"Future Soldier" (2023)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, The Bad, and The Verdict'' film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s Future Soldier, a tale about a bounty hunter and a sinister conspiracy set in the far future of 2002AD, from Ed Kirk, Acamas Video, and Reel2Reel Films.

Synopsis

In the dystopian, cyberpunk future, bounty hunter Mo Harrington returns to action after uncovering a sinister conspiracy. Joining forces with an old friend, hardened ex-cop Xoey Cass, Harrington must race against time to stop dangerous new enemies from threatening the future of Supercity Europe. Caught in a dangerous web and haunted by ghosts from his previous life, Mo must confront his past as a genetically enhanced Hoplite super-soldier, as well as his own moral code.

The Good

Joseph: Future Soldier is a microbudget science fiction noir that knows its budgetary limitations and works within those constraints rather well. Other films with meager budgets may try to focus on special effects and that rarely turns out well, especially regarding CGI. This film, though, makes the most of set design and martial arts fight scenes and wisely only uses CGI sparingly.

Mike: While the film itself doesn’t really feel like it, Future Soldier is presented as if it were a film from the 80s set in the future of 2002 with a style evocative of Blade Runner, Cyborg, and maybe a bit of Akira all under the threat of a potential Russian invasion. That sounds like it might be a bit much for an indie film to take on, but surprisingly Kirk and his team manage to pull it off with a helping hand in the cool synth score by James McGee.

The choice of locations mostly range from darkly lit, run down interiors to vacant, dilapidated warehouses giving it an - intentional or not - neo-noir feel, and the visual effects, while clearly not Hollywood-quality, are better than anything you’d see from a movie from The Asylum. In lieu of having to spend too much of the budget on weapons, their use is limited and the majority of the combat comes in the form of hand-to-hand combat which results in more realistically looking throw-downs than some of the frantic and choreographed fight scenes you see in big budget films.

The Bad

Joseph: Viewers who have watched a decent share of noirish dystopian sci-fi will have seen pretty much everything on display here before, and it was probably more impressive looking, too. Performances range from pretty good to somewhat hammy.

Mike: For everything that Future Soldier does right, there are still enough stumbles to keep itself in check. While its fairly simplistic plot isn’t a problem, the number of tropes or clichés that are liberally sprinkled throughout tend to be a bit too noticeable, which might be an issue for the more jaded viewer. Likewise, aside from McPherson, a lot of the acting is definitive “you get what you pay for” caliber. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not all that good, either — ranging from somewhat wooden delivery to unbelievable emotive performances, both of which seem to be more noticeable because the limited budget requires a lot of the story to be told through dialogue without the benefit of visual fallbacks.

Whether or not this is a result of some of the performances or some x-factor, the bottom line is that you may find yourself checking your watch often and being surprised when you realize less than 90 minutes have passed when the closing credits roll.

The Verdict

Joseph: Writer/director Ed Kirk had a vision and saw it through, budget be hanged, and though his film may not be ultraslick compared to grander-scale sci-fi, it has a distinct vision and watchability. Aficionados of alternative and darker science-fiction cinema should find plenty to entertain in Future Soldier.

Mike: When a movie like Future Soldier comes along a part of you wants to give it a bit of a pass because of the ambition and vision that far surpasses its financial limits, especially when a lot of the shortcuts play to the benefit and overall feel of the film which says a lot for how well the filmmakers stretched their small budget. While the film does an exceptional job at presenting a well-conceived and layered world, it’s also that small budget that causes the film to stumble enough to remind you, for better or worse, that this is not a deep-pocketed, studio film.

If dystopian, neo-noir adventures are your thing and you aren’t jaded to the point where every little mis-step is tantamount to cinematic heresy, then you should enjoy Future Soldier.

Future Soldier from Acamas Video and distributed by Reel2Reel Films is available now on Amazon Prime, Apple+, and other various streaming platforms.

Future Soldier