I SUMMON THEE,
@zinfamous
Rogue -
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11576124/
ugh - that 3.8/10 on IMDb can't be good.
Scene-by-scene;
1. introduction; africa - we are made aware of various smuggling operation, such as .. a lion farm (?).
Seal Team Punani - a group of ruff'n'gruff mercenaries, captained by Megan Fox, is observing one such smuggler's camps; after a careful approach, they blow up a building with explosives to cause a distraction, so they can infiltrate the camp. The target is located - the smugglers are trafficking women.
The smugglers catch them in the act. A chase ensues as they escape with the prisoners. Big firefight, some good guys are killed, eventually they jump off a cliff - end scene.
ok so; lots of strong colour - i like this. Some inappropriate CGI with the lions, it could be omitted entirely without problem.
Megan Fox voice sounds think and squeeky; everyone else's sounds like they could actually be mercenaries.
There's multiple, really brief, super inappropriate attempts at comedy where characters have not yet been established, AND in an otherwise serious scene.
The extras all do a good job. It's obvious that they have the "serious" side of the film.
Fox vaguely tries to impose herself - there are too many hostages in the camp, only one is what they came for, they should leave the others - but immediately gives in to her colleagues.
Not a terrible scene, but not great either. 20 minutes, and i don't know if i'm watching Sicario, or if it's a romcom.
poor direction and camerawork. Good photography.
2. interior, night - abandoned farm. Seal Team Punani is hiking back with two hostages. They have sustained casualties, the mood is low. They come upon an abandoned farm where they recuperate.
Through exposition we learn that Fox is good at her job.
We find that the equipment is damaged. How will they get off this farm?
After a few minutes getting acquainted with the characters, we find that the farm is a lion farm from the introduction.
One of the side characters is eliminated and we come upon the antagonist (?) of the film - escaped CGI lions.
Sorry, i meant to say, "escaped bulletproof CGI lions". Looks like we are going down the route of the horror film.
Lighting
3. interior, night - abandoned farm.
STP are discussing what to do; one of the side characters spouts the film title:
"some lions go ROGUE(r), they like to kill".
The heroes are out of ammo, and they need to Get The Generator Started. To do this they need to move silently in dangerous lion territory. Am i watching .. a ZOMBIE MOVIE?!?!
Yup. I totally am. There is a 100% zombie movie jumpscare too.
Not terrible, mind you, just, very obvious. Also, you can't have this kind of film without sacrificing a character for every scene.
The generator is now running. They radio home but that's a negative on extraction, "we're not gonna make the night".
(the hostages .. have some very inappropriate dialogue throughout, but, they could have made a more convincing lead than Fox; she even has a truly embarrassing "you know i am a captain bruh" line of dialogue that wins worst delivery of 2020.)
4. interior night, abandoned farm.
More ..... i know i've *just* used the word "embarrassing" but .... embarrassing CGI jumpscares.
Something explodes. The smugglers are back, and this scares the CGI lion away.
The heroes take some guns from the smugglers, and there is an extended firefight scene. The farm is burning.
Why are these smugglers kitted out to look like arab insurgents?
Now that Megan Fox is doing more of the shooting and less of the talking, the film has improved.
One of the hostages gets blood on her hands. Two of the mercs have a knife fight (idk why).
5. exterior night, abandoned farm.
The showdown with the bad guy head smuggler. He is Bri'ish. He is eaten by the lion, obviously. Good screaming tho.
6. exterior day, abandoned farm.
Conclusion. Everyone is wounded but happy, and a helicopter arrives. There is even a title card that says some stuff about lion farms, like the film we just watched has a pretense of being a serious, involved film about lion farming. sad lols.
i'm already getting an idea that with a believable lead and a decent director, this film could have been substantially better. The casting , Fox aside, is pretty good - these guys look ugly and mean. And, if you gon' have a military movie, maybe hire a consultant, because some of the tactics are horrible.
But, as we said, it's closer to a zombie film that to a military action film, and, you know, it's not horrible, the only real problem is that it wants to be better than it is, because if this film was more self-aware, it could have been even a 6/10 - just stick to ONE script, not two, and don't try to be too serious, when you got scenes like a character yelling "we are saved" and then getting jumpscare-killed by f* CGI lions.
But, because in the end, it's a pretentious piece of shlock, my final vote is
5/10