Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Good concept, poorly executed.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

"Phoenix 9" is a 22-minute short film from 2 years ago. Writer and director (both fairly inexperienced and it shows) are German, but the cast are all Americans, so the language here is English. I thought early on this could be a good film when it is more about the group mentality, but not much later the film loses itself in special effects and mediocre sci-fi contents. The core here is the group being forced to make very difficult decisions about its members in the times of an apocalyptic world once again. It is a lot style over substance and there is nothing really significant in here that you have not yet seen in another (short) film done equally good or better. This may have been a decent watch at 10 minutes max, but the material is not enough for over 20. Not recommended.

I give 9 because I have to respect the great effort that this entire group put into the making. I would only give 8 though if it was for the story line but that is not a problem. Could have had some better acting in parts but again not a problem. The stuff we see is clinically produced and above reproach, so technically excellent. Typical of German thoroughness. It is by far more enjoyable to watch than the rambling misnomer of Prometheus eg which had a huge budget etc. With that type of capital behind these guys it would be a very seriously great movie for sure. In regards to the apocalyptic theme. I wish we could get beyond this in modern Sci Fi flics. I mean - it really has been done to death. What is needed is optimistic and positive stuff set in the future. The present day is overshadowed by cataclysmic future failure of our species and planet which to a large part is based on some very spurious so called scientific evidence and conjecture as portrayed bu the liberal media and the green movement. Doom and gloom. I would bet that most of the stuff they predict is NOT going to happen and we are forced to live under this hysteria of doom and stress because some people make political mileage out of it. It is up to film makers to take on the challenge to portray the future as a success and not as a failure. That may actually be more helpful as people will be more likely to invest in a positive future. Think about it people.