Rating: C-
Dir: George Nolfi
Star: Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson, Danny Boyd Jr.
A kinda dumb film, following along the framework of A Quiet Place or Bird Box, where there’s a monstrous invasion of our planet, with a loophole. Rather than staying quiet, or blindfolds, the escape clause here is attitude. Oh, hang on: it’s altitude. Damn you autocorrect. Yeah, the creatures which crawled out of the bowels of the earth, will not climb an inch above eight thousand feet. Nice to see the monsters using an outdated measurement system. How many Freedom Eagles is that? To be fair, an explanation is suggested. However, you will have to wait for the sequel to get any proper answer. And given the lacklustre box-office here, don’t hold your breath for that ever to happen.
It takes place in the Rocky Mountains, where a hardy band of survivors struggle for, um, survival. Will (Mackie) needs to venture down below the safety line because his son, Hunter (Boyd), is in desperate need of medical supplies. Accompanying him on the trip to Boulder is researcher Nina (Baccarin), who wants to reach her lab in hope of finding the monsters’ fatal flaw – obligatory in this kind of thing for any unstoppable enemy, since H.G. Wells wrote War of the Worlds about aliens with no biohazard protocols. There’s also Katie (Hasson), who… Well, I got nuttin’. The lack of significant, meaningful effort put into her character might, or might not, foreshadow her life expectancy in the movie.
The results are all rather stupid, with the script repeatedly putting the trio at risk, and then finding ways to yank them back out again. The monsters are cool-looking, with a tentacle which it uses to detect the carbon dioxide exhaled by humans. And not, apparently, any other animals because reasons [likely also tied to the eight thousand feet thing]. They pop up whenever necessary, in just the volume needed to pose the appropriate level of threat to Will. If you’ve seen any of the other films which the writers here certainly have, you’ll be able to tap your feet along with the beats of the story. It’s a shame they opted to dangle so much of the resolution over the edge of their cliffhanger.
Mackie is his usual, reliable self, and keeps the film more grounded than the script. I ain’t gonna lie, his presence in the mountains of Colorado, not exactly the most ethnically diverse region, is a little odd. But in a world where monstrous creatures have risen up from the bowels of the Earth, I guess diversity casting isn’t anyone’s biggest issue. Naturally, it all builds to a race against time, involving Will’s search for the air filters needed for Hunter, and Nina’s search for a literal “magic bullet” that can penetrate the beasts’ armour-plated skin. It’s fortunate that trucks which have likely been abandoned for years will start first time. I suggest not overthinking things like this, and just enjoying some lovely mountain scenery.