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#681 – Next (2007)
Next (2007)
Film review #681
Director: Lee Tamahori
SYNOPSIS: A small-time Las Vegas showman is being hunted by the FBI to assist in locating a nuclear weapon that is set to be exploded somewhere in the U.S.. To do this, they want to utilise the showman’s unique ability: being able to see two minutes into the future. he, however, is not interested, and is more concerned with trying to find the woman that he sees in the future, and the only person that appears further away from those two minutes…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Next is a 2007 sci-fi film loosely based on the short story “The Golden Man” by Philip K. Dick. It centres around Cris Johnson (Nicholas Cage) who is a small-time performer in Las Vegas using his secret power to see two minutes into the future. He is being hunted by the FBI to help them locate a terrorist cell that has smuggled a nuclear weapon onto U.S. soil. The plot is very simple to grasp as you can tell, but it was not always like that: originally based on Philip K. Dick’s story “The Golden Man,” the film delved more into the authoritarian themes of the novel, but following a rewrite it was very much streamlined into a typical action film with nothing to grasp at underneath that Hollywood veneer. the film starts off showing the interesting premise and sets out the stakes, and then just…goes nowhere with it. The plot holes are numerous and nothing is explained or established: How do the FBI know about Cris? Why does Cris only see beyond two minutes into the future when he sees Elizabeth (Jessica Biel)? Who are these terrorists? What’s there motivation? Who is leading them? Nothing connects to anything, and you’re left with a patchwork of sci-fi and/or thriller setups with a good few of those patches missing.
With Nicholas Cage in the lead role, the film very much feels like a typical Nicholas Cage movie. It’s difficult to say if he is the right person for the role: it certainly fits right in with the silliness of the rest of Cage’s filmography, but the issue is that he just doesn’t have any real chemistry with Jessica Biel: it just comes across as very awkward and unbelievable. Some of this may be the script not giving her any kind of character arc, and as mentioned, we are never given any kind of answer to why Cris can only see her further in the future than two minutes. There’s also the sense that Cris is never really in any peril: his powers are never challenged in any real way, even in the finale, which just involves him quickly fixing any issues that arise. It’s entertaining enough, but there’s no real stakes involved, and Cris barely breaks a sweat. The final twist, essentially undoes a good chunk of the movie, and while this could have been an interesting take, it fails to really bring about a significant change in the characters or anything. Next is pure nonsense thanks to awkward performances, next to no rationale or setup for anything or anyone, and there being so many things which seem to be missing with regards to character’s motivations or explanations for anything regarding the protagonist’s powers. It’s entertaining as far as there’s enough action to draw your attention, but the stakes are never raised too high thanks to Cris’s powers being so omnipotent. It’s a bit of fun, just don’t think too hard about it.
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#680 – Transcendence (2014)
Transcendence (2014)
Film review #680
Director: Wally Pfister
SYNOPSIS: Artificial Intelligence researcher Will Caster is shot by an anti-technology terror group. Given only a month to live, his wife Evelyn makes a desperate attempt with the A.I. they have been working on to upload Will’s consciousness when he dies. When they succeed, the A.I. Will asks to be connected to the internet, and starts to rapidly evolve with access to an unlimited amount of data and information…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Transcendence is a 2014 sci-fi film. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) are at the forefront of a project to develop a genuine Artificial Intelligence, which draws the attention of an anti-technology group. Will is shot with a polonium-laced bullet, which gives him severe radiation poisoning and a month or so to live. In desperation, his wife plans to upload his consciousness to their A.I. project, despite hesitations from their friend Max (Paul Bettany). The upload succeeds and Will, now a fully fledged A.I., wants to be connected to the internet and expand his horizons. The story of the film is your typical cautionary tale of Artificial Intelligence going too far too fast, coupled with a romance drama between the husband and wife leads. The thing which stands out for me is that the film never really sets out one side or the other as the heroes or villains of the story, and as such you’re constantly oscillating between who is wrong or right. This is a double-edged sword: on one hand, as a viewer you’re never quite settled into who plays what typical role, and have to remain open to all of the different viewpoints that do not cleanly resolve themselves into right or wrong actions. On the other, this makes the film very muddled with a lack of direction or purpose. While it is possible to pull of the former, this film ultimately falls into the latter; the lack of direction and flow means that the film doesn’t really build up to anything, and any kind of pacing is constantly thrown off by big leaps of time passing and different characters changing their positions with little warning.
While the focus is on the perils of artificial intelligence and all it entails, the film doesn’t really offer any new ideas or viewpoints that make it stand out from the very familiar sci-fi set-up. There just seems to be something missing with the relationship between Will and Evelyn that isn’t properly explored to service as a basis for the film to develop either; baby which I mean you could forgive the more typical stuff if it had a unique personal drama and characters, but that’s sorely lacking too. By the time the film enters its climax after nearly two hours, the film has turned to very typical sci-fi shlock (and I like typical sci-fi shlock) with nanomachines controlling people and such, and a rather awkward confrontation that doesn’t really provide much of a resolution. All this stuff just distracts from the characters and makes the plot feel very generic. This film has a good, recognisable cast, but it just feels like they don’t really have any material to work with, and their inclusion feels like a waste. Director Wally Pfister’s directorial debut has made a film with some style and clearly taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan, whom he has previously worked under, but a really washy script that doesn’t grip any of it’s idea or characters well enough to develop them into something profound or impactful by the time of the climax takes the two hour runtime feel like a lot of waste. Transcendence has some expertise behind it and exhibits some style, but even the weak ideas that are explored are drowned out by typical sci-fi tropes that prevent either some profound position on the subject matter, or a meaningful relationship between the characters to emerge, resulting in a less than profound experience.
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#679 – Conquest of the Pole (1912)
Conquest of the Pole (1912)
Film review #679
Director: George Méliès
SYNOPSIS: Explorers from around the world are trying to find the best way to reach the North Pole, with Professor Maboul planning to use his invention the “aero-bus” to take him and his international crew to their destination. However, the journey is fraught with perils and adventure beyond their wildest imagination, as they struggle to achieve their goal…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Conquest of the Pole is 1912 sci-film by George Méliès. Combining inspiration from Jules Verne’s Voyages Extraordinaires stories and real-world events, the story revolves around various explorers trying to reach the North Pole. At a meeting of the Aero Club in Paris, Professor Maboul reveals his “aero-bus” that he believes will be able to make the perilous journey, and the club nominate a crew of members from across the world to join him. The plot of the film is simple enough; following the construction of the aero-bus, it’s launch, and journey to the pole. There’s additional elements too, such as the inclusion of suffragettes that gate-crash the meeting with a protest, and even try to reach the Pole themselves. The film itself is classic Melies: it takes the viewer on an adventure to fantastical places brought to life with well designed characters, creatures and Melies classic camera tricks that still captivate over one hundred years later. While it does have a longer running length than Melies’ older movies such as Voyage to the Moon, and has a more fleshed out story, some of the scenes do drag on a little. The problem being that filmmaking had moved on a little from Melies earlier films, but he was still doing the same thing. Like I say, they’re not bad, it’s just a longer length film needed something a bit more to carry the story, such as intertitles that contained the dialogue: without that, the longer scenes don’t really deliver as much as they could.
There really is some impressive imagery and designs here, with the areo-bus flying through the sky carrying the crew, along with all the other craft that are also racing to get to the North Pole (remember that flying aircraft were very much in their infancy, with the Wright Brothers famous flight taking place in 1903). All of the different designs of the aircraft are imaginative, almost as if it was a prototype It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The aero-bus’s travel through the constellations again provide an ample opportunity to create all of the images of zodiac with fun paintings and costumes. This scene does drag on with no real purpose though. The highlight of the film is probably the fight at the north pole with the ice-giant; brought to life with some impressive theatrics and moving parts. Conquest of the Pole is classic Melies: giving the viewer impressive visuals, camera tricks and theatrics that stand as a monument to his influence and mastery on the medium. It doesn’t make much use of the larger runtime, and as such some parts go on longer than necessary, but there’s more than enough spectacle and fun here to enjoy the journey.
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#678 – Her (2013)
Her (2013)
Film review #678
Director: Spike Jonze
SYNOPSIS: Theodore works creating love letters for couples as a service for those who don’t want to do it themselves. Following his marriage break-up, he entertains the idea of dating his new operating system, Samantha.
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Her is a 2013 sci-fi romance film. In a near-future, Theodore’s job is to write bespoke love letters to couples from each other, for those who can’t won’t do it for themselves: already sounding somewhat dystopian and also surprising that someone has tried to build a start-up based on said service (I’m actually sure someone has at least tried). Theo (Joaquin Phoenix) himself is currently going through a divorce, and in a romantic slump. When he gets a new personalised A.I. operating system, Theo and Samantha (the A.I.) begin to develop a relationship , thus experiencing the heights and challenges that it brings. Adopting the thinnest of science-fiction veneers, Her is a commentary on modern relationships in the widest possible sense; the fact that one of them is an A.I. is supplementary to that. The science-fiction element is also kept wafer thin because this is obviously intended to be a romance film foremost and designed to appeal to that audience, which is easily obfuscated by a thicker sci-fi backdrop that traditionally keeps that target audience away. The film provides a substantial amount of depth as it moves through different stages and issues, creating a romance that is warm and supporting, but doesn’t shy away from the issues it raises. The plot does run out of steam nearer the end, as the two drift apart and the film fails to articulate any motivating factors or engaging dialogue. I think part of that is the point: that sometimes, two people just drift apart as they change, and there’s no real way to articulate or rationalise it. Nevertheless, it did feel like there wasn’t anything more profound in the ending like the rest of the film, to latch on to.
Her has a very distinctive, consistent style that permeates the film: the colour schemes of warm, soft and pastel-esque colours evoke a calm and contemplative atmosphere. The music and soundtrack too reflects a similar kind of lightness and liberation, but still leaves space for the serious moments. The acting is flawless across the entire cast, I find no issue with that, even if the lead character is a bit flaky, but I think that’s the point in that we are watching him learn a few things. I have to say though; I did not love this film as a lot of people have done. There felt like too much faffing about at points, and tried to make it’s point one too many times by giving a line of dialogue that was clearly meant to be amazingly meaningful and profound, but I just didn’t feel like the film needed that weighty dialogue. Her is a well-made, thoughtful, and insightful film that aims to say a lot lot about modern human relations (and beyond human relations at that). A mix of quieter and loud moments that will connect with different people, and a soft sci-fi surface that won’t alienate more general filmgoers. Personally the film falls off near the end and runs it’s course a little before the two hour runtime is over, and there are moments that the film tries to be more explicitly profound than it needs to be. So I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s certainly one for personal taste, and others may get more out of it than I have.
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#677 – Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)
Film review #677
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
SYNOPSIS: With a zombie apocalypse raging on, soldier Rhys takes survivors and delivers them to the Sugreon General to help them find a cure. Unknown to him is that the surgeon is killing them and turning their fluids into a secret formula that makes him more powerful. When Rhys delivers a woman to the surgeon and uncovers the truth, he teams up with her Sister with a plan to rescue her and put a stop to the surgeon’s evil plans.
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is a 2021 Australian post-apocalypse film and the sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. The film starts with the introduction of a new character, a former soldier named Rhys, who takes people to a surgeon who he believes is trying to find a cure, but in reality is killing the people and extracting a fluid from them to make himself more powerful. A separate intro sequence does reintroduce the characters Barry and Brooke from the first film, but they don’t show up again until half way through the film, meaning we’re left to focus on the less interesting new cast. On the whole, Wyrmwood Apocalypse does a lot of the same things as its predecessor; mixing high energy action and gore, but brings a more conventional narrative to the forefront, which slows everything down a little.
Continuing the Roache-Turner brothers filming style, the film is full of quick cuts, close-ups, and loud noises that keep the action flowing. As mentioned, the newer characters don’t really have much presence, and and less interesting than the characters from the original that reappear half-way through the runtime. having the main antagonist again being a mad surgeon or doctor does feel like a bit of a re-tread of the original, and I think there was scope to try something new. Given a seven year gap between the original and sequel as well, it is a long time to reintroduce the characters and its different quirks; the sequel goes half-and-half by making new story and characters, but also adding in the cast from the previous film half way through, and it probably should have stuck to one or the other. Overall though, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is very much more of its predecessor: plenty of action, gore and over-the-top nonsense that is stylish and entertaining, but the new cast and a more typical story format does slow it down a little, making not quite as enticing as the original.
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#676 – Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)
Film review #676
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
SYNOPSIS: After an airborne infection from a meteor shower turns the majority of people into zombies, Barry and his family try to escape, but Barry is left as the only survivor. He goes to try and find his Sister Brooke, who unbeknownst to him has been kidnapped by a mad scientist and his goons, and is being experimented on…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is a 2014 Australian zombie film. The film starts off with a meteor shower that releases an airborne infection, turning many people into zombies. Barry, a mechanic, tries to escape with his wife and daughter, but they don’t make it. Having only his sister Brooke left, he goes to try and find her, but little does he know, she has been kidnapped by a mad scientist who is performing some strange experiment on her. While there’s a lack of a cohering plot that ties everything together, Wyrmwood provides plenty of action, gore and energy to keep things interesting. It is, at its core, a a zombie film, and there’s a lot of zombie films out there, and I don’t think it makes itself stand out completely from the rest. The film is constantly on edge, with you never knowing really what is going to happen next, or who is going to get their face blown off, and as such, it keeps things entertaining until the end.
There’s a decent balance of gore, suspense and action that should satisfy a wide range of viewers, combined with some colourful Aussie humour too. The second half of the film brings a more clearer focus to the story, but not too much: it’s still a gorefest. Despite the low budget, there’s a good balance of physical and practical effects that are convincing enough, and the fast pace means that a shot doesn’t linger too long on anything to critique it. There’s not too much of substance to critique in Wyrmwood: it’s just a wild ride of dismembering zombies for a good ninety minutes, often without rhyme or reason: do you need a reason to go to town on the undead though? It doesn’t distinguish itself too much from the hordes of zombie films out there, but at least it’s loud, messy, and fun with plenty of flair and style. The story is a bit more linear and centered this time around, but the trouble with this is that isn’t isn’t very fresh or interesting, and thus brings the energy down a bit. Rhys just isn’t that interesting as a character
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#675 – Glowzies (2023)
Glowzies (2023)
Film review #675
Director: Hank Braxtan
SYNOPSIS: A group of elderly veterans who spend their time in a diner are interrupted by a group of young influencers who want to check out the old mill in the area. Suspecting something wrong, the vets team up with the influencers to investigate, and when a horde of gloiwing zombies is unleashed from the mill, the veterans realise that they have seen this before, and their memories are not what it seems…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Glowzies is a 2023 sci-fi film. The film sees a group of grizzled military veterans teaming up with a group of young social influencers to investigate the old mill where the vets worked, which has seemingly been disturbed. Unbeknownst to the vets, they have actually been drugged for the past thirty years to forget that they used to work there, and to keep an eye on the mill in case a terrible secret gets out; the terrible secret eventually does, as glowing zombies start to emerge and the animated goop that turns people into zombies must be stopped before it reaches the outside world. This very typical low budget zombie film may not seen like much at first, but it teams up an interesting contrast of characters, some decent special effects, and just enough self-awareness and humour to make it entertaining. There’s quite a lot going on with the story; from the vets having their memories suppressed, the influencers investigating the mill, the glowing ooze being some sort of alien lifeform, a villain that appears for five minutes…there’s an awful lot to process. But as mentioned, it has enough self-awareness that there’s always a sense of you don’t have to take things too seriously, or follow things precisely to get some enjoyment out of the film. The plot does get a bit bloated towards the end with everything that is going on, and I think a rewrite on the script could have streamlined a bunch of things that slow the film down just a little too much.
The acting is, on the whole, fairly good. With a cast of veterans including James Remar and Michael Dorn (who keeps showing up in these low budget films I end up watching), the film delivers some decent performances. One of the most notable features of this film is that it is a “fun for all the family” experience (as the trailer describes it), so there’s not an abundance of gore and adult humour to mix things up. There is just enough zombies getting their heads smashed in and exploding to bring out some spectacle, but never anything overly scary. Another thing that really stands out is the humour: there’s a fair few genuinely funny moments, it’s just that the pacing can sometimes fail to give the necessary space to appreciate the joke.
As mentioned, the special effects are fairly decent: the titular “glowzies” have an eerie glow about them, and the practical ooze effects are fun. The soundtrack has a sixties “Beach Boys” feel to it, although they obviously couldn’t afford to license any recognisable songs; nevertheless, you get the idea. I think the quality of the this film could have been easily bumped up with some more expertise in camerawork and a tidier script: scenes are often ill-paced, and the camera is not capturing a scene fully. I suppose that might be that the sets are fairly small, but it is noticeably distracting. Overall though, Glowzies is a fairly entertaining low budget title that surprises with a competent sense of humour and effects for it’s budget. A lack of a more rigorous and sharper script hurts some of the more tense moments, but for a “family-friendly” horror film, it’s got enough in it for a one-time watch if you can appreciate the b-movie aesthetic and recognise that self-awareness in the film itself.
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#674 – Nekotronic (2018)
Nekrotronic (2018)
Film review #674
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
SYNOPSIS: Sewer cleaner Howard learns of the secret battle between demons who infiltrate the real world via the internet, and the nekromancers who fight them. Learning that he himself is a nekromancer, Howard is reluctantly dragged into the battle between good and evil, as the whole world comes under threat from Finnegan, who seeks the power of the demons, and who just also happens to be Howard’s Mum…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Nekrotronic is a 2019 Australian sci-fi film. Howard is a sewer cleaner that is thrust into the battle between the demons that invade the real world via an app, and the nekromancers that fight them. Learning that he is a nekromancer himself, he must team up with others like him to stop Finnegan, who just so happens to be his Mum, from absorbing millions of souls and becoming immortal. The plot of the film clearly takes elements from Ghostbusters and The Matrix, with creatures coming down phone lines, and being trapped by the nekromancers. It never feels too derivative though, as it has its own brand of humour and silliness to drive things along. The mechanics of how everything works are very convoluted though, and you’ll probably end up glossing over some of the details. The film is driven by a lot of high-energy banter, action and swearing: lots and lots of swearing. Alongside this, there’s enough twists and turns in the story to latch on to which keep things interesting.
The characters of the film often feel a little under-utilised: Howard as the man who is introduced to this new world is who we relate with most, because we as the viewer often have no idea what is happening either. His friend Rangi, who dies and becomes a ghost (erm, wraith) provides some more mad cap energy, but doesn’t do a lot for a good chunk of the movie. Molly and Torquel have their moments too, but nothing outstanding. Monica Bellucci as Finnegan is clearly overacting for her life, and makes a fun villain, complimenting the silly, fun nature of the film. The practical effects are substantial and give the action a very tactile feel, and everything is very colourful, so it often never feels like there’s a dull moment. Nekrotronic is a mishmash of different ideas, inspirations and sometimes overwhelming mechanics and logic, but its high-energy, over-the-top antics typically overcome the convoluted elements. It’s humour is not sophisticated, and driven very much by banter and swearing, which is not going to appeal to everyone. It’s a silly, flashy and altogether messy experience that doesn’t offer anything new or substantive, but might be just entertaining enough if you appreciate it’s sense of humour.
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#673 – Supernova (2000)
Supernova (2000)
Film review #672
Director: Thomas Lee
SYNOPSIS: A medical ship answers a distress call from a distant moon, where they find the sole survivor of an outpost and a mysterious artefact. Unsure of its purpose, the man wants to bring it back to civilised space and sell it, but the crew suspect ulterior motives…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Supernova is a 2000 sci-fi film. Set in the twenty-second century, a medical ship intercepts a distress signal from a mining colony, and upon arriving, they find the moon destroyed, and the ship suffers extensive damage. Furthermore, the ship is slowly getting sucked into the gas giant’s gravity, and the ship’s jump drive will only be recharged eleven minutes before that happens, which is the mother of all coincidences. The crew rescue a sole survivor, Karl Larson, who has a mysterious alien artefact, and says he wants to sell it back home to become rich. However, it turns out he is actually possessed by this artefact or something, and he wants to bring the artefact back to civilised space to collapse the matter of the universe and rebirth it…or something like that anyway, it’s fairly vague. Sure enough, Karl starts killing off the crew, and they must find a way to survive and get home. There’s one other film that immediately springs to mind when seeing this one: Event Horizon. Whereas that film was good at what it wanted to do, Supernova is an absolute mess, and has no idea what it wants to do. Now, part of this is is the classic studio interference and clash with the director’s vision: Director Walter Hill wanted a more psychological horror (akin to Event Horizon), the studio wanted something more “hip and sexy.” While the film does have some slick effects, and gets in a few sex scenes, the cost of this interference is that the editing reduces the film to an incomprehensible mess. Any in-depth analysis of the artefact is avoided (to make the film more “hip” I guess?), the story is all over the place, and the characters have no development, as they can disappear for large periods of the film before reappearing). There’s no build up to the tense parts of the film, and the killings just start happening one after another so that nothing really has any impact.
The production history of this film perhaps explains why this film is the way it is: the film’s origins begin in 1990, where H.R. Giger was brought on board to do some art for the film. MGM bought the film and decided to rework the film to be more “mainstream,” leading to creative differences with director Walter Hill quitting the project after they hired him (and him using a pseudonym in the credits, clearly wanting nothing to do with the projects, another director was brought on to do re-shoots, which seems to have made things worse, and in a last-ditch efforts, MGM brought in legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola to re-edit the film for release. Given that what actually was released is a jumbled mess that not even Coppola could redeem, it clearly speaks to just how much of a mess this film had devolved into. So yes, the final product is bland, derivative, and devoid of any substance, and with a runtime of ninety minutes, clearly does the bare minimum to make it a feature-length film, and says no more than it has to.
In short, Supernova is a mess of a film that having been through a grinder of re-editing and re-shoots, delivers a final product that has no real vision or depth. The positives are that the effects and design of the ship are nice, and it’s decently acted with a diverse and experienced cast, but other than that it fails to deliver anything of note.
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#672 – 51 (2011)
51 (2011)
Film review #672
Director: Jason Connery
SYNOPSIS: Under political and public pressure, the U.S. government opens up Area 51 to a limited tour for a select group of journalists. However, the aliens that are secretly beyond the journalists eye manage to break out, and everyone is forced to fight for their survival against the horrors roaming the facility…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: 51 is a 2011 sci-fi TV movie that premiered on the Syfy channel. The backstory is that Area 51 is allowing journalists into the facility under pressure to make it more transparent. Colonel Martin is put in charge of the journalists tour, and to make sure they don’t discover the actual aliens they have hidden in the depths of the facility. The opening scene should give you a clue about what to expect, as a news reporter delivers the film’s plot against a fairly bad green screen, and the group of journalists arrive at the facility. They are met by Colonel Martin, the man in charge of making sure that the journalists don’t see the actual secret stuff, like the aliens locked up in the lower levels. As it just so happens, while the tour is commencing, one of the aliens manages to break out, and the tour is trapped within the facility’s lockdown, while the soldiers have to find a way to stop the aliens from escaping. The alien that first escapes is a shapeshifter that can imitate any living organism it touches. So, as you might expect, this film just goes the direction of The Thing, as the humans try and work out who the shapeshifter is. There’s also some other aliens, such as an invisible one, and a friendly alien with telekinesis, and the film spreads itself a little thin between all these different creatures and scenarios, thus unable to make a tense atmosphere with a bit more focus.
Given that this is a Syfy TV movie, you are going to expect a certain low budget affair with mediocre acting and a lack of originality, and in this sense, it certainly delivers. The big issue with the film is that it is so disparate and lacking in focus that it is hard to keep your attention on it. The film shifts between the different characters constantly, and the different aliens with different abilities makes it difficult to maintain a consistent horror tone. Apart from the main characters trapped below ground, the focus periodically shifts to above ground, where a pair of soldiers just discuss…anything really. The scenes of inane dialogue are obviously meant to stretch out the runtime to ninety minutes, which it does, but completely throws off any sense of pacing. We get brief insights into the characters and their backstories, but this set up never goes anywhere. The aliens themselves have some effort put into making them look alien, but their movement is very awkward and stunted. All in all, there’s not much else to say about 51, it’s what you would expect from a Syfy TV movie in most aspects, but made worse by horrendous pacing and a severe lack of focus that is unable to generate the necessary atmosphere for a horror film.
