Discuss Captive State
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Refreshingly Creative
posted by northcoastSTAFFMOD on March 16, 2019 at 6:09 PM
I thought this was an effective Sci-Fi film; without revealing any major spoilers, this movie takes place after the governments of the world have surrendered to an invading alien force; there was apparently a brief war beforehand, but under the terms of the Armistice the nations of the world have disbanded their armed forces. However, police forces remain, but must collaborate with the mostly-unseen aliens, who maintain a presence in a network of underground structures, while patrolling the skies above in massive asteroid-like spacecraft.
On the Earth's surface, humans live more-or-less normal lives, although the Internet has been deactivated and the rest of our technology is slowly decaying; on occasion, some humans are forcibly removed from the planet by the aliens, and there is a sense that the world's population is slowly but steadily declining (there is an inference at one point in the film that medical schools have even been closed under the terms of the Armistice).
Much of what you see in the film is not directly explained, and the viewer is left to fill in the blanks on his or her own; this is definitely a "show-don't-tell" film (the best kind, in my opinion-- what a good film should be).
John Goodman turns in a good performance, as does Vera Farmiga in her brief appearances; the main protagonist-- Ashton Sanders as Gabriel Drummond --I did not find as interesting, but his performance was adequate.
The action sequences in this film are few and far between, and short when they do occur; most reviewers I read online found this frustrating, but I found it refreshing considering all these action-for-the-sake-of-action flavor-of-the-month superhero movies we've been getting lately. I'd give "Captive State" a solid 3.5 out of 5 on the TMDB scale.
Give this film a shot if you'd like a break from all the DC versus Marvel nonsense.
Reply by Innovator
on March 17, 2019 at 3:47 PM
I saw it last night. This movie actually reminded me more of a political spy drama (like Tinker Sailor Soldier Spy or Three Days of the Condor) only with aliens. It's a very different take of the sci-fi genre that's for sure, I'm not sure if I liked it though. I'm giving it a meh. 🤔
Reply by northcoast
on March 17, 2019 at 4:20 PM
Hi, Innovator; thanks for your reply.
I was actually thinking this could fit in with the Cloverfield movies-- as in the aftermath of an alien victory following Earth's initial resistance in Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane.
But your comparing it to spy thrillers could also work; there are many different ways to interpret this film, which is a major reason I like it so much.
Reply by cpheonix
on June 22, 2019 at 7:36 PM
I think you summed it up very well; I was hooked. Some scenes didn't flow as smoothly as it probably could, but all in all it was a different take and I enjoyed it, especially the way it kept you guessing throughout the film even up until the end. Ironically I'd say the action scene involving the alien in the car park was out of place and felt off.
One thing I did find odd was how the Resistance thought they could take down the alien race even though one assumes the major world powers used every arsenal available during "the war". This is even more perplexing considering the scene previously mentioned involving the alien showed an average human killing one of them with his bare hands/fire extinguisher (yes I know he also ripped off what appeared to be a breathing mask, but the fact he was able to subdue the alien seemed wrong).
Reply by Ask Me Anything
on September 7, 2019 at 12:25 AM
I finally got around to seeing this and although it managed to hold my interest, I can't recommend it.
I agree that "show don't tell" is always better, but there was A LOT of unexplained plot points here. I was able to get the gist of what was going on but I do not really get the ending. All those people died so John Goodman could do what exactly? I think they mention the aliens are after natural resources, but why keep the humans alive?
I didn't hate the movie I just would have liked a little more background on how the world works.