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Kill Command
(2016)
Dir.: Steven Gomez
Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Thure Lindhardt, David Ajala

Released earlier this year to little fanfare, Kill Command is a science fiction action-thriller that follows a military unit training on a remote island facility that unbeknownst to them, is home to an advanced quantum warfare AI. This robot, known as a Study Analyse Reprogram unit, is capable of learning tactics from the human fighters and adapting that information to use against them. With communications to their base blocked, the team has no one to rely on other than an android from the corporation in charge of the operation, who may be withholding information from the others.

Aside from a couple of poorly done green screen shots, the effects work in this film is rather impressive, especially considering that it had a total production budget of just £1,000,000. It's not so surprising after you learn that Steven Gomez' background is in visual effects, but I've seen worse robots in big budget blockbuster films, so that's still a pretty big accomplishment. On top of that, the production design is solid, and the cinematography is far more professional than what I was anticipating from this kind of film.



Even though the story is following a very common formula, the film is fairly successful at pulling the whole thing together, mostly thanks to its notable visuals. However due to a lazy script, most of the characters are rather bland, and with frequently weak performances from some of the actors, the film is really dragged down by their lack of charisma and personality. The acting never really comes across as bad or amateur, but it does little to interest viewers or to elicit any emotional response when they're being hunted by the S.A.R. Unit and its drones.

The premise is simple, and unlike the antagonist AI, never evolves into anything more complex. If you've seen Predator (1987), Aliens (1986), or any one of the myriad of other action sci-fi films to come out over the past few decades, then you can easily predict exactly what is going to happen in Kill Command. However that predictability doesn't mean that the film is not worth watching. Other than a boring script, there's nothing inherently wrong with Kill Command, and with its lean runtime and interesting visuals, it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre. Just be warned that it's nothing you haven't seen before.



Do you want Predator but with a bigger action finale? Then check out Kill Command.