Release Date: 4/29/09
In the future, Earth is owned by four corporations. The corporations are constantly at war to gain more land and expand their boundaries. After a brief history lesson, the movie opens up with a very cool all out battle between two sides. It looks like an old school war mixed with more futuristic weapons. During the battle, a gate is mistakenly unlocked and creatures emerge. These creatures are mutated humans. They are invincible to most fire power, have great strength, and one of their arms is a huge claw. Don’t ask me why because that’s never explained. Ron Perlman is a monk whose people have a history with the mutants so he puts together a team of warriors to take them down. At first the movie was really looking ridiculous but I couldn’t help but get caught up in the adventure of it all.
The main character is Thomas Jane. He was in the first battle when the mutants appeared. One of his friends was taken and he has to inform the family. Feeling sorry for them, he drowns his sorrows in some booze. The city is now overtaken by mutants and drastic measures are being taken by one of the leaders, played by John Malkovich in only a cameo role. Ron Perlman attempts to recruit Jane. He sways him to join his group by offering him Evacuation papers for anyone he chooses. He chooses his friend’s family and then joins the group of ragtag soldiers. They are following an ancient chronicle showing how to defeat the mutants once and for all. For some reason, the mutants control a giant machine based underground that turns humans into their own kind. They have to take this machine out!
Yeah it sounds silly. And it is silly. But its pretty action packed. The visuals are really cool. Its like a video game setting on the big screen. Lots of CGI but not the mutants, just the scenery. We don’t want an I Am Legend type scenario where the bad CGI zombies could take you out of movie. Real actors play the mutants in this one. The cities, underground areas, and machines are all made through green screen which gives it a very unique feel much like 300. Don’t expect great acting here folks. It’s a movie about a bunch of people killing mutants. And that’s what you get. Explosions, gorey deaths, and lots of suspense. The storyline is pretty weak but just the action scenes alone are making me keep this one in Neutral ground. I’d find it surprising if the majority of critics agree with me though. Case of right time, right frame of mind. I got exactly what I wanted from this movie.
IMDB – 5.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 20%
Movie Wiseguys – 6/10