BREACH (ANTI-LIFE)
(director: John Suits; screenwriters: Edward Drake, Corey Large; cinematographer: Will Stone; music: Scott Glasgow; cast: Cody Kearsley (Noah), Bruce Willis (Clay), Rachel Nichols (Chambers), Kassandra Clementi (Hayley), Thomas Jane (Admiral Adams-King), Johnny Messner (Blue), Johann Urb (Shady), Angie Pack (Ortega), Callan Mulvey (Teek), Timothy V. Murphy (Commander Stanley), Corey Large (Lincoln), Ralf Moeller (Vyrl); Runtime: 92; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Danny Roth/Corey Large; Saban Films; 2020-Canada)
“The laughter is unintentional, but it’s nevertheless laughter.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An alien rip-off sci-fi horror flick ineptly directed by John Suits (“Pandemic”), with the big name star Bruce Willis phoning it in even if his performance was solid. It’s a clichéd story with an unsatisfying conclusion, and the camera is shaky. It’s inadequately written by Edward Drake and Corey Large, who are not blessed with an original idea of their own. It’s a low-budget B-film that possibly some viewers will enjoy as direct-to-VOD viewing only because its defects can be fun.
In the year 2242 the Earth is doomed. The last shuttle, called the Ark, boards 300,000 selected passengers, and is headed to a remote colony called the New Earth. It’s a spot where the passengers can be possibly rescued from the deadly plague hitting the Earth. The passengers are put into a cryogenic sleep by the crew, who keep awake to care for the Ark. The crew is made up of veteran mechanic Clay (Bruce Willis), who goofs around making moonshine and serves as a mentor to veteran mechanics (Johnny Messner & Johann Urb) and to the stowaway Noah (Cody Kearsley)–posing as part of the custodial staff assigned to clean the bathrooms. Noah’s pregnant girlfriend, the daughter of the ship’s admiral, Hayley (Kassandra Clementi), sneaks on with Noah and joins the sleeping passengers.
Not known to the crew is that there’s also a shape-shifting alien parasite creature aboard and its only goal is to kill as many people as possible. If not stopped, it will mark the end of mankind.
Clay and Noah are the only ones in a position to save the world, as the other mechanics become vics of the parasitic force (one alien parasite hilariously lands in the mechanic’s beer and when he drinks it he explodes). The aliens begin to infect one crew member after another and keep becoming renewed. It apes scenes from other Alien films, but its execution of these scenes leaves a lot to be desired.
The spaceship’s grouchy Admiral (Thomas Jane) has also been put to sleep with the other passengers, and the veteran in a cameo has one funny moment when awakened to perform security matters. Willis carries the film with his stream of funny camp humor, while the film’s star Kearsley is miscast as the lead–as his performance is as stiff as a board.
The laughter is unintentional, but it’s nevertheless laughter. Its theme conveys the power of humans when its life-force is activated, which is too much for the cosmic void aliens.
REVIEWED ON 12/28/2020 GRADE: C