The unknown has fascinated and haunted man since the beginning of time. Already in the caves, the first Homo sapiens left their impressions of what they understood by manifestations of life beyond the world, monsters that devoured everything they encountered, including the rare specimens of humanity that was still emerging and learning to walk Deal with this obstacle to his rest by seeking answers in nature and, of course, in what was beyond his reach. Seeking protection from the gods became routine, as did fleeing bloodthirsty beasts, taming the less indomitable animals, hunting, fishing, gathering edible fruit, and trying to raise numerous and healthy offspring. The universe was a loving but strict father, who fed his children daily, but without neglecting his repressive and punitive character, and sent due correction to those who rebelled and despised his zeal. In return, the emerging community assumed responsibility for extending to subsequent generations the customs and traditions it had created, which were fundamental to harmonious coexistence.
Nic Mathieu clarifies some mysteries in humanity’s relationship to what is not visible but exists in Spectral, a science fiction that rejects classifications, by mentioning the uncertainty of life on this and other planes, on which too resentful, savage creatures rage ., eager to usurp spaces where they are not welcome. Starting from the source of the video game, this is a story that strives to reproduce the success of great moments in cinema, especially those that allude to the human adventure in inhospitable scenarios such as other planets and conflicts of war. There are more or less obvious elements that place Mathieu’s work somewhere between Black Hawk Down (2001), Ridley Scott’s vision of the failed American invasion of Somalia, and Alien The 8th Passenger (1979). The director’s epic about the attack of unknown organisms on a crew member of a space mission. Mathieu mimics the drama of Scott’s work at an accelerated pace, spreading the surprises of the cowritten script with George Nolfi and Ian Fried more evenly throughout the 108minute projection. The story begins with the portrayal of a special forces soldier assigned to the war against superhuman beings in front of a ghost believed to be evil in the ruins of a city in Moldova, Eastern Europe, one of the poorest nations in the world . DARPA, the US Department of Defense agency responsible for developing crisis management strategies and technologies, is sending Mark Clyne, one of its top engineers, to the country for the test. James Badge Dale embodies this antihero, inculcating in Clyne the unease of one of Earth’s largest kleptocracies, which thrives on political instability, which in turn has arisen from revolts in their raw state in response to pervasive mismanagement. This social flareup threatens to escalate into civil war, and the contribution of Dale’s character, a pair of glasses that can detect the movement of ectoplasm, takes on fundamental importance as these hybrid beings capable of oscillating between multiple dimensions switch, decimate the American military.
“Spectral” uses the enemy’s trope in the most abstract of ways to elaborate its comments on the course of US foreign policy when another major American filmmaker is called into the discussion. Mathieu’s film also has a lot of Francis Ford Coppola in ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979), especially after Fran, the CIA agent played by Emily Mortimer, breaks the monotony of Clyne’s hollow idealism. As one might guess, it is this somewhat ambiguous woman’s pragmatism that saves humanity, and in this the plot leads to Arrival (2016), the dystopia of Denis Villeneuve, one of the most ingenious directors of all time.
Movie: spectral
Direction: Nic Mathieu
Year: 2016
genres: Action/SciFi/Thriller
note: 8/10