Sloppy Spy-Fi Action

Pycal

Michael Fredianelli's THE INFINITY PROJECT boasts impressive production values including choreographed martial arts fight scenes, sci-fi tech (okay they're mostly light-up hair dryers, but they're fun!), private aircraft, and an Italian second unit. However as a complete product, the movie falters and could have benefitted from a few extra coats of polish. For one, the film suffers from a odd, sluggish flow that feels less than suspenseful. Instead of feeling the gravity that should be felt when the main characters are on the run from threats to their lives, it's got an odd sense of pacing that's feels closer to following the protagonists' journey from smoke break to smoke break. There's a lack of energy and the stakes never feel as high as they should. It also doesn't help that our supposed lead hero isn't much more than a cipher. Despite Agent Ramsay (John Ozuna) being featured on the poster like it's HIS movie, he largely takes the backseat to other characters and isn't given enough depth to his character to keep me invested. Another big issue is tone. The movie is tonally inconsistent as it throws doses of humor and moments that defy logic. So we have something that is part straightforward (sci-fi elements asides) spy/action movie and part political satire. This would be fine, but instead of melding these different tones together seamlessly, the movie just comes off as messy and unsure of what it wants to be. Much of the movie is too on-the-nose to be compelling and a lot of this could have been fixed if the movie was established as a full-on action/comedy from the get-go.

Cast wise, James Allen Brewer continues to stand out among Wild Dogs Productions players and gives an entertaining turn as the President of the United States. The character is a thinly veiled Trump stand-in which is funny because Brewer looks a little like (albeit a handsome version of) Paul Manafort in the role. Some minimal set-dressing goes a long way in making the president's dwellings look convincing, but even a stock D.C. establishing shot or two could have helped sell things a bit better. As previously mentioned, I would have liked if protagonist Ozuna was given a bit more to do, but as it stands I enjoyed his performance more here than in his previous Wild Dogs role in BLOOD RELATIVE. Additionally, the action scenes more than impress with Ozuna's fights being among the biggest highlights. Among them there's a beautiful nighttime rain drenched set piece as well a later skirmish climaxing when two poor SOB's get simultaneously stabbed in the nuts. Sonny Chiba would be proud. But despite its fun moments, THE INFINITY PROJECT is mediocre product for Wild Dogs. There's a good film to have been made with what it had to play with, but some more thought and better execution could definitely have elevated it a few notches above what it is.

score 6/10

Pycal 1 February 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4619067/