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Chris Eberle
A decade after aliens have colonized Earth to plunder its resources, an underground army struggles to fight back and reclaim the planet. With many humans collaborating with the invaders, its up to a small band of citizens to ignite a war by covert means. William Mulligan (Goodman) heads a law enforcement agency tasked with keeping order in Chicago and rooting out insurgents. Gabriel (Sanders) becomes caught up in a plan that could change the course of humanity’s future. Each side finds itself asking how far they’re willing to go to fight for their beliefs.
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2019, Color, Rated PG-13, 1 Hr 49 mins
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Rating
Violence: Yes
Sex: Brief
Language: Moderate
If you’re a fan of the now-canceled TV series Colony, you’ll enjoy this film. It’s hard to imagine a planet-wide alien invasion going any other way. There will always be people that pick the side they think will benefit them rather than doing what’s right for everyone. In Captive State, we see a world firmly in the grip of the invaders. John Goodman’s character leads a brutal law enforcement agency that operates without due process or any sort of ethics. The insurgents face immense challenges starting with the trackers everyone has implanted in their bodies. Despite this, they come up with truly clever ways to further their agenda. Pacing is a bit slow and confusing at times and it’s not always easy to decipher who is on which side. But the viewer’s patience is rewarded with a truly clever plot twist that takes the movie from derivative to original in just a few minutes. It’s certainly worth a rental but I can’t see it being watched more than once.
The image is mostly clear and sharp with good contrast. The color palette is murky and drab which fits the story, but I found it a bit flat overall. Occasional shots looked soft as though the camera was slow to focus.
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Audio is impactful and makes some use of the sub and surrounds but doesn’t quite reach the reference level. Dialog is clear and centered and the front sound stage is broad and deep.
There are two short documentaries totaling less than 11 minutes. The first one talks about the inspiration for the movie and the second discusses production design. You also get audio commentary from the director and executive producer.