ARROWHEAD (2016)

Arrowhead (2016)
Directed by: Jesse O'Brien
Written by: Jesse O'Brien
Starring: Aleisha Rose, Christopher Kirby, Dan Mor, Mark Redpath, Shaun Micallef

ARROWHEAD (2016)
Written and Directed by Jesse O’Brien

After being broken out of prison, Kye Cortland is sent on a mission to retrieve details about what opposition General Lang has planned for Kye and the other followers of General Hatch and to save his father from execution. When the Arrowhead spaceship that he’s on crashlands on another planet, stranded Kye must work with supercomputer REEF if he’s to find a way off the planet and rescue his father before his execution on Liberation Day.

Sci-Fi fantasy flick ARROWHEAD follows one man’s journey as he attempts to come to terms with his situation stranded on an unhabitable planet. Whilst in this awkward predicament, he begins to question the man he pleads his allegiance to, General Hatch, who lost a war against General Lang. All of Hatch’s supporters have been imprisoned at one time or another but needing his supporters to take on Lang, Hatch broke them out of prison. Now Kye, a supporter of Hatch and assigned on a mission by him, finds himself stuck on a planet with two of Lang’s supporters but they’re not the only species inhabiting this foreign planet as Kye finds out.

ARROWHEAD mixes post-apocalyptic with fantasy sci-fi to bring some spectacular visions of life on another planet. The narrative, however, seems to be shrouded in mystery and whilst there’s a clever core story to the film, the way in which the story plays out is rather vague and cryptic which lessens the impact of certain plot points.

Leading the film is Dan Mor as Kye Cortland, who is first introduced as a prisoner at one of Lang’s camps. With all the prisoners chained up and with the chains leading to a giant garbage-disposal type unit, the threat of disobeying their wardens is very real as many find out. Kye’s valour though makes him the ideal candidate for Hatch to exploit though he doesnt realise that Kye is as clever as he is brave. Kye at first is a questionable guy though as we join him throughout the film as he attempts to fix the broken spaceship and fly away, we get to know him better and he becomes quite likable.

Joining Kye on his quest is supercomputer REEF, voiced by Shaun Micallef. REEF might not offer up much  conversation other than knowledge but simply by being there and aiding Kye during his lonely spells, REEF is as much a living, breathing character as the rest and it’s this relationship between Kye and REEF that is such an important one for both to survive the predicament they find themselves in.

Visually stimulating, ARROWHEAD is a refreshing movie in one aspect but its slow pace and vague narrative means much is lost on the viewer. It becomes hard to feel one thing or another for the different factions in the film and therefore the result doesn’t have the impact that I suspect the film is looking for. With more action and conviction from the plot and characters, I feel this could have been a more gripping film.

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