Starring: Joshua Bangle, Ryan Barnes, Cat Merritt, Devin Leigh, Sean Conley, and Sashanna Pearson
Director: Kodi Zene
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
In a world where everything is literally in black and white, Issac (Bangle) becomes the first victim of a strange infection that is causing people to turn colored.
When I was first told about "Monochrome", I thought it was a perfect subject for review at this blog--a place where everything is in black and white (as declared on the header), but occasionally splashes of color creep in. I was also certain I'd have a good time poking a little good-natured fun at the ridiculous premise--as a lover of things "Star Wars" and publisher of comics anthologies like "Stardust the Super Wizard", I am clearly not picky about fantasy getting into my science fiction--because the way in which we perceive colors comes from such a complex mixture of physics and physical conditions that the notion of a mystery contagion causing people to become "colorized" couldn't possibly be successfully played straight.
And yet, writer/director Cody Zene pulls it off. He opens the film on a mysterious hooded figure walking through a blasted wasteland. The scene is in black and white. When this figure comes upon other people, they unmask him, and we discover that this wanderer is a hunted outcast for no reason other than he colored in a world where everything else is in shades of gray. The story then flashes back to a year earlier, and we are shown the series of escalating events that brought our hero, Isaac, and his world to the state it's presently in.
Zene pulls us so effectively into the world of "Monochrome" that my expectations of thinking it was all very silly never entered my mind. He first engages the viewer with a stark opening, then draws us further in by triggering our sympathy for the instantly likeable Everyman character of Isaac (Joshua Bangle) as his life is torn apart, and then inspires our curiosity by showing us that his "condition" may or may not be an unexpected side effect of a bio-engineered gas released by a shadowy group that may be terrorists, government agents, or something entirely different. It doesn't become clear who they are, or what their intentions are, during the course of the film, but it's a question that may inspire you to seek out future films in what is a projected series.
MAY inspire you... because for all the strong elements of both setting and story in the film, there are technical aspects of the execution that drag it down. I viewed the "extended cut" of the film (which is currently available via streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime), so maybe some of this is unique to this particular edit; let me know if the comments if any of the following reflects what you saw if you check out this film.
First, "Monochrome" could have benefitted from tighter editing. Several shots and scenes could have been improved by being trimmed by just a few seconds while others needed to lose as much as a minute. There are several scenes, most noticeable involving Isaac's brother Jerry (Ryan Barnes) and either the film's nameless villain (Devin Leigh) or Isaac's girlfriend Victoria (Cat Merritt). The scenes are internally repetitive, as if multiple takes were done while the cameras kept rolling, but instead of picking one, the editors and director left them all in. The overall effect is that the film starts feeling padded as it progresses, which is a shame, because there's a really interesting story unfolding.
Second, we see entirely too much of the villain just strolling about or sitting around, failing at being menacing. If the presence of the mysterious bad guy had been limited to the two scenes were he is established as existing and being in command of a mysterious organization; and where he orders the doctor working with him (Sean Conley) to figure out why their bio weapon (which appears to have been intended to make those who are exposed to it paranoid and highly suggestible, since it turns Jerry into a loving and supporting brother into a color-hating, murderous madman. Every other scene he has does little to advance the story and does everything to undermine the idea that he is a menace or a force to be reckoned with--I don't think it's because Devin Leigh is necessarily a bad actor; he's just miscast. (You need a special kind of character actor for a part like that, and Leigh just doesn't have the right sort of screen presence.
Finally, the film is ultimately too much set-up and not enough resolution. With some trimming, this would be a spectacular first episode for a cool television series (although one that I think would fail because the general public doesn't have the refined tastes to appreciate black-and-white media--unlike you find folks reading this). As a stand-alone film, it falls short, no matter how much I admit to liking the story and wanting to see it continue. I realize that this is SUPPOSED to be the first part in a series, but, since it is NOT part of an existing series, there really should have been some resolution aside from "the life Isaac knew is dead and gone!"
In the final analysis, I feel that watching "Monochrome: The Chromism" was time well spent, and I hope it does well enough to spawn the sequels that the films writer/director and producers have in mind. Although it has some issues, the story is engaging and the characters are interesting. What's more, like all good sci-fi, it carries with it some social commentary that feels like it was "ripped from the headlines", even if the film was completed quite some time ago, before the current pandemic and political messes had come to dominate our lives.
"Monochrome: The Chromism" is currently available on Amazon Prime and other streaming services. You can also learn more about the film and the plans its creators have for their "franchise" by clicking here. I encourage you to check out both-although the website does contain mild spoilers in regards to a particular dangling thread from the movie--because it will improve my chances to seeing what's next for the world of Monochrome.
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