Infini (2015) [review]
Infini (2015) [review]
An alright Australian Sci-Fi space horror with an unfortunate ending
Quick Review
Good film but may not hold your attention.
One for the space horror fans. Although there’s not much space or horror. It’s set on a space station and there’s lots of death. What more could you want? Starts off somewhat erratic and action-packed, becoming something you’ll convince yourself you’ve seen before.
Nothing major to complain about. Some space magic, dumb security protocols and dumber off-world testing procedures. Great acting, effects and ambiance. Would liked to have seen more of the station, perhaps some exterior shots or an explanation of the fictional universe. The ambiance felt restricted but not in a claustrophobic horror manner. Maybe due to the budget? Doesn’t make it a bad movie, just my preference.
‘Infini’ held my attention well for the first viewing, but found my mind wandering on subsequent watches. A background movie.
Overview
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Action, Horror (some)
Location(s): Space mining station
Writer(s): Shane Abbess, Brian Cachia
Director(s): Shane Abbess
Main actor(s):
'Daniel MacPherson' as 'Whit Carmichael'
Official Synopsis:
(1) “At the turn of the 23rd century a revolutionary new energy source has been discovered at the edge of our galaxy. But it kills everyone it comes in to contact with, except for a lone survivor. When an elite interplanetary search and rescue team is sent to retrieve him and intercept the imminent payload delivery that could user in earth's destruction, the cold of deep space is enough to kill them all. But that is only the beginning.”
Box Art:
First View Impressions
The film supposedly had a budget of less than $1,000,000. Effects, scenery, script, acting, everything is top-notch. Unlike other films in the genre with similar budgets, ‘Infini’ isn’t ruined by 90’s CG spaceships (ignore the cover) or lazily keyed green screens.
Almost the entire story takes place aboard the mining station ‘Infini’, on a distant celestial body. It’s dark and eerie, though not to a degree I would deem horror. If I had to label ‘Inini‘… maybe… violent action and suspense? There are tense situations, though nothing to instill fear or panic. Maybe it was a disconnection with the characters as I never cared who lived or died. Everything played out a tad bland.
How are we transported to this mining station far, far away? Space magic. There will be a rant about this later. I fucking detest space magic and bad science. Especially here where it’s entirely unnecessary.
Once aboard the station, our intrepid actors are tasked with discovering what became of the prior occupants. Who, if you’ve read the back of the box, are all dead. Bar one. What ensues is violence, a bit of gore, some running, decent action scenes and pleasing dialogue. However, everything feels sterile. It’s not boring. Although you can happily leave it playing in the background while doing your day job, tune in at any point and still enjoy what ‘Infini’ has to offer. Cough.
The story has no major twists to speak of. There was an accident and lots of people died on the station. A n inspection team was later sent to investigate. They mostly died. Another team (!), this time with guns and unaware of what has transpired, were sent to retrieve the last surviving crew member. Upon returning to Earth, they were clearly mental and caused more people to die as their entire Earth based facility exploded. Two people escaped to the mining colony before the explosion.
Another, another, rescue team is then sent to the mining colony to uncover… what the hell is going on, again. This final team is our main cast for ‘Infini’. At some point you’d think these professionals would simply write-off the station and its lost personnel.
I believe the filmmakers were going for a claustrophobic atmosphere? Could be wrong. Usually am. It makes sense for lower budget movies outside of the current time period, as small reusable sets save a ton of money. However ‘Infini’ doesn’t feel claustrophobic.
The sets appear quite large and airy. As a viewer you won’t be scanning the environment for jump scares or something hiding in the shadows. It’s a shame. Tighter shots with better angles could have increased tension, though it would narrow the target viewer base as many people avoid horror films.
Characters and their interactions are good. Diversity of personalities is varied enough. We have to remember they’re a team of rescue professionals who would share a similar mentality, having been through the same training and selection process. Though it may come across as lazy writing, it makes sense. More sense than the generic copy-paste Hollywank lineup of; the nerdy one, tough one, black one, female one, angry at life one, the one with troubled past... ugh.
There’s a trend in modern cinema to paint every professional as grossly incompetent. ‘Infini’ is no different. This was the only mark against the film for me. I’m not going to say this makes the film bad, but save a sigh for something unprofessionally predictable at the end.
In More Detail (some spoilers, nothing major)
No major spoilers here, but film structure and plot is analysed in detail. If in doubt, just watch the film.
I’m finding it hard to write about this film without spoiling anything. Not that there’s anything mind-blowing to ruin. It’s a good film! Not average, good.
‘Infini’ begins in a curiously laid out room full of unknowns shouting gibberish at each other, for what seems like an eternity. Why? It will make sense by the end. Scratch that. You may understand it at the end, but it won’t make sense.
I can’t imagine that in a world where near instantaneous travel through space is possible, yelling first date questions was the best option for this scenario. Obviously the scene is there to build intrigue and tension. Which it accomplishes well for the first viewing. It barely lasts 30 seconds and it’s so annoying that you’ll skip it on future replays.
Next we meet our hero, I guess, Whit Carmichael. He’s sat on a bench in a futuristic locker room, present day. Relative to the story. Doesn’t matter as we’re not here long before being punished with an extended flashback. The contents of which is some femsplaining from his wife or whatever, family talk, baby on the way, noise, blah blah blah.
The flashback doesn’t add anything significant to the story, doesn’t create a bond with the viewer and feels unnecessary. People in military-type roles generally have families and kids to pass on the family whatever. As in the case here, so maybe mention it in passing or flash a picture in his locker?
I would have split the flashback up in to shorter segments and injected them in to Whit’s pending psychotic episodes. Maybe retain a short flashback at the beginning to break up the action sequences? What do I know. Not like I’ve ever made a film.
We then have a steady ramping up of tensions involving conspiracies and troop deployments, culminating in a mental-people-gun-fight-fast-escape scene. That was the most memorable part of the film for me. This is barely 10 minutes in to ‘Inini’.
Problem; anything said about the rest of the film would be a spoiler. It’s not possible to describe what happens without giving away the fates of certain people. There’s chasing, insanity and violence. It’s not torture porn levels of sadism, but more gory than the average episode of ‘Saved by the Bell’ (1992). Perhaps it wouldn’t be much of a spoiler to reveal the mission becomes an endeavour to stop something reaching Earth.
I did issue a seat belt warning earlier for a less than phenomenal ending, but that may be me over-analysing ‘Infini’ from a scientific perspective. This is a review and therefor biased, so I say it’s a bad ending! The notion that these rescue professionals would act in such a way is insulting. How the hell did they pass training? Then there’s the blah blah blah… don’t even read the spoiler section. Watch the film, pay attention and think hard about it.
Scientific aspects of the film may pass the scrutiny of your average ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (1979 or 2005) fan, I am not a fan. Interplanetary space magic can be forgivable if the concept is a little out there. The method by which people traveled here had no bearing on how events played out. It’s a throwaway idea which could have been better expanded upon for a plot twist. Don’t get me started on wind turbines!
Everything about ‘Infini’ was of a high standard for a film on a lower end budget. There’s no overacting, inappropriate hipster music droning on in the background or excessive lens flaring. It’s not bland through lack of trying, but I felt my mind wandering a lot. Aside from the opening 10 minutes, which was much faster paced than the rest of the film, I felt like I had seen it all before.
I’ve seen ‘Infini’ more times than I can remember. Literally. It’s a movie to throw on while concentrating on something else, occasionally turning back and distracting yourself for a few seconds. That’s as close to an endorsement as I can muster.
Don’t Read This Section!
I’m not covering the entire movie and taking away any potential earnings. This is an area for parts of the review which may ruin the viewing experience, not for disclosing every plot point. From here I’m assuming everyone has seen the film.
Plot
There’s an alien virus which triggers insanity and murderous tendencies in those afflicted. It resides in a type of fuel unique to ‘Infini’. Infection is primary through blood contact. The virus is somewhat sentient, with the ability to clone biological cells. Hopefully everyone is of adequate intelligence that I don’t need to explain where this is going… which I will regardless.
The crew who first manned the ‘Infini’ station died in a massive explosions. Presumably an accident, though this is never acknowledged. Perhaps they triggered an explosion to stop the virus spreading? Time passed and someone thought it a good idea to send an investigation team. Not a terrible idea, though everything after that was.
It’s never revealed what happened to this investigation team. From the hints we receive, it would appear the virus drove everyone insane and they killed each other. +1 for the virus. There’s a sole survivor who restarts some part of the station and triggers the delivery of this infected fuel to Earth.
As this payload is being processed, Earth sends another team to retrieve the sole survivor. I’m calling these individuals the ‘rescue’ team. This team teleports in with weapons drawn. Smart. Using space magic, they then teleport back to Earth almost immediately. Presumably the birthday party didn’t go as planned given the rescue team are covered in blood, screaming and launch a murderous rampage.
Fret not! For security measures, implemented by people less competent than the British Royal Navy ferrying literal thousands of invading troops to the UK per day, are on the case. The base is locked down, there are gunfights, poison gas is released and everyone is killed. Apart from 2 people who managed to escape by performing a ‘dirty jump’ to Infini. One of these individual being our ‘hero’; Whit.
This sequence of events takes place on the East coast of the USA. There are at least 2 of these bases, with the film now transitioning to the second. Obviously (!) located on West coast USA. It’s an Australian movie after all. We’re introduced to a rescue team who are being briefed as to what happened on the East coast. This final team are to teleport to Infini and figure out WTF is going on.
That’s the set up to ‘Infini’, which is infinitely more complex than the remainder of the film. The current investigation team set about exploring the station and stumble upon Whit. It’s explained that a payload is being primed for Earth transport which needs stopping and there’s a killer virus. I don’t know if that’s Whitsplaining or a Whitsposition.
Whit isn’t the only survivor on Infini. There’s another person who attacks the team and takes a laser blast to the head, spraying virus infected blood over everyone. What are the odds! The virus drives the team insane and they kill each other. I’m putting this under the spoiler section, but you shouldn’t have needed Captain Obvious powers to predict this. Knowing how the story plays out is a big part of the film. There aren’t any twists or deep mysteries to uncover. Only that the film surely couldn’t end with everyone dead!
Watch the film to find out.
Space Magic
Rant mode engaged. See, I don’t understand why the space magic here needs to exist? Nothing would have changed if… taking a step back.
The chosen method of travelling from Earth to this distant mining colony is teleportation. There’s a device attached to the base of a person’s neck which links to a black box. Coupled together, they teleport people across space. There’s a short essay at the start of the film if you’re up for some reading. It’s never explained in more detail.
Perhaps this black box links to a larger device? Makes sense. The spine implant wouldn’t be the delivery method, merely some form of locator interface? If that’s so, how did Whit manage to escape the opening massacre? The base was under lock-down, extermination teams dispatched, poison gas released and a self-destruct activated. All these precautions and security neglected to disable the space bridge?
In defence of the incompetent security personnel, only 2 of 3 team members from the initial attack escaped. The last was remotely locked out of the metaphysical magic space bus. This makes me believe the devices they wore, controlled of a larger system. Then why wasn’t the main system deactivated during first stage lock-down! It should have been the first system disabled. Minor oversight, I can ignore that.
The space magic is actually a form of teleportation. Not a terrible idea, though this is one of the worst implementations I’ve come across. Apart from the recent iteration of parody ‘Star Trek’ movies. Particularly the one where Benedict Cumberbatch uses a transporter to beam from Earth To Qo'noS. STFU is that possible.
All we know is people disappear in one location then appear in another. That’s all we need to know. Ignorance is bliss. However, someone had a clever idea to introduce time displacement. Fictional, amateurish, non-science. Not only was it dumb, it was a wasted lazily implemented gimmick. The idea is that a team would be sent to Infini and conduct an investigation. Around 6 minutes would pass on Earth, while around 24 hours pass on Infini. Relativity!
No, that’s now what relativity means. I’ll have to do a full write-up on this some day. Too many dumb people watching dumb YouTube videos made by dumber people. Brief summary; time is a constant. You can’t change time anymore than you can change a mile per hour. Travelling at 10 mph does not change the definition of a mile per hour. Gravity and light have no effect on time. The same amount of time would pass if travelling 100 miles at 1 mph on Earth, versus 1 mph in gravity starved vacuum.
Anyway, I believe the theory was something to the tune of… passing too close to a black hole causing time dilation? Black hole, worm hole, man hole, it doesn’t matter. The notion that time had passed significantly slower on Infini meant nothing in the story. Perhaps the movie creators believed it would ratchet up tension, hence the coalition of Karens? It didn’t.
By the end of the film you’ll likely have forgotten about the time dilation and magic spine teleporters. It’s only the most anal among us who get caught up in such trivia. But it’s not trivial, it’s science fiction. Emphasis on the science not fiction!
Enter the Karens and an Unprofessional Ending
The opening scene of people shouting at each other is also the ending. It’s a debrief our undead rescue team must endure to prove they’re not infected. OK, so everyone is aware of this virus? They know it’s on Infini and how it affects people? Why in the name of shaven bear testicles do they keep sending people then. Professional, unprepared people who aren’t even informed the virus exists?
Maybe if they knew about the virus, they would know about the exam and could beat it? That doesn’t work. If the virus triggers uncontrollable emotional states, the test would work regardless. The idea of sending rescue teams in to a hazardous environment with no information is retarded. The test people are made to take, even more so.
‘Infini’ is set in a universe of space travel and interplanetary teleportation. We’re meant to accept the best method of testing for an alien virus is to shout at the infected? No sale. How about a blood test? Brain scan? Cell culture test? Reviewing body cam footage which the team would obviously have?
I found the shouting test painful to sit through. Then the inevitable happened and things deteriorated. Obviously Whit passes the test, despite literally killing himself then being resurrected by the virus. As a professional off-world traveler, he should know what danger he poses to the entire world.
Whit is not a grunt in the army fresh out of basic, he’s an over-trained interplanetary space marine rescue investigator. Leaving the facility after being infected is risking the lives of every human. Including his wife and unborn child. What if he told the truth and was kept quarantined forever? That’s what you signed up for. Be a man.
This incompetency has become a damning trend in movies over the last decade. Where personal desires are prioritised over the well-being of society. Not surprising given this is the modern American mentality; “me me me”, “I deserve this” and “you’re bad for doing what I can’t achieve”. It’s infantile and should not be the mentality of people given responsibility for million dollar movies.
‘Infini’ is an Australian film. I expect better and was let down by how everything wrapped up.
Nothing wrong with happy endings. Endangering the lives over 8 billion people because you want to see your wife again is not a happy ending.
Flashbacks
After booting up the film for a quick refresher of this scene, I may have been a Karen myself. Is it unwatchable? No. Does it ruin the movie? No. However, does it add anything to the movie? No. Was it enjoyable? No. Would the viewing experience be better without it? Yes.
We’re first introduced to Whit within 3 minutes of the film starting, including opening credits and prologue. He’s in a locker room, head down, looking forlorn. As he looks up we’re whisked away to the flashback in question. It’s a glimpse in to the dirty, inner-city hellscape of our inevitable future. Well yours, not mine. It looks surprisingly good for a barely visited segment of modest budget movie. Perhaps there were more scenes which got cut? Possibly recycled assets from another movie?
It’s not the ambiance or actors what bothered me. The dialog wasn’t amazing but better than any Marvel movie. Maybe the intent could have been more subtle? I can’t put my finger on it, but something really pissed me off about this particular sequence. To the point where I skip it every viewing.
Maybe it’s because I subconsciously see the lost potential? How it would have better worked segmented in to shorter cryptic flashes, injected at moments where Whit was losing control to the virus. Then morons like me would probably have complained that the briefer flashbacks were interrupting the flow!
I’m just going to shut up now. It’s an inconsequential scene that’s not bad enough to whine over.
