{"id":9236,"date":"2018-08-14T06:23:10","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T06:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/?p=9236"},"modified":"2018-12-02T03:12:32","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T03:12:32","slug":"darkest-minds-derivative-teen-romance-dressed-up-as-weak-depressing-sci-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/14\/darkest-minds-derivative-teen-romance-dressed-up-as-weak-depressing-sci-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"DARKEST MINDS – DERIVATIVE TEEN ROMANCE DRESSED UP AS WEAK DEPRESSING SCI FI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\"\"<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSHORT TAKE:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPaint-by-numbers teen-romance\/sci-fi full of plot holes and borrowed ideas.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWHO SHOULD GO:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMid to older teens only, for language, X-Men <\/em>style violence and a couple of aggressive advances by pervy bad guys.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAND IF YOU LIKE THESE REVIEWS PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! THEN YOU'LL GET     EVERY NEW REVIEW SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR E-MAIL!!<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LEFT HAND SIDE AND TYPE YOUR E-MAIL IN – IT (SHOULD BE) THAT EASY. ANY PROBLEMS PLEASE SEND ME A COMMENT AND I'LL DO MY BEST TO RESOLVE YOUR ISSUE.<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tLONG TAKE:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCombine <\/em>\"\"<\/a>Divergent <\/em>with \"\"the new\/retro X-Men <\/em>then flavor with a teaspoon of \"\"<\/a>Children of Men <\/em>and you have <\/em>\"\"<\/a>Darkest Minds<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on a series of books by Alexandra Reagan, the premise is that a virus infects all children. Most die but the survivors are left with superpowers. The government is afraid of them so, on the pretext of looking for a cure, rounds them up into prison-like camps, where they are overseen by abusive soldiers, given menial tasks to do and occasionally euthanized. \"\"<\/a>One of the internees, Ruby, (Amandla Stenberg from Hunger Games<\/em>) gifted with mind control, \"\"<\/a>escapes with the help of a sympathetic doctor, Cate (Mandy Moore) and seeks sanctuary with other runaways.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere are so many weak, illogical and unappealing features to this movie that I will only hit upon the highlights.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two favorite whipping boys of the lazy liberal screenwriters are corporate CEOs and the military. Our military are the scapegoats in this one. \"\"<\/a>All are seen as cruel and abusive to the last remaining children on the planet. Not only is this stupid, but would be an enormous waste of incredible powers displayed by the children. For example, heightened intelligence children are sent to polish shoes. Why? Why are they not put to work creating super gizmos?\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSet ups are never paid off. In one scene, \"\"<\/a>our protagonist is cornered by a pervy-acting soldier and another girl deliberately makes him angry to distract him. She is taken away, presumably for punishment, but we never see her again.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>Ruby sends a bounty hunter off into the woods to walk herself to death. Then the kids walk off into the same woods without ever mentioning her again. Also, this is almost exactly the punishment Wolverine's dying girlfriend, \"\"<\/a>Kayla, metes out to Stryker at the end of \"\"<\/a>X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>Along with enhanced intelligence, powers of other children in the camp include telekinesis and the ability to control electricity.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tChildren who demonstrate more powerful abilities such as mind control or fire breathing are euthanized.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf a corrupt military had access to this kind of firepower, the idea that these children would be either killed or corralled and simply housed is ludicrous. Why would they not at least weaponize them?\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is no reveal as to what was going on in the rest of the world. If it was only in the United States, we would have a significant advantage with a race of super children. Was the virus a pandemic? Where did the virus come from? \"\"<\/a>Was it manufactured ? of alien origin? Was it supposed to be a natural part of humans' development? The writers seem more interested in making the military look inherently evil and jumping right to the teen drama than writing a solid coherent story.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>The performances of the children are adequate but fairly banal and what you might expect in a teen romance film dressed up as a Sci-Fi.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt's a shame because they had the skeleton ideas for a really good movie. One thread they could have followed was when the runaways come upon an abandoned farm and one of the older kids mentions simply but insightfully: \"\"<\/a>no children, no economy.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is common sense the global warming cultists and the abortion mentality fanatics fail to grasp. Putting aside the Holocaust level atrocity of the philosophy that there are too many of us and that children, thereby, are at best an inconvenience and at worst a plague to be minimized or eliminated, it is a basic fundamental of economics that a population does not grow also does not thrive.  This is a concept that the far superior Children of Men<\/em>\"\"<\/a>did not just glance at but \"\"<\/a>understood and embraced.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe devastated and abandoned areas in Darkest Minds <\/em>the children come across are one of the few accurate portrayals of the outcome of the loss of our next generation. To do a crossover moment, this is the landscape that Thanos and those others who believe in overpopulation, would create. Darkest Minds <\/em>could have been a kind of Children of Men <\/em>spinoff but this point was never followed up.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother really good idea which was little utilized was Watership Down<\/em>, \"\"<\/a>a brilliant story by Richard Adams seen from the point of view of a group of adventuring rabbits. The idea of a group of intrepid outcasts, wandering from one dysfunctional society to another in the wake of a massive catastrophe, rejecting them all, seeking sanctuary and finding it in family would have been a real upgrade to this plot. Instead, Ruby, the main protagonist, finds this book to read to the youngest child in their group. The blessing that God gives to rabbits is quoted: \"\"<\/a>"All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they <\/font>will kill <\/font>you.<\/font>But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning." Ruby applies it to her love interest, <\/font>\"\"<\/a>Liam (Harris Dickinsen), but this is unearned. <\/font>\"\"<\/a>"The Prince with A Thousand Enemies" is a clever trickster leader who brings his family through a series of dangerous adventures. Liam, while a nice young man, is merely one of a group of kids trying to survive. He's not an especially strong leader, nor shown to be particularly adept at thinking outside the box. If they wanted to make this Watership Down <\/em>analogy work they should have set it up properly, instead of just throwing it in hoping it would stick by virtue of having been mentioned. This tactic does not work.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tRuby kills somewhat randomly, though not without reason. <\/font> <\/font>\"\"<\/a>She forces soldiers to shoot into an opposing group, gets a helicopter pilot to do a suicide dive, and makes the pervy soldier shoot himself in the head. I only bring this up because elsewhere in the movie the group she is with objects to the idea of joining an anti-government group call the Children's League. They are afraid the League would train them to be soldiers and kill people. Seems a bit inconsistent without at least some espoused rationalization. The screenwriters need to pick a side and stick to it. Is it okay to use these powers lethally or not?<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEssentially, this is a so-so forgettable teen romance with about as much originality as Eragon<\/em>, set against <\/font>\"\"<\/a>a background of sci-fi which plays out like a first treatment idea instead of a fully fleshed-out screenplay. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"\"<\/a>Finally, I must wonder why screenwriters almost always see the future as dystopian. \"\"<\/a>Granted a conflict is useful in the creation of an interesting story, but there's no reason a functioning healthy society couldn't be challenged, instead of starting from the assumption that life sucks. Star Trek, Dr. Who <\/em>and the Avengers<\/em> – three of the most profitable and long lasting frachises in all of cinematic history – all celebrate more often than not, the advances, achievements, creativity and essential goodness of humanity – and that sentient life is the most valuable thing in the material Universe. You'd think the writers of such depressing movies as Hunger Games, Divergent, Ready Player One, The Road, Book of Eli, 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, Fahrenheit 451, Clockwork Orange,<\/em> and Brazil <\/em>would start from a more optimistic threshold. After all, what is the point of fighting for a world which will not get any better? Not that these are all bad  movies – on the contrary many on the list are classics. \"\"<\/a>It's just you'd think the \"\"<\/a>truly creative might come up with a more \"\"<\/a>positive outlook on \"\"<\/a>life and our future. As \"\"<\/a>Trek<\/em> and \"\"<\/a>Who,<\/em> in particular, have shown, \"\"<\/a>it is possible to have \"\"<\/a>conflict and even make intelligent social commentary \"\"<\/a>and still have a more optimistic view of life. Just sayin'.\"\"<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWARNING: A little bit of language, some X-Men <\/em>style violence of gunshots, fire breathing, explosions and people being thrown around, along with the pervy antagonist scenes, makes this suitable really for older teens and up only. If you were comfortable with your kids seeing X-Men<\/em>, this would likely be fine.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHORT TAKE: Paint-by-numbers teen-romance\/sci-fi full of plot holes and borrowed ideas. WHO SHOULD GO: Mid to older teens only, for language, X-Men style violence and a couple of aggressive advances by pervy bad guys. AND IF YOU LIKE THESE REVIEWS PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! THEN YOU'LL GET     EVERY NEW REVIEW SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR E-MAIL!! GO TO … Continue reading DARKEST MINDS – DERIVATIVE TEEN ROMANCE DRESSED UP AS WEAK DEPRESSING SCI FI<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2107,2121,892,2122,2110,2125,2106,2112,658,301,1415,2113,2118,2123,2109,2117,2114,2116,2126,2115,356,2120,2108,2119,2124,2111],"class_list":["post-9236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alexandra-reagan","tag-amndla-stenberg","tag-avengers","tag-camp","tag-children-of-men","tag-childrens-league","tag-darkest-minds","tag-divergent","tag-dr-who","tag-dysfunctional","tag-dystopian","tag-hunger-games","tag-mandy-moore","tag-military","tag-mind-control","tag-optimistic","tag-overpopulation","tag-pessimistic","tag-prince-with-a-thousand-enemies","tag-propaganda","tag-star-trek","tag-super-powers","tag-telekinesis","tag-virus","tag-watership-down","tag-x-men"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/poster-2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6mhKV-2oY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9236"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11038,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9236\/revisions\/11038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}