With the current world we live in, and ever since The Matrix – world bending science fiction ideas have come and gone and usually they’re very much misses. For every one movie that tries to mimic The Matrix or create something in tune with what it was trying to do, there are probably a hundred that are rather unwatchable. Granted there are always the in between area, and thankfully Adam Stern’s Levels is in the middle with some interesting concepts executed well enough, but nothing engaging enough to have the audience truly sink their teeth into. It’s absolutely fine, there is nothing inherently wrong with the movie but it’s been done before in some way shape or form, and because of that it’s not entirely captivating – fun enough but again nothing entirely new or captivating.
The movie focuses on Joe and Ash (Peter Mooney and Cara Gee respectfully) as Ash gets murdered in broad daylight. Joe wants to investigate what happened to his girlfriend and does whatever he can to get to the bottom of everything, however he realizes he’s part of an alternate reality universe, and that universe has been created by Anthony Hunter (Aaron Abrams). When Joe discovers this, something more gruesome gets uncovered as well – Hunter wants to eliminate the world and try again essentially, so Joe along with Oliver (David Hewlett) have to partner together to ensure the virtual world that Joe lives in doesn’t end up just being some discarded code.
While I am not going to debate and discuss the pros/cons of AI (it has no place replacing jobs, is where I am leaving it) the movie poses some questions about sentience and the world we’re finding ourselves living in now. It poses some interesting ideas and concepts, but overall it falls a little flat. Stern who is breaking into directing and writing from a more technical background certainly has an eye for visual flare, and that brings Levels to something truly gorgeous to watch and partake in an ongoing conversation. However, Peter Mooney and Cara Gee are the lifeblood of Levels, as they bring their all to the film but with the script lacking the extra punch it needs to be more than just another AI exists and world at danger type movie to break the mold it lays in. With their performances it makes something interesting and engaging, but there’s not enough to make it be memorable for the audience. While not falling on their performances or that of David Hewlett or Aaron Abrams either, just the cast doesn’t stand out enough from the middle of the road script that fails to break the mold into something more expansive and engaging.
Levels – as the title would have you hopefully infer does not have levels to it, in either story telling or performance. The visuals are delightful and truly shine the brightest, which is Adam Stern’s background, but the movie itself falls flat from having a lasting impression. While not bad by any means, it just lacks that extra push to be something memorable that one would revisit or remember in a year’s time unfortunately.
