Oh, that word and all of its derivatives.
Elevation and elevated genres have become an integral part of cinema related discussions in recent years. The idea behind it, suggesting that certain elements may have the ability to turn a concept into a high one, is not without its faults (and a hint of snobbery), but it is also a curious one.
The issue in the case of George Nolfi’s film, however, is that the use of this very word as the title kind of sets it up for failure. The elevation the movie actually offers isn’t in any way figurative – it’s the literal altitude that the monster bugs in this lore cannot surpass for some reason.
The monsters in question have emerged from the underground and managed to annihilate most of humanity in just a month. We get a brief digest of this during the credits, while the action jumps to three years later.
Will (Anthony Mackie) and his young son Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr.) belong to a rare community of survivors residing in the mountains. Turns out the bulletproof monster bugs nicknamed Reapers have an Achilles’ erm... leg: for some reason they cannot cross into territories higher than 8,000 feet.
Will is friends with Katie (Maddie Hasson) and has a strained relationship with Nina (Morena Baccarin), a scientist who struggles to find a way to defeat the bugs and might have been tangentially responsible for the death of Will’s wife. Both Katie and Nina decide to join Will when he plans a semi-suicidal mission to go into Boulder and raid a hospital in search of medical supplies for his son.
The journey that follows can be recounted entirely by using references to the myriads of films that ever pitted humans against some unpleasant looking menace. The very premise of Elevation is not too dissimilar to A Quiet Place, while the core group of characters seemingly comes straight from Jaws.
Will is Sheriff Brody, surpassing his fear for the sake of doing the right thing. Nina, heavily drinking and tortured by the memories of her previous encounter with the evil bugs, is basically Quint. (Nina’s audio flashbacks even indirectly reference the most famous line from Spielberg’s film when someone proclaims they need – no, not a bigger boat, but definitely more firearms.) Katie, the most likable and optimistic of the bunch, stands in for Hooper.
The 90 minutes of runtime also feature more or less expressive hints at War of the Worlds, Jurassic Park, The Descent, Pitch Black, World War Z, The Day After Tomorrow, The Mist and even the most unfortunate scene in all of the Alien franchise – the one with xenomorphs merrily running through a tall grass on a field. There is nothing inherently wrong with following traditions, and predictability can even feel somewhat nice, but a spark of personality would go a long way towards investing in whatever happens on screen.
In Elevation, the only spark – beyond the literal ones that always precede the appearance of the dino-bugs - comes in the form of the cinematography by the veteran DOP Shelly Johnson: the bends and turns camera indulges at certain points, as well as the deep color palette in the exterior scenes.
The script doesn’t allow too many chances for any of that though, making the characters sit around talking for minutes on end. The pacing is even, but not in a complimentary way – there just doesn’t seem to be any resonant difference between the episode serving as a climax and everything else in the film.
Mackie, Hasson and especially Baccarin are visibly having fun with their roles, but the material isn’t very agreeable. In the near-total absence of any humor (seriously, not even one bug-related joke throughout the film), every encounter is instead weirdly reminiscent of the Leia's and Han’s pre-carbonate exchange: every attempt at some sort of emotional expression basically ends in a character saying “I know”.
Admittedly, it is admirably bold of the authors to end the film on a note that suggests the possibility of a sequel, as well as the idea that there is a major audience out there who would watch anything with giant sparkling insects in it.
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, throughout the U.S. and selected territories in Europe. It will open in the coming weeks in Latin America and the Phillippes, as well as other territories in Europe.