So, this movie was predictable, of course, like a lot of movies these days. After I watched it I had to take a minute, or 24 hours to think about it, because in my mind I kept comparing it to movies like CUBE and THE PURGE, but it wasn't as original as either. Okay, I take that back. SPOILER - this movie is about a group of scientists who are conducting human experiments to see how humans will behave in certain situations. It is reminiscent of the experiment where a group of students are separated into two groups, one group is set to be guards, and the other group are the prisoners. The guards don't take long to start abusing their power and the prisoners. The experiment had to be cut short because of the abuse the prisoners were suffering.
The ending of this movie wasn't all bad, but everything from the beginning was incredibly predictable. The lock down of the building, the characters not questioning the new line of soldiers or guards set up, the fact that a group of workers was sent home, nothing seemed to affect them, nothing made them think about what was going on. Personally, I may have refused to go to work if there were new guards carrying automatic weapons when before there had only been one security guard.
This movie tries to be something new by using an office building and office workers, but it takes a misstep when it creates characters who were once in the special forces. It would have been a lot more interesting if this had just been straight up office workers who came to Columbia from America to make more money. Another thing annoying about this movie was the attempts at humor. There was a scene where a woman is beaten to death in a bathroom and when the killer leaves the bathroom the audience sees a closeup of a sign saying "keep bathroom clean for next user." Another issue I had with this movie was the characters. You've got the helpful guy who doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, you've got the joiner who does whatever he can to not get killed (even if that means killing his friends), you've got the love interest someone takes notice of and wants to sex up, you've got the lucky girl who may or may not get killed at the end, and you've got the background people who make an impression but don't stick with you. Oh, and I forgot, the stoner, you've got the stoner and the bad ass who you KNOW is going to be the bad guy!
I had high hopes for this movie. As a horror movie is was a gore fest with exploding heads and people slipping in blood. There was in fact blood everywhere. Which, bonus, makes it an actually horror movie! I have watched a bunch of movies lately that have been labeled horror and have been more of a thriller or suspense, so while this wasn't a good movie, I was pleased that it was a horror movie. As I started, I had high hopes for this movie, but it was just another movie about people being forced to survive by, well, killing other people. It isn't an original idea, and the end of the movie leads the audience to believe that there will be a second movie.
I am sure there are people who disagree with me, but hey, it's one opinion. I didn't care for it. I wish I could find a horror movie to scare me, or make me think, or at least make me check under the bed before I go to sleep.