Ever seen the Canadian cult sci-fi thriller Cube?
How about Netflix's adaptation if the Stephen King story In The Long Grass?
Well, imagine the story of the first, but the setting of the second. That is what you have here.
And that's it. There's nothing new, nothing imaginative; just "Cube, but in a field".
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't bored at all, but everything just seemed too familiar. But there were other problems.
Some parts where painfully predictable. Others where the most over-played of clichés (the ex-soldier still haunted by how he let his platoon down, anyone?).
At one point, a character makes reference to something they couldn't have known about. It seems like a really clumsy hint that this character is not to be trusted, but it's never followed up, so why include it? Either the film-makers thought it was a clever way of second guessing the audience (it's not, because it makes things even more nonsensical) or they were not aware of their own continuity.
How about the "Impassable door" that totally blocks our heroes, only for one of them very shortly later to pass through (off camera and without any explanation or reference) with no apparent difficulty. Twice!
As I said, despite all the criticisms, I can't claim I wasn't entertained. The pace was good, and the acting largely fine (though a few of the characters were so 2D they would hardly have been missed however well acted).
It's just that, at best, it offered nothing new and, at worst, fell prey to all manner of clichés and plot-contrivences.
How about Netflix's adaptation if the Stephen King story In The Long Grass?
Well, imagine the story of the first, but the setting of the second. That is what you have here.
And that's it. There's nothing new, nothing imaginative; just "Cube, but in a field".
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't bored at all, but everything just seemed too familiar. But there were other problems.
Some parts where painfully predictable. Others where the most over-played of clichés (the ex-soldier still haunted by how he let his platoon down, anyone?).
At one point, a character makes reference to something they couldn't have known about. It seems like a really clumsy hint that this character is not to be trusted, but it's never followed up, so why include it? Either the film-makers thought it was a clever way of second guessing the audience (it's not, because it makes things even more nonsensical) or they were not aware of their own continuity.
How about the "Impassable door" that totally blocks our heroes, only for one of them very shortly later to pass through (off camera and without any explanation or reference) with no apparent difficulty. Twice!
As I said, despite all the criticisms, I can't claim I wasn't entertained. The pace was good, and the acting largely fine (though a few of the characters were so 2D they would hardly have been missed however well acted).
It's just that, at best, it offered nothing new and, at worst, fell prey to all manner of clichés and plot-contrivences.