There are few things as annoying as the anticipation of a promising movie, only to have most, if not all of that promise, crushed under its own potential. Everything about this movie screams of intelligent ideas, compelling themes, and profound storytelling, and yet, despite having all of the necessary ingredients, it fails to properly utilize them completely. Captive State could not be a more fitting title for this film, because I did indeed feel as though I was being held against my will by my desire to find something, anything, that would qualify as a redeeming factor in this film that would have made the whole two hours I wasted watching it worth the sacrifice. Much to my dismay, none ever came. This movie is already an instant contender for one of the worst films of the year, and I rue the day I ever come across another that's even worse.
Taking place in the not too distant future, the story is about a society that has been taken over by an invading alien force. Our nation had been crumbling and was on the brink of self-annihilation until these mysterious creatures, known as "The Legislators," invaded our planet and demanded full control over our government. Humanity promptly accepted their terms and has agreed to live under their rule while the aliens plunder the Earths natural resources. A group of underground resistance fighters is plotting to strike against the alien dictators and ignite a fire to encourage the rest of humanity to resist. The future of humanity rests in their hands as they carefully put their plan in motion all the while trying to evade the ever watchful eye of the police detective assigned to track them down and take them out. Will the resistance ignite the fire or will they get crushed by the uber-powerful dictators?
Right off the bat, this is an excellent idea for a science fiction story. In fact, as I suggested in the title of this review, the story reminds me of an episode of The Twilight Zone. Notably, the one titled The Obsolete Man. However, while that show, and that episode especially, had a profound story, compelling characters, and an overarching theme worth investing it, Captive State fails miserably to provide any of that.
The biggest problem with this film is its lack of personal stakes and sympathetic characters. Sure, the ones we follow in the story have back stories we can empathize with, but none of them have anything for us to latch on to. We never learn anything about the characters we're supposed to care about. Not their personalities, their ultimate desires & goals, or their reasons for wanting to fight back in the first place. Yes, resisting dictatorships is in and of itself a noble and worthy undertaking, but there has to be more to it other than the typical chest-pumping "FIGHT THE POWER" stuff. You can put the whole world in peril as much as you want, but unless there is a personal and emotional aspect of the story for the audience to sympathize with, of which there is none in this movie, then it's all for not.
Another major issue with this film is its atrocious breaking of the "show, don't tell" rule of filmmaking. Be it for budgetary constraints of lazy writing, the movie spends a considerable chunk of its running time telling the audience about past events, the current state of affairs, and major plot points, rather than finding creative ways to visualize any of it. Sure, the visual style and tone of the film are appropriately bleak, and there are some decent special effects thrown in for good measure, but that is not enough to make a compelling story. Watching a movie about resisting an alien invasion should not feel like reading a depressing war history book.
This is the most disappointing film for me this year so far. It fails to take full advantage of its story, has no idea how to create even a single compelling character, and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There was so much potential for this film to have been placed on par with the likes of Robocop or even District 9, a science fiction story about the powerless and disenfranchised fighting back against a ruthless and apathetic leadership. Alas, it was apparently not meant to be with this movie. Rod Serling would be most displeased.
Is this movie worth seeing?
No.
Is it worth seeing in theaters?
No.
Why?
It's an absolute failure in every sense of the word. Skip this one and just watch that episode of The Twilight Zone I mentioned earlier. It's a far better execution of this particular kind of story.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.
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