Movie Review: ‘Scorched Earth’

A harrowing backstory, a smattering of action, and a handful of familiar faces are not enough to overcome the overall dullness that is Scorched Earth. Set in the not distant enough future, this post apocalyptic western has limited drama, suspense, or comedy.

Sometime in the next half century, mother nature fights back against humanity due, it seems, to climate change. A cataclysmic event, called “Cloud Fall”, causes rapidly melting ice caps and substantial rainfall that wipes out most of humanity as well as most traces of today’s society. A half century after that, humanity is rebuilding and struggling for survival as air and water have become rare commodities. And driving a vehicle that burns fossil fuels is “the most heinous crime possible”. As is commonly portrayed in films, as the surviving humanity rebuilds, they regress to Western era standards, complete with horseback riding, gunfights, and bounty hunters.

One such bounty hunter is the focus of the movie. Attica Gage (Gina Carano; Deadpool, Kickboxer Vengeance) roams the wastelands hunting down people who drive cars or other, less heinous crimes. Soon enough, she gets the chance to infiltrate a lawless group and take down the man who killed her sister (uh oh, now it’s personal). Her method of infiltration? She wears a hat belonging to an outlaw she took down, hoping nobody in town has seen either of their faces. And it works, at first (“You can tell by the hat”).

Honestly, I’m getting bored just writing about this movie and I like writing. Most of the suspense is over before it even begins. There is some comedy, but I can’t tell if it was intentional or if it is just because the line is ridiculous. And why does humanity often regress when faced with extinction? Then the movie just kind of ends with a standard “ride off into the sunset”. If you like westerns, there are many others you would enjoy better.

On the plus side, I caught my name in the credits. Not me, but another person with me name did the title design. So, that was pretty cool, but probably just for me.