Dr. Mark Clyne, played by James Badge Dale, is an R&D scientist working for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( or DARPA) who is very suddenly called to the war torn Moldova to give his expert advice on a deadly anomaly that can only be seen through the hyper spectral glasses that he created. Though believed to be the spirits of the dead (or the aratare) by the locals and some kind of active camouflage by the CIA operative Fran Madison (Emily Mortimer), Clyne is not convinced and goes out on a rescue mission with the Special-Ops team to collect more data. When the group is attacked by the anomaly and Clyne and the special ops team are left stranded in enemy (and anomaly) held territory, Clyne must figure out what that anomaly is and how to defeat it before it before it spreads to the rest of the world.
The tone for the film is serious from the get go. This is set up for the audience through the music and color scheme chosen for the film which are more muted, gray scale tones. I will give Netflix credit for actually creating a lot of the war-torn city that our band of heroes has to fight their way through and the CGI was kept pretty minimal. I don’t mind CGI but it does bother me more than it does my brother Daniel as it actually distracts me from the story if there is too much of it. I like a healthy balance of practical and digital effects and I think Spectral had a decent balance of both.
Each actor was well cast for their role and no one really feels out of place. Bruce Greenwood is, as usual, outstanding in his role as General Orland and Emily Mortimer surprised me as the CIA agent Fran Madison. I will always think of Mortimer as Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle but she did well here and fit the part well, even if her American accent threw me off, like Daphne from Frasier. As for the special-ops team (namely Max Martini, Clayne Crawford, Gonzalo Menendez, and so on), they look and act like special ops and actually had some great chemistry as a group, like they really were a tight knit unit of military bad asses. I noted while watching the film that the special ops guys had facial hair and wore clothing that was not regulation for regular military personnel. When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, “Babe, they’re special ops. They can do whatever they want.”
So true.
Dale as Dr. Clyne is very believable as a reserved and curious scientist and brings a feel of realism to the character. Dr. Clyne is a knowledgeable scientist and passionate about his work and Dale embodies the role well. One of the most distracting things Hollywood has done in the past is cast a super hot movie star in the part of the scientist without considering how they carry themselves or the feeling they give to the character, as if sex appeal alone would save them and then the film. I’m not saying Dale isn’t attractive because he is but if they had cast Channing Tatum in this role, it would have been too distracting.
I appreciate that Spectral has clear distinctions in the roles of the characters. And really, it’s a simple reflection of how things are done in real life. You have the guys who are on the ground, fighting the literal fight and then you have the guys in the background, creating weapons and materials, collecting intelligence and so on who make it possible for the guys on the ground to do what they do. Everyone has their job that they do well and they stick to it. You literally cannot have one without the other. Clyne, for example, is a scientist, the guy who has been providing this special ops team with the materials and gear that have allowed them to do their job and keep them safe. He doesn’t suddenly turn into this bad-A soldier just because he’s placed in a war zone. Actually, I don’t think he fired a traditional weapon for the entire film. He really was that indispensable scientist that the Special Ops team respected and listened to when their own methods failed them. It was nice to see a little piece of reality in a sci-fi flick.
You’ve heard the phrase “suspension of disbelief” right? This is where you set aside your own critiques and ideas of what is real and not real for the sake of enjoyment. When you watch movies, you have to do this pretty much no matter what you are watching but there is only so far that the suspension of disbelief will go. There are a lot of sci-fi ideas used in film that are too far fetched and too outlandish for them to be enjoyable even with suspended disbelief, especially when the film takes place in a more modern time. In Spectral, when it is finally revealed what the anomalies are and how they were created, the idea is crazy to anyone hearing it but it makes sense in the context and situation in which it is being presented. War, desperation, anger, pain and fear drive people to do the very worst of things and even though what was done in the film is impossible, it has a base in science (even if it is theoretical) and I could see someone trying to do it or something like it if they felt the end justifies the means. Spectral also brings to mind the moral dilemma that often occurs when considering the field of science. In science, the sky's the limit but what is our limit? How far is too far?
As much as I liked Spectral, there were a few things that weren’t “perfect”. For example, Clyne refashions his hyper spectral camera to function as a hyper spectral light which would illuminate the anomalies for everyone to see as they were making their run to the extraction point. It’s a nice idea but it couldn’t have illuminated the anomalies in the way shown. I, of course, know that it was done this way for the benefit for the audience but it was still weird. And my husband and I were both wondering where in the heck the team gets these sweet suits for the final battle with the anomalies. All the materials and weapons they have were pulled together from supplies dropped off at the refugee bunker but what did the military originally create these suits for? And why were they in the supplies dropped off for a refugee camp?
Weird.
All in all, I really liked Spectral. I thought it was a quality production with a great cast and an equally interesting story. This film is spooky at times and intense in some parts but it wasn’t filled to the brim with gross and out-of-place violence and gore and I was surprised to find little swearing in it as well. I felt comfortable showing this movie to my older boys and will absolutely recommend it to other people as well. I will be adding it to my short this of sci-fi flicks that I actually like and will watch again.
It’s a short list but it’s growing.
