Going into this movie blind, I came out invigorated by the constant tension generated by the blend of mystery and fast pace action scenes that both stimulated my senses and my mind. There are no lull points. This was one of those nice surprises and another win for Netfilx, who is making movies as well as television shows that make us put a pause on our lives as we binge for hours on end. Not sure if that’s a good thing, but it sure is entertaining!
“ARQ” is one of those time looping sci-fi movies. These types of films can be tricky when you have to repeat events, as in “Edge of Tomorrow”. It leaves itself open to redundancy. But like in Tom Cruise’s movie, “ARQ” stays fresh because the very nature of knowing what’s going to happen changes everything because you change events. And the key is to have the main character change quickly and not linger for multiple loops. I won’t go into it so as to not give it away how “ARQ” keeps things different and adds something different that deviates from “Edge of Tomorrow”.
The film centers on Renton (Robbie Amell) who wakes up next to his girlfriend Hannah (Rachael Taylor). And in a day that doesn’t seem to end, Renton is faced with a team of bad guys that invade his home almost as soon as he wakes up, not giving him or the audience much time to catch their collective breaths.
The frenetic pace keeps you on the edge of your seat as you try to figure out who these guys are and what they want along with a confused Renton, while at the same time learning who Renton is and what he knows.
It’s set in a dystopian time when the environment is unhealthy and people have to wear air masks to go outside.
Robbie Amell does a good job as an action hero, who’s just an ordinary guy stuck in a crazy situation. There were several ways the ending could go and it was satisfying enough, but makes me wonder if “ARQ” is intended to be a television series. Though I can’t see it going past the first season unless they do something wild and take the looping to another location, which is possible. The two leads and plots are enjoyable enough to make we want to follow them on any future adventures.
Score: 8/10
