It's like the X-Men, if they had actual nuance in the last 2 decades.
Every rare once in a while in the history of Fromage Fridays, I come across a film so good that it makes me look at my theatrical release slate of reviews with disdain; a piece of work so great that it shames Hollywood basics shovelled out week after week to the point where reviewing it in a series that uses William Shatners facial profiles as a scoring unit just doesn't seem right.
When I say that "Code 8" is perhaps the second best film I have seen all year, know that I'm not simply mocking the darkly comedic output of mainstream theatrical releases caused by status quo shifting pandemic, I really love this film.
Set in a world in which mankind has mysteriously evolved to develop grounded but nevertheless extraordinary superpowers, Connor Reed (Robbie Amell) finds himself falling in with a bad crowd as he desperately seeks money to pay for a life saving operation that his mother desperately needs. His desperation drives him into the employ of Garrett, a telekinetic man putting together a crew for heist jobs to pay off a debt to a criminal organization.
Connor is particularly gifted with the ability to manipulate electricity but finds himself to unfortunately live in a world that despises superhumans and looks for ways to litigate them into oblivion at every corner.
The persecution of the gifted metaphor popularized by roughly 5 1/2 decades of the "X-Men's" existence is far from new in the realm of speculative science fiction but right off the bat, "Code 8" manages to set itself apart from the pack by actually making the metaphor viscerally believable.
An opening credits montage of newsreels and articles discussing the discovery of super powers, their use in advancing industrialization, the advancement of technology rendering their benefits in the workforce redundant, and the first wave of crime opening the floodgates to litigation based on fear, set the stage gloriously for a world that I've not seen so thoroughly built as a speculative extension of our own since I saw "District 9" in theaters almost 11 years ago.
Connor has to navigate the social mores of this world with his head down and nose clean not unlike everyday living for folks not privileged enough to have an immediately open pathway to have all of their problems taken care of, ala immigrants, people of color, and many other classifications of social outcast usually finding themselves at the bottom of the economic food chain they're forced to play ball in by a majority placing their own comforts over human welfare.
These sort of stories can often too easily become an excuse to tell a minority struggle story with the face of broadly marketable white lead but ignoring the stellar execution of the aspects of the metaphor that can easily be applicable to everyone, the film does feature a fairly diverse and talented cast to sell it all.
This world doesn't just feel lived in and real but almost like a genuine possibility of where the future could take us if superpowers ever truly came into existence.
Power sets are pretty basic (Telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, electricity manipulation, etc.) but well rendered on screen. It's clear that they were on a tight budget but director Jeff Chan knows just how to get the most of it to make it look convincing and functional.
Connor's tale of dealing in grey morality to choose between honoring his mother's wishes or doing what's necessary to save her life is an action heist movie first and foremost, so the pacing of its brisk hour and 40 minute length is kept snappy in favor of finding new ways to show off powers within the budgetary constraints provided but the gamut of human issues that "Code 8" runs to sell this world as real and give these actors a chance to actually perform is really a treat.
Robbie Amell manages to stay grounded and sympathetic from start to finish, avoiding the usual leading man pitfall of these types of movies of being insufferably naive or terminally stupid. He's not proud of the life of crime he's chosen but the world probably wouldn't have had it any other way if he wanted any semblance of happiness.
Stephen Amell manages to show a surprising amount of range that has me really curious what plans he has in store for his career now that he isn't locked down to "Arrow" and its spinoffs anymore while Sung Kang's marvelously nuanced work as an honest cop on a corrupt and bigoted force has me once more lamenting that a stupid microbe is now keeping me 11 months away from enjoying watching Justice for Han on the big screen.
"Code 8" is simply a joy from start to finish. The film is far from groundbreaking but its inspired use of superhero tropes in a contemporary fashion that speaks to many a relevant issue in society today reminds me of why I love the superhero genre and why I love cinema in general perhaps more so than any Marvel or DC release to land in the last year.
Compelling and imaginative with a firm grasp on fundamentals, the only problem I had with it was that I wanted to be watching more of it as a TV series by the time it was over. May a premium streaming service please get to work on this while it's still fresh.
4 out of 4 Shatners
Bottom Line: If "Code 8" were the standard of home entertainment right now, I'd be in no rush to return to theaters any time soon.
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