Today’s quick review: Armed Response. When a CIA black site goes offline, Isaac (Wesley Snipes), the leader of a special ops team, calls in Gabriel (Dave Annable), the designer of the site’s advanced AI system, to help. Isaac, Gabriel, and the rest of the team investigate the site, only to find the AI powered down and the security detail dead. As the team tries to piece together what happened, they find themselves under attack by an unseen foe.
Armed Response is a budget sci-fi horror movie that pits a team of soldiers against the unknown force that killed their colleagues. Armed Response has the hallmarks of the survival horror genre: a confined environment, some gory kills, a deeper mystery, and an enemy that plays mind games with both the characters and the audience. However, these modest points in the movie’s favor aren’t enough to make up for a flimsy plot and a lack of atmosphere.
Armed Response does a poor job of getting the audience to care. The characters receive a bare minimum of development, making it hard to get attached to them. The threat at the black site is ill-defined. Something is killing people there, but the movie doesn’t give the audience enough clues to make guesses. And while the movie has a few decent moments of suspense, the generic setting and bland acting undercut the tension.
Armed Response has a serviceable premise, but its execution is poor. The movie takes a relatively long time to establish the stakes, and even then, what could have been a promising mystery leads to a disappointing finale. Armed Response shows glimmers of potential here and there, but that potential is never realized. Horror fans and action fans can do better looking elsewhere.
For a more action-packed budget sci-fi movie about a killer AI, check out Kill Command or Battle Drone. For an action horror movie set in a deadly research facility, check out Resident Evil. For a dark sci-fi thriller about a high-tech interrogation room, try White Chamber. For a budget sci-fi horror movie with similar flaws and more action, check out Doom: Annihilation.
3.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 4.0 for a few adequate thrills embedded in a lackluster plot.