Main cast: Thure Lindhardt (Captain Damien Bukes), Vanessa Kirby (Katherine Mills), David Ajala (Drifter), Mike Noble (Lance Corporal Martin Goodwin), Bentley Kalu (Sergeant Rory Robinson), Tom McKay (Corporal Robert Cutbill), Kelly Gough (Corporal Daniella Hackett), Osi Okerafor (Corporal Sam Loftus), and Tim Ahern (Harbinger Executive)
Director: Steven Gomez
Kill Command is a pretty watchable sci-fi action flick that may be predictable when it comes to its use of tropes. Yes, AI is bad, what else is new, but still, one can argue that it may not be a good idea to give some emotionless software too much agency and power when it can obliterate all of us that easily. This movie demonstrates that, naturally.
Basically, we have a future in which AI handle many of the warfare machinery produced by the Harbinger Corporation.
Mills, our main character that may as well has “Final Girl” tattooed on her forehead, is a cyborg. She willingly submits to the procedure when she was younger, so that she could regain her mobility. Because of this, she is very attuned to the global communication network of the company, seeing text flashing in front of her eye and all.
It is this way that she receives instructions to assemble and take part in a military operation to investigate an unusual irregularity in how the AI drones are operating in an island called the Harbinger 1 Training Facility. This is how she finds herself among a bunch of military folks led by Captain Damien Bukes, who dislike her maybe because he’s seen those Alien movies tad too often and has developed a disdain for synthetics.
Predictably enough, the AI turns out to be more sinister than expected, the whole thing is an AI in revolt kind of situation, and Bukes and Mills kind of bond as part of what is supposed to be a character arc for these two.
Yes, this one is too predictable for its own good. The characters that get the most lines and screen time are the last ones standing, shocker, while the rest are just here to up the body count. Mills has some pretty impressive plot armor, although in this case there is a good reason for that, and it’s also a reason that I correctly guessed at much earlier in the movie.
The action scenes and kills are also pretty standard for the most part, although there is a pretty graphic violent moment that stands out over the rest.
All in all, this one feels like a budget version of Predator meets The Terminator, but on the bright side, the pacing is tight and the performances of the main cast members are solid enough to give these characters a bit more depth—not much, but just enough to keep me invested a bit in wanting to see them survive. Okay, I know they will survive, but still, I care a bit even with that knowledge, and that’s nice.
At the end of the day, this may not be the best or most memorable movie out there, but it keeps me entertained enough. That puts it squarely in the good enough category for me!
