Black Road (2015)

That was an excellent one.

Pretty Good

The first must-see film of the year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The Good: The movie has a pretty good depiction of an AI enhanced soldier who is trying to find his place in life after the war. You can see the protagonist struggling with his dependence on his AI companion, hence the continuous removal of the device when it would probably be helpful. I thought it was comparable to the dependence of some soldiers when returning from war on PTSD medications. There was a strong similarity between the present and this hypothetical future which was both good and realistic. There are holograms Televisions and he rides around on what appears to be an electric motorcycle but otherwise it could be any west coast town today.The plot was fine, it was a basic film noir. This is very typical in science fiction novels, where the plot is there to provide a context in which to explore the interface between some new technology or idea and the present.The Bad: The pacing is a little off in the first third of the movie and then picks up by the halfway point. I thought the AI companion features should have been more thought out. It is hard to be able to see how this tech would have been useful on the battlefield unless it is hampered by the lack of signals intelligence. I imagine something like this would be good for integrating drone feeds and C3.The voodoo angle wasn't fully explored and should have been fleshed out better. There are a couple of references to breaching the mind/spirit barrier and its use as a weapon but an additional 30 seconds of dialog on that would have helped.

The acting seemed adequate, the location was well-suited to the film's setting, and I didn't think that the movie suffered too much by its budget. However, it seemed to me that the premise of the movie -- a near-future where the brain could directly link with the computer -- was clamped onto a pedestrian mystery plot. What the movie needed above all else was a decent, polished script. Without it, we are left with a movie that tends to plod and doesn't make much sense. What the makers should have done is raise another million dollars and given it to a master scriptwriter for a rewrite. There were the seeds of something much better here.

The plot is interesting, and I found Black Road to be an enjoyable film. There are almost no Sci-Fi elements, so this is more of a detective film set in a near future, than a Sci-Fi film.There are a few special effects, that aren't too impressive, and some hints of magic which don't have much context so you can only try to guess where they are coming from, but still there is a decent amount of suspense.Black Road presents you with conflicting information from two different sources and the fun part is trying to put together the puzzle before the protagonist does, and the film ends.

This movie was filmed locally in southern Oregon. I was not sure what to expect.. However, it is a Sci Fiction movie based in 2029 which was thrilling and had unexpected plots an turns. The main character went back to Jefferson which had become a free state to find his girlfriend. He was a cyborg with a removable computer that was implanted in his head. I gave this a higher rating because it was so much better than the cheesy Sci Fiction movies I have had the displeasure of watching. Great acting too. I felt like I was watching an A rated professional movie. I see almost every movie that comes out especially independent film . The producer even talked to us before the movie. You won't be disappointed.