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

It Came from the Desert (2017)

I remember seeing the trailer for this and then totally forgetting about it. I must not have been alone because the movie seems to have been quietly released to streaming services which honestly isn’t a good sign. That said I used to play the video game that it was based on and love the old fifties science fiction movies that inspired that game. So of course, I was going to watch it!

After a nice nod to the video game with a movie version of the cut scene that kicked it off we find a group of military guys running for their lives from giant ants. They don’t get away and if they did it would be a short movie. After that bloody carnage we then get to meet a pair of brothers, Lucas and Brian, who are about to head out for a big dirt bike race. Lucas has invited Lisa, the girl that Brian is secretly in love with hoping that he will finally tell her as much. They get to the big race/party which happens to be right next to the facility where the ants are running wild. The boys manage to wander in and meet up with the big bugs all while getting some backstory from a video tape left by a scientist.

Here is the skinny. In the fifties an asteroid fell to Earth and some giant ants happened because of radiation and things. This is a reference to the classic THEM! which is also referenced directly by the name of the project. After containing that accident, the scientists created a failsafe where the ants can’t breed without booze… yeah there is a raging kegger right next door! The rest of the flick has the brothers fighting CGI ants and saving the day. All in all, about what I expected.

This isn’t what I’d call a good movie. The plot is very thin with little to no time spent developing a cohesive narrative beyond referencing the video game. If you haven’t played the game, which isn’t that well known, you might get lost. Why are there experimental weapons? Why did they set up rail guns to lure the ants into? Hell, why are there dirt bikes left lying around? These are all things from the game, so they are in the movie. When it comes to It Came from the Desert you don’t want to overthink things and just enjoy the ride.

CGI ants are okay...

I know that I’ve made the movie sound really bad so far, but I did get some fun out of it. This is a simple bug hunt with kids running around making improbable escapes and shooting stuff. The special effects are a combination of rubber appliance in the “grabbing” scenes and CGI when we see the ants crawling over the scenery. The kills are very tame except for a single ant that inexplicably spits acid on a girl’s face so yeah there isn’t much gore in this one. But we do get to see some cool dirt bikes. And a dude with a backpack of vodka… I can honestly say I’ve never seen that before.

Seriously I get it that this is a dumb movie but if you are looking for a mindless way to kill some time and like giant insects then you could do a lot worse than It Came from the Desert. That said I would recommend against purchasing this. I caught it on Amazon Prime and watched it at no cost to me other than my time. I can’t imagine ever spending time on re-watching the movie, so a purchase might be wasted money. With that large caveat I will sort of recommend it.

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer