Arcadian

Nick Cage kicking ugly CGI wannabe *A Quiet Place* alien ass never gets old but I wish we saw a lot more of that. A real shame Cage is barely in the movie but that's not the biggest problem here. I found it quite creepy when we first see the monsters in the cave but they lose their charm real quick when you see the full body reveal. Not very frightening, how could humanity lose to these loser aliens?? The mouth and spinning wheel thing was pretty funny though, added a tonally inconsistent campy feel to it. A unique creature design that's for sure. Anytime they make an appearance and the movie builds a bit of suspence, the scene is rushed, ended, and then we're back to the boring character stuff. Nothing productive or satisfying with the character interactions either. Dumb and frustrating decision making, some logic problems and overall just boring when there's no monster on-screen. Annoying shaky camera and I wish we actually saw what was happening during the action.

Ignore the negative reviews, Arcadian is a really good sci-fi horror thriller - it’s tense, well written. Cage is great, as usual. The story isn’t complicated, as all films should be - a battle against evil, a fight to survive against the odds, a fathers sacrificial love for his sons, boy meets girl - just good, honest, story telling. Also, it’s encouraging to see a lack of shoe-horned woke inclusivity, why? Because every film doesn’t need a token diverse cast for the sake of it. People deep down care about the fundamentals in life, love / hate / passion / sacrifice / revenge / jealousy / good vs evil - and Arcadian manages to touch on some of these core values that make great stories.