Jackson Booth-Millard
I saw the trailer for this movie at least movie, it looked good to me, so I ignored low and negative reviews from critics and I went to see it in a cinema, from the producers of Stranger Things, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2). Basically a disease known as Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN), sweeps through the United States, killing 90% of children under the age of eighteen. The children and teenagers who survive develop superpowers, and the government place them in internment camps sanctioned by U.S. President Gray (Bradley Whitford). They are classified based on their psionic abilities: Greens are least dangerous and have impossible intelligence and memories; Blues are mildly dangerous and have telekinetic abilities; Golds are somewhat dangerous and have the ability to control electricity; Reds are highly dangerous and have the ability to generate and manipulate fire; and Oranges are lethal and have the ability to enter and control the minds of others. The day after Young Ruby Daly (Lidya Jewett) celebrates her tenth birthday, the night before she entered her parents' bedroom, and somehow wiped out her existence from their memories, so in the morning her mother Molly (Golden Brooks) does not recognise her. Moments later, after being locked in the garage, she is taken away by soldiers and taken to a camp, she is taken for classification, she is diagnosed as an Orange, meaning she will be immediately executed, but using her abilities she convinces the doctor to reassign her as a Green, sparing her life. Six years later, Ruby (The Hunger Games' Amandla Stenberg) is still in the internment camps, one day the prisoners are bombarded by a painful frequency called the White Noise that is only detectable by children with powers. Ruby suffers a more adverse reaction to it as she is orange and falls unconscious, and wakes up to meet doctor Cate Begby (Mandy Moore), they know she is an Orange and her life is in danger. But she is directed to meet Begby in the boiler room, they escape with the help of Ruby's powers, she passes out again and wakes in a different car, Begby gives Ruby a pendant with a help button on it, telling her that when activated becomes a tracker that allows them to find her. At a gas station, Ruby accidentally touches a man and enters his mind, she is now fearful of Begby's intentions. She follows a young girl, revealed to be a Gold when she short-circuits the lights, she follows the girl to a van, the girl hides her under a blanket before it drives away. The two older boys at the front of the van are Liam (Harris Dickinson) and Charles, nicknamed "Chubs" (Skylan Brooks), and the little girl is Suzume, or "Zu" (Miya Cech). They are pursued by a gold coupe, bounty hunter Lady Jane (Gwendoline Christie), and Begby and her partner, but they manage to get them off their tale. Chubs tells Ruby, who claims she is a Green, that Begby is part of an organization called the Children's League, who recruit psionic kids to fight against the camps, but using cruelty and violence. The group stop at a motel overnight, and the outside of the van is changed, they leave and find a seemingly empty shopping mall where they collect supplies of food, clothes and other amenities. But the mall has a ragtag group of children hiding, there is a scuffle, but they realise they are not threatening, and allow them to stay overnight, but no longer. The group sit and discuss the plan to find the elusive "Slip Kid", one of the few remaining Oranges who has created a safe haven for psionic children called East River, one of the kids knows how to get there, but only reveals a clue to help find it. Chubs and Ruby eventually find a radio frequency with a broadcast directing them to East River, but they are passing Ruby's neighbourhood, Liam gives Ruby the opportunity to see her parents. Ruby goes to her home, but anticipates what will happen if she enters, her mother's reaction and soldiers being called, she turns away and runs to an open field, Liam finds her, they almost kiss, before Ruby pulls away, fearful what will happen. They make their way back to the van, Lady Jane ambushes them, Ruby is forced to use her true powers in front of the others, she orders Lady Jane to walk through the wood and never stop, no matter how exhausted or hungry she gets. The other accept the fact that Ruby lied about being an Orange, they continue to head for the safe haven, they are surrounded by masked soldiers, but one recognises Liam, the others stand down, and they are allowed to enter the camp. They are introduced to the Slip Kid himself, who is revealed to be the President's son, Clancy Gray (Patrick Gibson), the only other known remaining Orange, he greets them earnestly and set them up. While the others are given various jobs around the haven, Clancy brings Ruby to his office to learn more about her abilities, how she erased her existence from her parents' memory, and how to possibly control her powers, this allows her to get close to Liam. One day, Ruby joins Chubs on the dock, he says he hates the haven as it is like a freer version of the internment camps, he wishes to contact his parents, so Ruby asks Clancy to borrow his computer, but his condition is that she teaches him how erase a memory. Clancy then tries to rape Ruby, but she escapes into the woods, she transfers to him what happened, he threatens to kill Clancy, but Ruby convinces him to leave with her, Chubs and Zu. Before they can escape, Clancy and soldiers block the exit, he reveals that he is holding kids in camp for the purpose of selling them to the government, and he wants Ruby by his side. Ruby forces a commander to commit suicide and cause a panic, allowing her and the others to escape, soon enough guns are firing all over the place, and helicopters arrive carrying Reds, who set fire to the camp. Ruby uses her power to cause a helicopter pilot to nosedive, the explosion allows Chubs to rescue her, but another severely burns him, forcing Ruby to activate the button given by Begby. In the morning, Liam finds Ruby and Chubs, they are taken into custody, Chubs is taken to hospital, while the other two are in a private safe house. When Ruby awakens, Begby explains that Chubs is in critical condition, and that she and Liam will become part of the team, Ruby says she will only become part of the League is Liam is freed, Begby reluctantly agrees. Ruby explains the situation to Liam, but he refuses to leave, seeing no other option, Ruby kisses Liam goodbye, purposely erasing her from his memory, he leaves carrying Begby's bag, and Ruby's keychain given on her birthday. Clancy is seen gathering an army of soldiers, while Ruby salutes the thousands of children who have joined the Children's League's army. Also starring Wade Williams as The Captain, Wallace Langham as Dr. Viceroy, Mark O'Brien as Rob Meadows and Charles Green as Doctor. The young cast including Stenberg and Dickinson are charismatic, and there is reasonable support from Moore, Whitford and a short stint by Christie, this is essentially a mashup of X-Men and The Hunger Games, it is predictable at times, but you can't complain with good special effects, and exciting chase and action sequences, it's not a bad science-fiction thriller. Okay!
