Welcome to The Mundane Adventures of a Fangirl

I consider myself a Fangirl. What does that mean, you ask? A "fanboy" in the most common understanding is a hardcore fan of 'genre' based entertainment in particular. In my case - science-fiction and comic book based movies and television. Because I'm a chick - it's fangirl, not fanboy. There you have it! I am a big movie fan, however, not necessarily a 'film' fan. And now - I have the forum to present my opinions to the public! These will mainly be movie reviews -that will always be my opinion - repeat OPINION. Just what I think, and in no way do I present my opinion as fact. I hope you enjoy and maybe it will help you decide what to see at the movie theater this weekend!

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Movie Review: Code 8 (R – 98 minutes)


In responsibly continuing to self-isolate, I watched Code 8 on Netflix. 

In the world of Code 8, about 4% of the population is born ‘powered’. Some are “tks” or telekinetics, some are ‘brawns’ or super strong, some are ‘pyros’ and can generate heat from their hands, some are ‘electrics’ and guess what they can do.  They are treated as lower-class, mostly using their powers for work when possible.  Occasionally one will commit a crime and that’s enough to make the regular people kick around the idea of banning, expelling, or locking up the powered folks.  This results in many of them deciding to hide their abilities to avoid persecution.

We meet Connor, an electric, who is busy using his powers on various construction gigs to gather enough money to help his mother’s medical bills.  She seems to have cold powers and a tumor pushing on her brain that causes her to lose control of those powers from time to time. There’s certainly treatment, but it’s really expensive.  Connor’s doing his best to stay on the straight and narrow, earning honest money but an encounter with the cops and their robotic guardians when they raid his construction site makes him angry. When his mother’s condition worsens, he starts to get desperate.  When a mysterious crew shows up looking for an electric, he joins them, barely hesitating when they start committing crimes.  Add in a situation with ‘Psyke’ a drug made from powered folks, a mind-reading crime boss, and a healer trapped in a bad situation, and things for Connor get more complicated by the minute.

Code 8 started as a crowd-funded short starring the Amells and directed by Jeff Chan.  With the success of the crowd-funding, the full-length version was made.  I was surprised by how much I liked it. It’s a tight little story that feels familiar but with just enough sci-fi additions to keep it interesting.  It managers to keep feeling small and independent even with the futuristic flair.  The story is good, the characters interesting, and the execution great.

The Amells, both Robbie and Stephen, don’t bother to employ some of the tricks used in Young Guns to hide the Estevez-Sheen relationship.  In case you weren’t sure why Charlie Sheen wears that silly hat for most of that movie – it was to make it harder to see that he and Emilio were brothers.  Here, Stephen has his season 7 (or 6?) Arrow beard, but he and Robbie still look very similar.  The cousins worked together to get this project off the ground and they both bring a groundedness to their characters. Robbie gives Connor a relatability as he struggles with the day to day living that makes the audience feel for him.  He makes some questionable decisions but its easy to see why.

Stephen plays Garrett, the TK leader of a shady thievery crew filled out by Vlad Alexis’s Freddy and Laysla De Oliveira’s Maddy.  

Freddy’s a brawn and Maddy’s a pyro but they need Connor’s electrical abilities to pull off their latest heist.  It’s hard not to see Oliver Queen in Garrett, but Stephen does a good job of being just enough different.

Kari Matchett plays Mary, Connor’s mother. She’s desperate to keep him from making the same mistakes that his father made – namely falling into crime. 
Greg Byrk plays Marcus Sutcliffe, the aforementioned mind-reading crime boss and Kyla Kane plays the healer he keeps near him.  He does a great job of being creepy and she does a great job of looking like she really wants to get away from him. 

Aaron Abrams, who recently annoyed me on Blindspot, plays one of the cops after Sutcliffe and company. Sung Kang (#JusticeForHan) plays Agent Park, his partner on this expedition. The two of them are really interesting and the movie just barely gets to introduce some issues that Park is having as a result of his ex-wife and powered daughter.

8 out of 10 – Like I said, surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It’s a fast-paced and interesting little crime drama with an added sci-fi bonus. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel to see what Garret and Connor get up to later on.  Overall, I highly recommend it, make your own popcorn and do some deep-couch sitting to enjoy this one on Netflix.


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