Revolt (2017)

Man can’t live on horror alone. With that in mind I decided to check out a Sci-Fi flick that popped up on Netflix. Things start off with a bang as we see soldiers fighting against some robots or aliens, not really sure which. It also is clearly happening in Africa somewhere. There is an explosion and then we see our main character wake up in jail. What is his name? Well that is a good question because he has no memory of it. He does see that there is another patient with him, a beautiful French doctor who is also locked up. She keeps telling him to be quiet or he will get them both killed.

Things happen, and they end up on a road trip trying to escape the aliens and the threats of the other surviving humans who all seem to have some sort of agenda. Along the way he picks up the name Bo based on the shred of a name tag from his uniform. All of this leads up to Bo helping some fighters take down one of the big ships (it does turn out to be aliens!) that has been collecting humans for some nefarious purpose that is never explained.

I can’t say much more than I have without giving away too much of the story. I don’t want to do that because this is an entertaining movie that I’m going to recommend. The plot takes its time playing out and also doesn’t feel obligated to give all the details away. I thought it was also a neat trick to give some of the history of what has happened by having characters explain things to Bo along with disjointed news broadcasts on television sets in the background. Not only is this easy on the budget but since Bo has no memory this allows the audience to get filled in without it feeling forced. That was a very clever narrative choice on the part of the filmmakers.

The attacks are confusing and violent. When they happen, it is hard to follow what is going on at times. Normally this bugs me but here it fits with the vibe that the movie is trying to pull off. Between Bo having amnesia and never totally understanding what is going on around him confusion seems to be a central theme of Revolt. The audience is supposed to be kept off balance along with the main character and they do a damn good job on so many levels including the hectic combat scenes that I appreciated it.

Effects work is really good!

The special effects are pretty damn good for what I imagine was a lower budget. The alien robots that are stomping around blowing things up and killing people are executed well and look decent on screen. This is an example of a movie that uses it’s CGI well. Revolt is basically a road trip picture as well see our main characters traveling across a devastated landscape. There are several different set pieces including a parking garage, some poachers ambushing the aliens and a village being attacked. The locations are good and add to the post-apocalyptic setting that the movie is trying to establish.

I appreciate that Revolt is a well thought out and well written movie that makes good use of the resources available to it. We even get a great twist that drives Bo to make up for some unintended mayhem that he causes. I also respect that the filmmakers don’t go for the typical Hollywood happy ending. I really dug this movie and recommend it.

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer