The premise of this movie is simply this... You are stuck in your office building and are told that you will die if you don't kill your co-workers. What will you do? It's basically inspired as a combination of "Office Space" and "Battle Royale." The kill or be killed dilemma isn't exactly a new theme, but I always find it fascinating to see this hopefully theoretical social experiment put into a story. The whole "in the end, everybody is in it for themselves" philosophy is something we must have considered at some point. Killing strangers is already one thing, but would you kill a friend, family, or love one, just to survive? At what point do you stop following your own human morals, just for the sake of survival?
Written by James Gunn, and Directed by Greg McLean, this movie makes attempts at addressing those moral questions I brought up. However, it only really introduces those questions very briefly, and doesn't spend enough time on them to give the proper attention they truly deserve. There unfortunately isn't really a huge emphasis on the social commentary about your office work place environment being a battlefield of life and death. The movie is simply more focused on the "kill or be killed" dilemma first and foremost, which would be fine in itself if it wasn't for the fact that the deaths and kills are not as inventive as you probably hoped they could be. Although, people killing others using office supply instruments is always a plus.
So the promise and potential of this movie's premise isn't quite up there as one of the dramatic greats, nor does it have the epic scope to see how far it could have really gone. With that said, the question has to be asked, was it still enjoyably fun to watch this twisted story play out? Yes. Yes it was. All the logical flaws, plot cliches, or underdeveloped characters, may be unavoidably present in this movie, but it's still guilty pleasure fun for what it is. From the kills, the escapes, the moral debates, all of that are automatically thought provoking and compelling just for the sheer fact of what they represent in the premise. Everybody watching this should have a strong opinion on what side they would choose, or what they would do themselves, and that gives this movie that extra edge for making it an entertaining thriller.
Part of what makes this movie better is because of the cast of character actors that you would normally see in a supporting role in other properties. You will likely be motivated to start rooting for which character you would like to see survive, and root for which ones you want to see die. Some deaths were obvious. Some deaths were not. Either way, things get bloody. Bloody fun.
lovedit ENJOYED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible
