izigame.me

Basically an interactive B-movie. While an entertaining way to pass some time, I did have some problems with the storytelling and acting. Namely, the actor who plays the lead (Dr. Tenant) was so unbelievable as a doctor/scientist, it was laughable--I mean, she looks and talks like a 20-something model, so there's, um, no way she is some sort of leading expert in her field (do you KNOW how long it takes to get a Ph.D. or M.D.?). She's also been through a combat zone, and the actor looks like the worst thing that's happened to her is getting the wrong order at Starbucks. She's supposed to be a tough cookie, the grizzled scientist dedicated to her work above all else--they needed to get an older, more nuanced actor for that role (someone more like Sigourney Weaver in the Aliens series). TBH, Tenant came across as quite unlikeable and ignorant--a naive scientist who has no clue that the technology she's creating could destroy the world. The way the plot is set up, we're supposed to empathize with her and be on her side (not so much). The actor who plays Rees gave a better performance--he was a more interesting character, as was Claire, the tough-talking "Kundaran." It would have been a stronger effort had the entire story been told from the perspective of Claire, if they wanted to subvert the whole "white savior" narrative. It also wasn't greeeeaaaat that the native peoples mostly served as victims or bad guys, secondary characters to the white heroes. Yeah, that could have been done better. My other issue was simply on the level of galaxy-sized plot holes and lack of realism. Spoilery/plot thoughts: Like, nobody thought, "hey, nanites that can completely re-write human bodies to be stronger/healthier might be a bad idea, right? Like, has ANYONE seen any Resident Evil movies? No?" And the way they interacted with Claire, popping open her supposedly "sterile" pod, was laughable. I mean, the girl is full of dangerous nanites that could easily become airborne any minute, but yeah, let's hold her hand and WIPE BLOOD FROM HER FACE. Not dangerous at all." The masks they were wearing, too, had huge gaps--not exactly sealed (although I'm sure this was to keep them from fogging while filming). I know, I know, suspension of disbelief, but some of the plot twists were quite silly. Like, Rees just happens to be an expert hacker who can hack into any system at will (because: plot demands it). Also, why on earth did the bad guys TAKE OFF THEIR HELMETS while inside a VACUUM CHAMBER that could be turned back on at any time? And why, while suffocating, didn't they simply go back and retrieve the helmets they'd tossed on the ground? And, now that I'm thinking about it, what's with only having one "master" nanite set, inside Claire, that can't be replicated or reproduced? Why couldn't Tenant simply recreate her original experiment and create more? Once the technological cat is out of the bag, it seems like anyone could reproduce the nanites to do all sorts of nefarious things (see: Zombies). It was also kinda funny that the Kundarans are supposedly native peoples living in a "village," and yet, in one flashback scene, they're sitting in a park having a picnic, dressed like L.A. hipsters hanging in Griffith Park on a Sunday. Oh, and can I suggest that a "heat flash" strong enough to incinerate human flesh AND BONES would also, you know, melt a gun, or at least explode the bullets? But I digress. Despite the laughable, B-movie elements, however, I enjoy the occasional interactive movie (check out Bandersnatch on Netflix, if you want another good example of this genre). It reminds me of the "choose your own adventure" books I used to read as a kid, and I like to have a break from my usual type of game, from time to time.