Captive State movie review

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 49 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: D+

IN A NUTSHELL: Global invasion. Rebellion. Alien forces are the new legislators. Twists. Sounds intriguing and exciting, right? Well, not so much. Unfortunately, this film is confusing, messy, and boring. It did NOT hold me captive.

Written and directed by Rupert Wyatt, this film isn’t a big alien, action blockbuster, but instead, more of a political espionage thriller that analyzes humans who rebel against their alien captors versus other humans who have grown to get along with the aliens after 10 years of captivity.

A thinking man’s alien movie that I like soooo much more is Arrival

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

There is quite a bit of reading at the beginning of the movie, so young children won’t know what’s going on. They’ll be super bored by this movie anyway.
Profanity
A teen carries around a joint.
Some blood.
Violence.

THEMES:

“Light a match. Ignite a war.” – Rafe Drummond (Jonathan Majors)
Humanity
Trust

THINGS I LIKED:

The premise and subject matter are very interesting and could have made for a really great movie.
It was directed by Rupert Wyatt, who did Rise Of The Planet of the Apes, which I really liked. This movie doesn’t feel anything like that one though.
I really like Vera Farmiga, so I was disappointed that she was only on screen for a few minutes.
John Goodman is solid, but he spends quite a few scenes staring at various computer monitors.
Ashton Sanders did a good job and was believable.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It takes a long time to get interested in the characters and what’s happening to them.
Messy cinematography.
Machine Gun Kelly actually got a chest injury from being punched by another character.
Overacting.
The aliens’ motivations are unclear.
I hate shaky cam.
There’s really no main character. We don’t see any character growth. It’s really hard to feel invested in anyone.
You get to see some aliens but they are either fuzzy or CGI.
During the stadium scene, the lady didn’t sing “The Star-Spangled Banner”, but instead, sings the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Why? Are we supposed to think that the aliens changed the national anthem? Perhaps the most realistic reason is that people are supposed to stand and put their hands over their hearts when they hear the national anthem and the director didn’t want the audience to have to do that….??? Why do I care? That was one of the few scenes that had any color and felt real.
I guess I blinked and missed it. I never saw anything that looked like the movie poster.