I'm always looking for a new science fiction movie to watch.
Unfortunately, Netflix hasn't been providing me with many options.
Of course, part of that has to do with my selection process. I typically look at IMDb and if movie has a rating that is 7 or higher, I decide that is worth watching. I will sometimes go as low as 6
I know the number score on IMDb isn't necessarily indicative of how good a movie is, but it can help when choosing what to watch. When a movie has a rating that is less than 5 it sometimes tells me there's something just not quite right about it. The Call Up is rated 4.9.
I almost turned away from it after reading that rating, except for the fact that the main review stated that it should have been rated much higher. I decided I would give it a shot. What the heck.
So without further ado, here's my review of The Call Up.
Source: Imdb.com
First of all, I did not recognize any of the actors in this movie. That is not uncommon for a low-budget flick. It certainly does not affect my enjoyment level.
After reading about the movie, I thought to myself this movie actually sounds like it could be pretty good.
A group of online gamers are invited to try a state-of-the-art virtual reality video game but things take a turn for the sinister when these masters of the shoot 'em up discover they will literally be fighting for their lives.
A group of online gamers selected randomly from around the world are gathered together on the top floor of a tall building.
They find their way into a locker room where they are given instructions to put on a white suit. I say given instructions but in actuality there are no other people in this building. They have to figure out what to do on their own. The winner of the game gets $100,000, so they have to do what is expected of them.
Once everyone gets their suit on and pulls the headset down, they realize that the suit itself is able to create an artificial environment that seems incredibly real.
They are playing some sort of war game. Everyone agrees that's really cool.
However, it appears that once you get shot your armor disappears, and if you get shot again you actually get hurt in the game. You have to use something like a healing agent in order to heal yourself. If you don't have one then you will actually die because the suit itself kills you. It cannot be removed.
The group has to make it to the bottom floor of the building so that they can exit. The winner gets $100,000 which means that the person with the highest points could possibly become rich.
It's also possible that nobody will make it out alive. This game is incredibly difficult and seems designed to harm the players.
Source: Giphy.com
Even though this is a low budget film everything seems realistic. I thought that it looked really good.
I also really enjoy the idea of the game. It's put together well and the theme is absolutely spot on.
The first 80% of the movie is just absolutely great. We don't really run into problems until about the last 20%. There are a few teen angsty moments that don't fit into the movie because they are completely out of the blue.
The ending could certainly have been done a lot better. It's almost like they had a really great movie for about 80% of it and then the last 20% was more than they could figure out what to do with.
So I would give the first 80% of it something like a 7.8 and the last 20% something like a 3.4.
I definitely think it deserves better than a 4.9 on IMDb though.
It's not the best movie out there, but it will definitely satisfy your desire for a decent sci-fi flick and you certainly won't feel disappointed watching it.
To tell you the truth I really enjoyed this movie.
If you enjoy science fiction movies that I think you'll like this one too.