I've now seen a few newer sci fi movies, and I don't like them. The movie feels more like Her or The Lobster than They Live or Timecrimes. It's personal taste, I know.
The scenario here feels contrived and trying to pursue a specific set of conclusions. I was going to complain about the romance and interest in the social aspects of science, but then I recalled Gattaca. Gattaca had these elements too, but it was compelling. This movie feels…
This movie revealed itself as an awful movie almost immediately. It was predictable once you knew the premise, and maybe it was predictable before that. Nothing happened that wasn't strictly formulaic. Sadly, Cage never went full bizarro shaman in this movie. It really would have made it so much better. Instead, William Fintchner was the best part of the movie (not that he isn't often the best part, but I wasn't expecting it with Cage).
I have two bones to pick with the movie that could have otherwise been in the top tier of sci fi movies.
1. The military theme. There is enough glorification of war in the wider culture already. This movie, while not glorifying war, didn't really detract from that idea either. I was mostly ready to overlook that until...
2. The ending. If you've seen it either you liked the last minute or didn't. I hated the last minute and felt it detracted from the movie enormously. It was hinted at earlier in the movie and seemingly put down only to come back unnecessarily.
By far the least bad of the three in the trilogy, but still not all that great.
The flaws* in the economic thinking are kind of deal killers for me, but I had to go see it to see the perfect nanar trilogy.
*Dude, seriously, you expect me to believe that a small group of people will be able to economically succeed when real world evidence points the other direction?
