Movie Review: ‘Enhanced’

A sinister government organization. A group on enhanced mutants. Dynamics between hunter and prey change when facing a common enemy. Sound intriguing? While the familiar premise might be wearing thin in some regards, Enhanced has enough going for it to make it an entertaining thrill ride.

Anna (Alanna Bale; Cardinal, Killjoys) is one of several enhanced individuals trying to live a quiet, secluded live after escaping a government experiment. George (George Tchortov; The Expanse, Designated Survivor) is a run-of-the-mill soldier tasked with taking down the enhanced individuals that he has been told are dangerous. But then, he runs afoul of Anna and begins to question everything he has been led to believe. Simultaneously, a more powerful foe out to reclaim his power presents himself uniting the unlikely allies in a struggle for survival.

Overall, this was a decent movie with enough action and an intriguing premise to keep me interested. Sure, it could have been better with more character development, more action, and less clunky exposition dialogue, and there was a plot hole that almost derailed the latter part of the movie for me (the “bad guy” needs ALL his power from the enhanced individuals to get back home, so why does he agree to spare one in a blatantly bad deal).

On the plus side, I did find the sci-fi elements/theories intriguing and entertaining. While time travel (not used here) is my favorite sci-fi trope, multiple dimensions (which this movie lightly touches on) is my next favorite. The special effects veer more toward the practical than CGI, which makes for a more realistic, albeit sometimes cheesy, experience; there are some shots (which can be seen in the trailer) that are beautifully done. The action/fight scenes are well choreographed, which kind of makes sense given that the director and writer, James Mark, has a background as a stunt performer/coordinator. It is cool to see people branch out from their comfort zone. Available On Demand now.