Spiderhead

source: Spiderhead

Netflix has become a receptacle for low effort, low quality films and shows. It's the gold standard of cringe and trash television. As the prices go up the quality continues in a downward spiral. HBOMax is King now. HBO has known for years how to put out a great original series or movie. HBOMAX focuses on quality while Netflix continues with the quantity strategy. Put out a zillion things and see which one sticks. Ugh, I'm ready to dump Netflix.

I can say it is worth a watch. I do like Chris Hemsworth's charismatic personality and it's nice to see him do something other than Thor outside of the Marvel comic book films. I almost didn't recognize Miles Teller. Although I think this was a missed opportunity to have these two guys work together in a much better film. But the film wasn't remarkable, and I don't think anyone will remember it a year from now. As for a sci-fi film, it wasn't a good one. It could have been, but it wasn't.

2022 model netflix film directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, based on the dystopian short story by George Saunders. Actually the new Yorker / netflix joint project... The producer of the movie is Chris Hemsworth, who is also the producer of the movie. Other names in the cast are Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett. A dystopian prison where the inmates' emotions and thoughts are controlled... this is a 70-year-old cliché. If you trust the director and the actors and think "maybe it will tell a different story", don't get your hopes up. Whatever Joseph Kosinski did right in "Top Gun Maverick", he didn't do it here. Or anyway, all the top-gun Maverick success was due to Tom Cruise, not Kosinski himself. The same thing applies to Miles Teller. If there was another name in the cast of the movie, nothing would have changed. He didn't add anything to his character. Chris Hemsworthmise is just that famous smile... The problem of the movie is not that much, the sounds, the cinematography, the editing are all troublesome...

I was really taken in by the truthful depiction of how these things work. The protagonist made a dumb-as-can-be mistake and hates himself for it. He tries to find meaning and love in a place where he and everyone else is nothing more than a guinea pig. I don't get the negative comments. It doesn't try to be clever, it remains truthful to the subject matter. It also has nothing to do with superhero origins, because it isn't a superhero story. It's a human story about drugs and what they do to you and who make them and sell them. The character backgrounds get exposed more and more during the story and keep adding depth, showing how these so called criminals frequently suffer the tragedy as much as everyone else that is still there. They also aren't always alone in their choices. The negative reviews are thus dumb and off the mark that it sounds like drug dealers and the pharmaceutical industry sponsored them. The movie is heartfelt, honest, and perfectly shot. This is a movie I hold in the highest regard.

Greetings again from the darkness. "We are changing the world!" These days, those words tend to be more chilling than hopeful. More cautionary than exciting. Spoken a few times by scientist Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), those words have long ago lost the intended impact with his assistant Mark (Mark Paguio). Steve is the warden of a high-tech experimental prison where the convicts have agreed to participate in drug studies in exchange for a relaxed/comfortable environment and the hope of early release. In fact, these folks are guinea pigs for mind-altering drugs controlled through a surgically attached mechanism on their lower back. We recognize that Steve is smart because he wears wire-rimmed glasses, and we recognize his villainous intent because of his smarmy nature and impossible to trust false charm. Much of the focus here is on Jeff (the very talented Miles Teller) who is serving time due to his responsibility in a tragic car accident. Steve tests each of the drugs on Jeff, and each test requires Jeff to "acknowledge" his consent ... as if it's his choice to see what happens with the next round of mind-bending. The drugs have hilariously descriptive names: "Verbaluce" forces one to speak their mind, "Phobica" causes paranoia and fear, "Laffodil" generates uncontrollable laughter, and "Luvactin" ... well, you get the idea. Beyond the drugs, Jeff finds a soulmate in Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) and ultimately, Steve pits the two against each other in order to elevate the drug testing and human behavior to extreme levels. The film carries a science fiction label, but mind-altering drugs are as much a part of the past and present as they are the future. Any promise shown in the early stages of the film have long evaporated by the insipid final act that pits Jeff and Lizzy against Steve and the other convicts. The basis for the film is a George Saunders short story originally published in The New Yorker entitled, "Escape from Spiderhead". It has been adapted for the screen by DEADPOOL and ZOMBIELAND co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Unfortunately, the wit and cleverness of those two films is never flashed here ... except for the use of Thomas Dolby's song, "She Blinded Me with Science." Other late 70's and 80's songs provide only cringing, as they weren't even that enjoyable at their peak. The director of this film, Joseph Kosinski, is riding high right now with his "other" film currently setting box office records. Perhaps you've heard of it: TOP GUN: MAVERICK. It's unusual for a director to have two films out simultaneously, but the pandemic has caused quite a few oddities. I will "acknowledge" that the execution of this story is quite disappointing. Releases globally on Netflix beginning June 17, 2022.

I enjoyed this movie, More so than others and was quite surprised by the ratings. Chris plays the perfect psychotic narcissist scientist. Miles Teller is easy to empathize with and did amazing as usual. The music is on point. The whole premise of this movie is believable, just look into the CIA's past on experimenting with acid on people that had no idea what they were given. There is no length unprincipled scientists will go to get the exact results desired in their hypothesis. Give this movie a shot.

This director got paid and that's all that happened in this film. It's in a bin at Walmart for $5.99 and you'll still return it. The actors clearly were doing the best they could, and the concept was great... but everything else was a joke and a waste of the audiences attention. When you watch this and ten minutes in you think "oh yah but it's gonna get better and more complex because wow this cast is amazing...." Just turn it off because it doesn't. It makes a McDonald's hamburger seem clever and surprising.

"Pharmacy companies are evil." There, summed up the entire plot for you. I'm usually not a fan of the recent streamer trend of turning what was a 90 minute film into a multipart series, but this film is an example where that would have been a huge benefit. We don't learn enough about Hemsworth or his background (other than he's a "greedy guy") to care about his comeuppance. We barely learn about the protagonists' romance or the lead woman's backstory enough to care about her. The other inmates are soulless automatons. We get very minor character development from the lead, but it's essentially just "his GF is dead, he is sad." Imagine how much better this film would be as 6-10 episodes? Give the story a purpose other than "Pharma Bros are bad". Make the audience actually care about anyone at all.

Despite solid acting particularly from Teller and Hemsworth, the weak execution of an intriguing premise ultimately proved too distracting. It's always difficult to buy Hemsworth in anything intellectual (ie Blackhat). Any attempt toward scientific rigor would have been greatly appreciated. I also thought the flashbacks ad nauseam were a bit heavy handed. Overall, a lot of wasted potential in my opinion.