The Subjects (2015) Reviews

• Non studio review. The Subjects is an OK movie

  carlburger2015-10-17

  First off. This is my first review. I've been an IMDb member since 2006, and the main reason (besides laziness) for not writing a review earlier, has been the language barrier. I'm Swedish, and my English vocabulary is somewhat limited. The reason why I chose to review this movie isn't because it's so good that it changed my religion, nor so bad it made me change my underwear. It's just because of the obvious studio-affiliated reviews. We really need honest reviews here on IMDb- or else the site will eventually implode, by studios applauding themselves. Right. Now the review. It's the basic "diverse group of people stuck in a room" concept. This time, the twist is that they're a focus group, trying out a pill. It soon becomes apparent that the pill gives the group different superpowers. The actors are OK. Some more annoying than others. The archetypes are all there. But hey. What fun is a room full of like minded people, right? So I'll let that one slide. The script is the weakest point. The movie is short, clocking in at roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes- but they were clearly struggling to fill that little time. The godawful "debate" about whether to take the pill or not, at the very beginning of the movie is a prime example of that. So it's not aces. It's not groundbreaking. It's not even very original although it tries so hard to be. But. Was i bored watching it? Nope. It was OK for the duration. It was OK for what it was. So if you like the setup- group stuck in room, or like seeing superpowers emerging in regular people, then yeah. This will be OK for a Sunday afternoon. Don't worry too much about some characters that seem to have the superpower to be super annoying- because thankfully this movie has a high body count. So in summary: -some annoying characters -Weak dialogue -Low budget special effects -Entertaining story (if you like superheroes/villains) -Doesn't take itself too serious (the end credits makes this abundantly clear) As a superpowers fan, I rate The Subjects 6/10.

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• Quick turns between crap and good fun

  rottninge2016-01-03

  There's some fun dialogue at times. There's an interesting idea. Good casting. The basic story is, conceptually, good. But the problem I had watching it was that I was thrown every 30 seconds between hating the script and all illogical stuff, and getting back to that it was actually quite fun and entertaining. There's plenty of illogical stuff going on in this movie, and in that I don't even include the stuff that were meant to be illogical, or the sci-fi element. I think my problem with The Subjects boils down to that this movie could have been good if it had focused more on one of the genres/themes it contained: comedy, a group of people stuck together, superpowers, or the clinical trial experiment. Choose one and tone the other three down. But now, the comedy comes sporadically, the group of people stuck together had to be compressed in between everything else that went down, the superpowers were too over the top, and the clinical trial was just a means for transportation to get to the scenario set up (from a scientific standpoint it was cringe worthy). I switched back and fourth between enjoying The Subjects and finding it ridiculous. Today I gave it 4/6 Any other day I could have given it a 6/10 depending on the mood

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• There are two kinds of people

  A_Different_Drummer2015-10-17

  There are those who make movies and those who watch movies. In the former group, there is a mission, a Holy Grail of moviedom if you like, to attempt to make the best movie you can with the least resources. Imagine a movie done in on a single set with a half dozen or so unknown actors ... minimal resources ... could you make it work? Director/Writer Mond gave it a try with THE SUBJECTS and this reviewer thinks he succeeded. The gold standard for these sorts of films -- there have been dozens -- is THE CUBE, a Canadian film done in 1999. To make these films work you need good acting, yes, but above all you need a killer script, a script that just keeps the attention of the viewer. Keeps you glued. I think THE SUBJECTS has such a script. I recommend the film and hope it gets the following it deserves. And for those sincere reviewers who keep insisting this is some sort of "anti-superhero" flick, a riff off our modern obsession with superpowers, some kind of "message movie," you are missing the point entirely,

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• Oh, c'mon, this was outstanding.

  mjpetro-smtp2015-10-22

  Yea, I could probably nick a half-a-star or more off of this for trivial reasons, but goddammit this was highly entertaining. The characters are circumscribed well, if a bit cartoonish, but they are played with real commitment and so anyone with heart will go with that aspect. The "physicist" among them was charming and manic and had a great close-out in the end credits. I liked this as much as I did "Coherence" and "Chronicle" (and others like "Primer,") with the bonus that the superhero and the time-travel conceits were included in one movie. If you're just looking to get your fantasy stroked, this movie will do just fine.

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• Just OK. Nothing special.

  hiyaboyos2015-10-17

  The movie in and of itself is just OK and nothing special or out of the ordinary. It's touted as a movie about people with "super powers" and the truth of the matter is it has nothing to do with that at all. Just because a person has a weird ability out of the ordinary that has no benefit for mankind is not a super power. It's just that, an odd useless ability. The script is a mess and full of holes. It leaves too many unanswered questions and there is very little character development. But what can you expect from a movie that is barely over an hour..? The quality of the special effects were about par with the budget: nothing special. The acting seemed forced and some of the lines were actually kind of funny. You may like it if you don't mind movies of what I've described above, otherwise you won't be impressed.

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