Julien Neaves, Sci Fi Head Writer
Plot: In the far future a mission by an Air Force squadron to turn a deadly alien plant organism into humanity’s salvation goes terribly awry.
Review: When I saw a Netflix clip of 2022 Hong Kong sci fi action flick Warriors of Future (I am pretty sure the article “the” should be in the middle there) which showed soldiers in furious gun battle with some nasty looking giant alien bug creatures I was sold on checking it out. I love my complex, cerebral Sci Fi as much as the next fan, but sometimes I just want to see guys in metal suits blowing ugly aliens to kingdom come. And to its credit the film does deliver on the adrenaline-pumping action though not much else.
Before I dive deeper, a bit more on the plot (taking a borrow from Wikipedia here with my edits in italics). It is the year 2055, wars have ravaged the Earth due to the prevalent use of advanced military robots, and global warming and pollution have destroyed the environment and ruined the atmosphere. As a result many people are born with birth defects and die, and large domes known as Skynets (that sounds familiar) are built to protect the surviving cities on Earth. During the construction of the Skynet over B-16 (a futuristic Hong Kong), a meteor lands in the city and a giant alien plant, later named Pandora (that also sounds familiar), emerges and causes devastation to the area around it as it takes root. Pandora grows rapidly when there is rain, taking over more of the city every time it does so; however, (blah blah blah) it is discovered that the plant can also purify the polluted air. ASU’s (a local military force) lead scientist, Dr Chan, finds a way to alter the plant’s genome to stop Pandora (blah blah, more exposition, blah blah blah) from growing further while also letting it continue to repair the atmosphere.
So yeah, there is a lot going on here concept-wise (too much if you ask me) but when you get down to it there is really nothing new or innovative. And that translates into the story itself which feels like a bot watched a bunch of sci fi action movies and churned out a script. It is that tropey and derivative, and I feel like I’ve seen it all before. The only surprise was for an Asian film it was brighter and more hopeful that I would have expected, more like its usual Hollywood counterparts. And that actually added to the story disappointment. The characters are also nothing to write home about, though I did enjoy Philip Keung’s “Skunk”, a colourful former Air Force member who is belatedly drafted into the mission. Everyone else feel like generic cardboard cutouts.
But that’s not to say there are not things to enjoy here. There is quite a heavy helping of action and over-the-top set pieces. There are plane battles, armored vehicle chases, and soldiers in mech suits fighting bugs and robots. It’s no Starship Troopers, but it gets the job done. And it cuts a quick pace and I never felt bored. The special effects are solid if not mind-blowing, though some of the alien CGI look very video game-y.
And that’s about it. You want to shut off your brain and enjoy some bombastic sci fi action? Then cue up Warriors of (the) Future (See. I fixed it). But if you want some degree of depth in your Sci Fi flick, then this is not the film for you.
Score: 6 out of 10
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Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating tabletop games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.