There will always be something uniquely intriguing about science fiction films that reflect on how we can change our bodies through technology. The liberation that can come from shedding the most fragile parts of ourselves to become stronger, faster, and potentially nearly invulnerable is an inherently attractive entry point. Of course, with this freedom comes a fundamental question: what makes us human? Is our fragility part of being alive? What is lost when we become a machine that can be a tool for others? When Peter Weller's Alex Murphy was turned into an android after a terrible accident in RoboCop, was he still the man he was before he had almost his entire body replaced? Does the path to self-discovery in Alita: Battle Angel mimic what it means to find purpose in our own lives?
These are all interesting questions that lie in the background of Netflix's Bionic, which ends up feeling like it combines both films with mixed results. The latest in the series of dubious sci-fi movies for the streamer, after flops like Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver and Atlas, it always seems like it's not up to the task of making the big leaps it needs. Directed by Afonso Poyart and written by Josefina Trotta, it is increasingly stuck between two different films.
Director: Afonso PoyartWriter: Josefina TrottaStars: Jessica Córes, Bibi Flor, Emilly Nayara
One is a sports drama that revolves around an athlete who is given a second chance to compete. With the new potential of bionic limbs, he can now run faster and jump higher than ever before. The other is a thriller about a heist gone wrong that soon expands into the world of sports. Each story has some potential promise, but the film never manages to merge the two. When dragged down by some shaky visuals, it's an experience that remains increasingly stuck on the ground.
The year is 2035 and, through what becomes a boring narrative, we learn the story of María (Jessica Córes), who trained for years to be the next great track athlete and follow in the footsteps of her equally talented mother. However, all this changed with the emergence of bionic limbs that are infinitely better than flesh and blood ones. So, when her sister gains a bionic limb and becomes a superstar athlete, Maria lives in her shadow. Similarly, Bionic lives in the shadow of the work of Neill Blomkamp who, at one point, was making films that wrestled with similar ideas and looked infinitely better for doing so. In this minor film, the mysterious and often menacing Heitor (Bruno Gagliasso) participates in a diamond heist, acting as a getaway driver, who will help finance his aspirations to reshape the world.
This ends up with him falling far short of what he needs and also with a significant loss. Therefore, he will end up needing to find another way to carry out his plans. That's where he looks at Maria and sees the potential for her to fit into his plans. With an investigation looming over everything and a sudden "accident" that makes her the prime candidate to gain a bionic limb of her own, everything begins to escalate as expected from there. Bionic simply never builds anything particularly interesting, leaving its characters largely stranded in a family sports drama that collides with a messier sci-fi thriller. You've seen it all before and, worse yet, you'll probably forget it when it's over.
2024 has been home to its fair share of fascinating sci-fi cinematic visions that have achieved this balance, namely the smaller-scale but still impressive Mars Express, which made you feel for the characters while immersing you in their world futuristic. Bionic, unfortunately, is a robotic movie in all the wrong ways. It seems like we've seen this all before and, frankly, often done it better. When it comes to effects, it's not the budget, as something like the underrated 2014 film The Signal was able to do a lot with very little, even when it came to robotic limbs. The issues troubling Bionic have more to do with the way the action is staged, making everything from an opening shootout to the final big action sequence never feel real. You can see the seams in virtually every frame.
Perhaps trying to take a page from Zack Snyder's work, the film often puts things in slow motion, seemingly in the hope that this will make everything more engaging. Not only does this not happen, it highlights how slow everything is. Both formally and narratively, it all feels more like multiple TV pilots strung together rather than one movie.
Comments
Post a Comment