Nothing like he had ever seen before and whirring like a jet engine when his fingerprint matched.
The Solinskis would eventually be in deep trouble when Jimmy, their son, once again put the family in jeopardy. Then he takes his 12-year-old brother with him, running from a criminal.
Something I didn't quite expect was the depth in the dynamics of the main character's family and even how the film dwelled so much on it. It became increasingly clear that the film wasn't going to be much of the sci-fi I hoped it to be. But that wasn't going to be a problem, as I found meaning in the drama.
No idea what it feels like to be an ex-convict, but it sure looks like the entire world becomes totally closed off when you've been behind bars, regardless of what you did. When your home's no longer home on that level, when things just get a lot tougher. And that pretty much sets the basis upon which the film builds.
Most of the film felt like a pretty normal film, something you'll find in some crime drama but on a small scale. And I'll say it was a good reminder of the type of films we mostly had before the pandemic. Something I didn't just quite get was if it was meant to be a prequel.
Just when it seemed like the part I was waiting for -- when the supersoldiers, maybe, opened a portal -- there really wasn't much. "You're one of us," and then I thought I'd learned how so, but nope. That was pretty much it. I wouldn't feel disappointed until I learned that there was a sequel. It would have made a really good series or something.
A simple yet interesting movie that could have done a little more of that futuristic tech and space-time travel thing.
All images are screenshots
