‘Exaltation’ Review: Humanity Is A Brisk Sci-Fi Monster Movie

An unexpected milestone in the release schedule features the lifelike art of “Elevation,” which depicts America’s near future as at once bleak and full of dubious danger. This isn’t “Civil War,” though, it’s a monster movie — one involving mysterious creatures that exterminate all humans below 8,000 feet.

Playing more like an action film than a horror, George Nolfi’s film stars Anthony Mackie as a father whose son’s medical needs force him to descend into dangerous territory. It’s a straightforward post-apocalyptic survival story that lacks original ideas that go hand in hand with solid creativity. It opens live in nearly 1,400 US theaters on November 8, with openings in many other locations also planned for later this year.

The script by John Glenn, Jacob Roman and Kenny Ryan opens with a black screen, on which we hear snippets of news reports that continue to panic. They suggest a series of natural disasters in which people can only be driven to seek higher ground.

“Three years later,” says the text on the screen, the Rocky Mountains look better than ever. But as a boy who wanders under the security line – hoping to see people other than those in his isolated area – discovers, they too have received tank-sized, speedy “Reapers”, seemingly indestructible. (Actually, these are flightless insects that make a noise reminiscent of the critters in the movies “Alien” and “Predator.”) “Those giant murder bugs hatched on the ground,” as one player here put it. say, they already exist. it has killed most sentient life on earth. Reluctantly, 8-year-old Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr.) is lucky to avoid that fate.

But he’s lonely and unhappy in the “Lost Gulch Refuge,” an old mountain town whose 200 or so residents now include some children — even Hunter’s mother, who never returned from the trip. unstable with his neighbor Nina (Lord Baccarin). ) in the past. That’s the only thing her father Will (Mackie) has against Nina, a naive scientist who persuades his wife to accompany him in hopes of reaching a Boulder laboratory where who could devise a deadly solution to the insect-human problem.

Back in frontier times, with candlelight as the main light after dark, this hamlet is self-sustaining. But despite his troubles, Hunter has frequent, severe breathing problems, and Will has just used the last filter needed to use the oxygen machine that saves him during these attacks. unexpected. Like it or not, dad has to go down to Boulder to find a new supply. Nina, the only person who has fought monsters and lived, reluctantly agrees to go with him, motivated by the stubborn belief that she can weave a “magic bullet” that can overcome the defenses of see. In addition, Katie (Maddie Hasson), a young woman who loves Will very much – and she does not like the antagonist Nina more than he does.

What Katie calls “Earth’s new predators” will soon recognize a new prey as soon as the three cross the line. Their first narrow escape is a ski lift which they manage to get working in a while. Will has found a way to reduce exposure by walking part of the old mine shafts – but it turns out the Reapers are there too. Not everyone lives to see the city destroyed, although there is finally hope for our species… although the tag sequence, keeps the door open to a possible sequence , suggesting that bad news may come from an outside source.

Making his fourth directorial debut after stints on “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Ocean’s Twelve,” among others, Nolfi adds mid-level material to give “Elevation” a broader perspective. Cinematographer Shelly Johnson takes full advantage of Colorado’s beauty, while director Nathan McGuinness’s four-foot-tall footage is seen to be satisfying, even though most of it is captured on camera. while eyes are editor Joel Viertel. H. Scott Salinas’ grand orchestral score also helps to flesh out a film whose level of worldly problems is almost belied by the limited self-respect of the on-screen artist.

The performances also rise above what the monster movie means, and Mackie (who also starred in Nolfi’s 2020 high-profile drama “The Banker”) brings his charisma and conviction. Baccarin pulls off a character who proves to be more relatable than he first appears, while Hasson sympathetically plays the understated role.

In the end, “Elevation” does not have a book or special qualities to remember, even among individual settings – it is a combination of elements from “Pitch Black,” “Jurassic Park,” and on the screen of a dystopian future. views multiplying each month. But it’s polished and fun enough to make up for that skill, at least for an hour and a half of entertainment.