WATCH NOW
While watching “The Belko Experiment,” it’s not hard to spot the features that could have transformed the film into a hilarious satire of an absurd blood-soaked horror flick. The concept of Employees working desperately for a faceless boss who forces them to murder one another is brilliant. However, the writing by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither”) is shallow. There is too much focus on the violence. This is a film that people will either loathe or enjoy, based solely on how self-loathing and obnoxiously aggressive the film is. The Belko experiment was doomed because of a lack of benefits or mercy to a thoughtlessly cruel scenario. Realistically, Gunn’s greatest viewpoint blunder stems from his thought process being too simplistic. Sure there was some potential in using mundane characters that live on the edge of a corporate cubicle hell that could have served as a basis for a savage dark comedy, but it is never developed beyond that, which is inevitably haunting for the viewers since the only selling point is forcibly induced gore and violence.
From the very beginning, it is astonishing how simple it is to relate to or just ignore certain characters in “The Belko Experiment” based on their reactions to their co-workers being murdered. For starters, this is how stress makes people behave, which is a scenario crazy enough on its own. However, we are supposed to root for by-the-book employee Mike (John Gallagher Jr.) who for some reason embodies a voice of reason against self-appointed megalomaniac Barry (Tony Goldwyn) who thinks he is in charge. Mike is the type of person who tells his coworkers to take the stairs instead of the elevators. Barry on the other hand says that the group should ‘consider our options,’ which from my understanding means the group should just cooperate with the Uber boss who is forcing them to kill each other. The two characters are bound to clash and do so sooner rather than later, especially considering that all employees have a GPS micro-chip implanted in their heads and are working in Bogota where kidnappings are said to be commonplace. This GPS ultimately serves the purpose of exploding at disobedient employees.
Also, other characters provide either approval or disapproval of Barry and Mike’s positions. In this case, Mike is confident that nobody has ‘the right to choose who lives and dies’ unlike Barry who claims they have no choice.
At some point, you may wonder if Barry makes a good point but that thought will be dispelled once you take a look at some of the other people he has allied himself with. These include shaky and trigger-happy Lonny (David Dastmalchian), and sexual harassment-happy Wendell (John C. McGinley). You cannot take the utilitarian stance in this film because these guys are only backed by deeply troubling behaviour.
On the other hand, there is simply no way to empathize with Mike because he is such a bland cliche of a goody. What kind of guy tells people not to take the elevators as an option during an emergency? That’s a half-serious question. I genuinely do not know anything about Mike outside of the fact that he deals with stress optimally, talks stress away from the other employees and is a rational thinker since a lot of the film’s early expository speculation comes from him (he’s a bit of a mouthpiece but necessarily so since he is pretty much the only logical character). There’s no way to determine what he was like before the Belko bosses decided to start eliminating their employees, nor any way to understand why we should care about the character apart from the fact that he is a part of the solution and not the problem.
Motivation, or rather the lack thereof, could have offered useful comedic material as well. Belko could be an office just like any other workplace where the manager and co-workers are polite and nice one second and can switch to being brutal thugs the moment they feel that might be scapegoated. That is who Lonny, the one most likeable of the Gunn’s baddies, seems to be. But the problem with him is that he is irritatingly knock-kneed. A McGinley character is a man completely devoid of any sincere sentiment with a beaming masticatory glare perpetually adorning his countenance accentuated countermands head forwarding boasting muscle flexes. Barry simply seeks to maintain his authority, which is evidenced when he undermines the nice guy security guard Evan (James Earl) by storming the company’s arms storage.
Only a masochist would sit through Greg McLean’s dimwitted, unpleasant “The Belko Experiment”. By far the most impressive shot of the film is the gunshot to the head medium close-up. Everything else is a pathetic desperate portrayal of wings and torsos flailing. Instead of a painful wolf creek like cliche, the film should have explored other issues such as deaths. Or rather, a meaningful mess. I’m talking about a grim hack magic 8 ball scenario. Or should I say A battle royale meets office space- what a waste of thought. It’s profoundly sad to think of these people being held hostage or doing anything at all. The true horror lies in these pathetic people. Even the diehard gun supporters and ‘Stab’ enthusiasts would have a breakdown.
For More Movies Like The Belko Experiment (2016) Visit 123Movies.
Also Watch for more movies like:
