This is one of those films that values telling a story above effects. These are all too few and far between these days.
The negative. With the notable exception of the hybrids eyes the rest of the effects are both pretty thin on the ground and pretty poor. This is of fairly low importance to be honest though. I watch a film for the story. The effects are just icing. Too few films provide any cake to put the icing on, believing the icing alone will carry the day. The Hybrid provides plenty of cake but the budget didn't allow for that bit of icing that'd have made it great.
The good. Crackingly told story which is more impressive as it takes quite some time before you actually know what the story is. The mercenaries are not supermen or Rambo. They are not even particularly good looking. They are very believable though. The Hybrids are weird with an utterly unfathomable perspective. The screenwriter and the director have put in a great deal of both effort and ability into this film and it's paid off. The sets are perfect for the atmosphere too. Like a previous reviewer I too found the mercenary leader's sandwich eating to be odd at first then a tension release valve. A great little insertion in the proceedings.
All in a good film with an unusual and well told story. I just wish they'd had that slightly bigger budget to buy some icing for that excellent cake they produced.
The negative. With the notable exception of the hybrids eyes the rest of the effects are both pretty thin on the ground and pretty poor. This is of fairly low importance to be honest though. I watch a film for the story. The effects are just icing. Too few films provide any cake to put the icing on, believing the icing alone will carry the day. The Hybrid provides plenty of cake but the budget didn't allow for that bit of icing that'd have made it great.
The good. Crackingly told story which is more impressive as it takes quite some time before you actually know what the story is. The mercenaries are not supermen or Rambo. They are not even particularly good looking. They are very believable though. The Hybrids are weird with an utterly unfathomable perspective. The screenwriter and the director have put in a great deal of both effort and ability into this film and it's paid off. The sets are perfect for the atmosphere too. Like a previous reviewer I too found the mercenary leader's sandwich eating to be odd at first then a tension release valve. A great little insertion in the proceedings.
All in a good film with an unusual and well told story. I just wish they'd had that slightly bigger budget to buy some icing for that excellent cake they produced.