There were so many good films out this week so I was spoilt for choice – I saw the poster for the film earlier in the week while walking down the main street. I know we have already been to see Mission Impossible this week but I had to go and see this film as well.
I had no expectations at all. I thought it would be a wholesome family film and by looking at the average age of the audience in the cinema (11-12 years of age), you would assume it to be a family film. But don’t let that fool you. This film is about survival. It’s full of action-packed scenes but instead of adults being the main characters, it’s the children taking on the main role.
The film starts off all nice; happy family life continues as normal and then BANG kids start dying! All of a sudden 90% of kids in the world are dead and the kids that survive are imprisoned. For those who haven’t seen the trailer, this film is about a disease that only children can contract. Most of the children that are affected by the disease die but those who survive the disease now have special powers. The surviving children are rounded up and imprisoned. Their special powers range from advanced intelligence to telekinesis to mind-control. The children are given a colour that represents the level of super power they have. If they are assigned an orange or red colour they are immediately terminated because they are apparently too powerful to control.
Our lead character, Ruby, (played by Amandla Stenburg) is a 16 year old girl. She is also an orange. Since she was captured at the age of 10, she has been able to hide her powers to blend in and survive. Since the disease erupted, all the children of the world are imprisoned, working as slaves; there are no more children left in the world, adults have moved to the city for work, schools are closed down and playgrounds are left deserted. This film follows the events of Ruby’s life as she eventually escapes the camp and must find a way to survive in the outside world.
Although it is dark in parts it is also funny as we are reminded at times that these are just children who are expected to drive cars in fast chases and fire guns without any previous training, living off scraps they find in closed down shopping malls. The acting by these young actors and actresses is really good. There is even a sweet love interest which emphasizes a teenage crush one might have at that age. I’m not going to give away too many plot secrets but this is the first in what, I believe, will be a number of sequels. This film is only the appetizer of a three course meal.
If you enjoy trilogies like the Maze Runner, this is definitely the film for you. It’s definitely another must watch film. It has left me wanting to see more and now I can’t wait for the next instalment to be made!
Next week, we will be crapping ourselves at the cinema as we watch “The Meg”. None of us are really good at watching thriller/horror films so this should be interesting!
Mean Productions 