Alone Against Everyone – “Code 8” movie review

If not the door, then the window. This is how cousins ​​Robbie (The Babysitter ) and Stephen ( Arrow ) Amell approached the production of their film . So if the Hollywood gates remained closed for the author’s family vision, the community involved had to become this window.

Thus, Code 8 began its life in a quite interesting way, as a short film available for free on Youtube. By providing an almost eight-minute video, the creators wanted to see if the viewers liked the idea enough to support the crowdfunding campaign . As it turned out, the result exceeded expectations almost ten times. Instead of $ 200,000, they managed to raise almost 2 million, and the rest of the story was quickly added to the most spectacular sequence of the heroes’ fight against mechanized law enforcement. As in many cases of this type, the question begs itself: does the quality of the script justify over 90 minutes of the screening?

Inspired but not inspiring

In fact, yes and no. The twofold answer to this question is that although Code 8 cannot be deniedthe ability to engage the viewer, and the story does not give the impression of being written on the proverbial knee, it is also so vain to look for any signs of originality in it. So we have a near future, but one in which people with supernatural abilities are born. Some of them can lift inhuman loads, others melt metals on command or shoot electric discharges from their hands. Fearful, ultimately marginalized as dangerous, they engage in a variety of ad hoc activities, and the most desperate enter the path of crime. Among the latter is the main character of the confusion, Reed. By trying to organize money for the treatment of a terminally ill mother, the boy will learn that where quick earnings are concerned, it is extremely difficult to gain trust and loyalty.

Based on the above, you can guess that the story in Code 8 is nothing new under the sun, especially for lovers of the genre. They will easily find echoes of the X-Men or much weaker Dark minds , seasoned with a large dose of clichés known for years. Repetitive motives such as a rogue with a heart of gold, class war, property segregation, or an attempt to fight an oppressive system need not be a bad thing – at least if they offer more than just a kilometer of development. However, the film by the Amells does not do much to bring us closer to the reality of the presented world, and if it were not for their charismatic roles on opposite sides of the barricade, there would be nothing to hang your eye on.

Something flashes, something shines there

Well, maybe except for the special effects – because it was basically thanks to them that the short film caused a little sensation at the time. Here, too, the extended screening time did not benefit Code 8 , because something else is expected from a free video found by accident on the Internet, and something else from a full-fledged movie, which is already supposed to bring profits to its creators. And not that the CGI in Code 8 is weak, it’s just a solid, though not jaw-dropping level.

My main complaint, but in fact, this family venture of two actors is not that bad. It’s well-played, filled with the right dose of action, one and a half hours of dystopian science fiction, which may not have a chance to reach the level of a similarly low-budget Perspektywy or Kill Command , but as an entertainment for a boring winter evening, it will be just right.

Movie Code 8 is now available on the platform Netflix.