Lovely film about family, “kin”, and friendship, with just a dash of crime, danger and sci-fi.

———

I enjoyed how little the sci-fi was, and how we don’t actually know what their story was. I enjoy open stories like these. Elijah will know some day, when he’s older. For now, he’ll just be waiting. Like us. In case they do make a follow-up. The lady from the FBI did say “We’re not done” though, so that might be a bit of foreshadowing.

I usually get hung up on when people do exceptionally stupid things, but here we had a nice balance with Elijah, who pretty much only did the smart things. Which is probably one of the things that would remind of Stranger Things - it not necessarily being the adults making the best decisions. Jimmy with his wasting of money, and going right back down a slippery slope of gambling… really? You’re technically free, and you’re going to waste the bit of money you have on hotel rooms that probably cost $500 a night and go to Nevada out of all places.

Ty wasn’t doing so much better - Jimmy’s counter part. Why he wouldn’t at least cuff Jimmy at the police station while going off to check in the noise is beyond me. There must have been tons of sets ready for use.

Loved the ending! In all ways. And yes, it was “pretty cool”.

Some movies create their own genres by being something original. Others try to create their own genres by taking aspects of others and forcing it into a mold. This film is one of the latter.

Eli (Truitt) is the adopted son of construction boss Hal Solinski (Quaid) whose biological son Jimmy (Reynor) has just gotten out of jail. Hal is full of hope for the 14-year-old Eli (who is smart but introverted) but disappointed on the older Jimmy. However, it is Eli who discovers an alien weapon when scrounging around for scrap metal in an abandoned factory near his Detroit home.

Jimmy owes crime boss Taylor (Franco) a whole lot of money and in order to protect his dad and kid brother (whom he genuinely cares for) decides to steal the cash to pay Taylor. Things don’t go according to plan and soon Jimmy and Eli end up on the road (with Eli blissfully ignorant of the real reason why) being chased not only by vengeful gangsters but also by mysterious aliens who want their gun back.

This late summer sci-fi action crime road coming of age film actually has some things going for it. For one, the special effects – a combination of the digital and the practical – aren’t half-bad. For another, Franco makes for a truly hissable villain. A late-film cameo by A-list habitue Jordan is also a welcome sight.

But the movie is, oh, so predictable. The plot feels unnecessarily manufactured and none of the characters seem particularly personable. They’re all pretty one dimensional without much depth to them at all. The story feels like something you’ve already seen – and yeah, there haven’[t been a lot of alien weapon movies in the archives, but there have been a few.

There isn’t a lot here to recommend it but then again, there isn’t a lot here either to discourage you from seeing it. This is the kind of movie you watch and forget about ten minutes later. If that sounds like something you need, have at it. Otherwise, there are plenty of much better sci-fi action films out there to occupy your time.

Pretty predictable and not entirely original, but a positive viewing experience was had. Not a lover, but I'm into enough to jump back on board if there is ever a follow-up.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._