What stood out most was the overall tone and how cliche it was - I get nothing from this short film that I couldn't experience elsewhere. Slavic antagonists and NATO protagonists, obligatory mindless shootouts and interrogation scene, abandoned compound base, plot armor in the shootouts, etc.
My second biggest gripe would be that I don't know what the hell is really going on, which is a problem severely worsened by the very fast pace. I think the film should have been more accessible to people who aren't familiar with the universe, because I had to spend a substantial amount of time just trying to figure out what was meant to be what.
The world is not portrayed in an immersive or realistic way, which is unengaging. Everything is tailored to serve the plot, rather than to feel like a realistic location that the plot could transpire in. There's a lack of wide shots and slow moments to help you understand the vibes that the characters might be feeling. Instead, it's all just nonestop character-focused action moments or infodumping, without room to breathe.
Smaller details such as the amount of bullets in a magazine, girls having their hair tied back to avoid intrusion, the technical realism of how computers are used, and the amount of injuries sustained in a fight all add up to create a piece of media that just doesn't feel a) realistic and b) technically analyzed by the people who concieved it.
There's also a distinct lack of mystique to the world, and a spy-thriller without mystique is just mindless action in my opinion. Compared to something like John Wick, which builds a lot of mystique both around Wick himself as well as the organisation he worked for, everything in this short film just feels soulless and without deeper intrigue or purpose.
The acting is decidedly unimpressive. Everyone feels almost like they're playing a caricature of the stereotypical roles that they're playing. They all feel superficial, like they have no deeper meaning behind why they act the way they do, and nobody plays off of eachother in a way that appears charismatic or charming at all. I would believe you if you told me every character has their takes filmed in isolation, and were only ever put in the scene together in post. It all just feels very stiff, forced, and unnatural.
There is nothing that particularly stood out about any of the characters in terms of their unique world views or personalities.
Dialogue was flat and boring. It's like that scene in every Christopher Nolan movie where a character tries to explain an overly complicated concept and the majority of the audience just doesn't catch on or care, except in Rogue Elements that scene is 20% of the runtime. I don't care about the specifics of what the characters are trying to do; I care about the characters themselves. What do they value, what do they disagree on, what are their motives. There's just no nuance in this regard, and if they're is then its veiled behind knowledge that isn't conveyed to people who aren't already familiar with the source material.
The only line that stood out to me was when the antagonist replied with "Oh come on, how many 'good men' are dead because of Hastings, because of her?" as it made me actually think about where the morality of each faction was aligned for a moment, as opposed to just mindlessly follow along with "good guys" killing "bad guys". But maybe I only even questioned that because I know nothing about either side and what they're even standing for in the first place.
Lastly, the music is just overbearing, as was the intro sequence. The phrase self-indulgent comes to mind. Use a big crescendo for the climax of an important moment, sure, but I don't need stuff to be blaring 24/7. Let me soak in the atmosphere of the world instead - the sound of gunshots, footsteps and muffled voices, or the silence of a room filled with tension.
My biggest praise for the show would be that the action is visceral and crunchy, despite the fact that all fights are unrealistically one-sided, and the choreography was pretty good too.
I thought the visuals and set designs were nice, and although I thought the colour palette was very bland and uninspired, at least each scene had it's own vibe going on.
For Drinker - I really think you'd earn a huge amount of respect for making a video highlighting what exactly happened in this project, whether it's going to affect your perspective on anything moving forward, and what you've learned fron it. As it stands I think you've lost some sort of credibility as a critic if you're behind the production of something with such glaring amateur mistakes.
