Spiderhead

I can say it is worth a watch. I do like Chris Hemsworth's charismatic personality and it's nice to see him do something other than Thor outside of the Marvel comic book films. I almost didn't recognize Miles Teller. Although I think this was a missed opportunity to have these two guys work together in a much better film. But the film wasn't remarkable, and I don't think anyone will remember it a year from now. As for a sci-fi film, it wasn't a good one. It could have been, but it wasn't.

Your enjoyment levels of 'Spiderhead' are going to require some suspensions of disbelief. You're going to have to accept Chris Hemsworth as a scientist, you're going to have to accept Miles Teller as a prisoner and you're going to have to accept possibly the most unrealistic prison environment ever put to screen. If you can get past those things you should have a decent time.

The premise was a bit of a let down for me. In theory there are some interesting concepts stemming from it that they could've explored, but they seemed intent on not straying too far. The script really does get the bare minimum out of the idea.

Teller and Hemsworth are what keep this afloat. Even if their casting may seem a little silly, their charisma makes up for it. At least one of the them is on screen in every scene. I can see this film totally falling flat without their star-power in the lead roles.

I didn't hate this film, I just wanted more. There was a point where I thought it was actually setting itself up nicely to have a dark and twisted turn. But it never came and what played out was pretty forgettable and uninspired. It's not a terrible watch but don't go in expecting anything game-changing. 6/10.

The result is a movie that is less thought-provoking and more aggressively lame. Hemsworth's charismatic persona and Teller's dramatic performance are not enough to keep this film afloat. Everything culminates in a bonkers final act that's surprisingly awful. Once again, the tone is all over the place as the film ends with a jarring shift to a needle-drop action sequence that feels all over the place in a so-bad-it's-good way. What had the potential to be a darkly funny, suspenseful, claustrophobic sci-fi story amounts to none of that, leading to a colossal miscalculation that you won't care for once the credits roll.

Spiderhead banks heavily on its lead performers, and both Hemsworth and Teller deliver the goods when the plot struggles to. Very early on, you smell a lighter version of Ex-Machina (replace the robot with mind-control drugs), with several random tonal shifts. The writers (Rhett Rheese & Paul Wernick) are known for tickling the funny bone, but I think this film would have benefited from a more serious, psychological approach - which, credit where it's due - it did to some extent. The romantic subplot, while nice to see, ended up being exploited (such a cliché) as expected. The conclusion isn't all that exciting, because by then, Spiderhead has fully embraced its weirdness and is unfortunately stuck between making viewers care and giving closure to the plot.

An intriguing premise alone isn't enough to push this film into "good" territory. You keep waiting for something really interesting to happen, but it just sort of fizzles out near the end without ever reaching a satisfying crescendo.

Hemsworth's charm is on display and is the highlight for sure. Teller is fine, as are most of the other cast members. The story seems to be building towards some big twist or crazy moment, and while there isn't nothing, I feel it didn't quite justify the two hour expenditure.