I’m sure that there are people out there who are going to like this film. I’m going to tell you right up front that I’m not one of them. It’s not that I dislike the gore (and there is PLENTY of gore). I don’t have a problem with that. It’s not that the performances weren’t good. (You’ll recognize most of the major character faces, even if you don’t know their names.) They weren’t spectacular, but the actors did the best with what they had to work with. Nope, the sin here, what really soured me on the film, was its complete and utter lack of originality.

Here’s the plot: eighty workers at the Belko Corporation are going about their business one day, when a mysterious voice comes over the company PA system and tells them that if they don’t kill two of their number in the next thirty minutes, there will be…consequences. They don’t, and there are.  Of course, The Voice doesn’t stop there, and the rest of the movie sees the workers forced to reduce their numbers as the clock ticks, or face being dispatched themselves. Sound familiar? It should, if you’ve seen Battle Royale, Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games, The Condemned, or any number of other films with similar plots. And I’ll be honest—there really isn’t anything new here. In fact, if this screenplay was presented in one of my college creative writing classes, I’d be calling the writer out for plagiarizing one of those films (probably Battle Royale, as this is pretty much Battle Royale in an office building). That’s disappointing, considering the writer here is James Gunn, writer/director of The Guardians of the Galaxy films. And director Greg McLean, who did so well with Wolf Creek and Rogue, falls short here (although he also directed The Darkness, so this isn’t his only sub-par film).

Another major problem is that Gunn passes up the chance for any meaningful social commentary, choosing instead to ramp up the body count and loose brain matter. I’ve seen critics opine that it’s a criticism of “office politics,” but the problem is that there’s nothing specific to the office setting, other than, well, the setting. This could have been done using nearly any kind of group where people are forced to interact on a daily basis, such as a school or a village or a prison. Nothing would change, except maybe the weapons used.

There’s also very little in terms of character development. Sure, there’s the obligatory office romance, as well as the office creeper (played here by John McGinley). See, we know he’s a pervert because when one of his pretty young co-workers catches him leering at her, she sends him a message to “cut it the fuck out!” and he just smiles and responds, “LOL” What exposition! A few other minor background tidbits, are hinted at, such as the boss who has had Special Forces training (Tony Goldwyn, in probably the best performance in the film), but are never really developed. Consequently, we don’t ever really care about any of these people. That makes this kind of film a tough sell.

I stuck with it, thinking it was going to get better, but unfortunately, in addition to its other flaws, it has third act problems, especially the ending, which was neither believable nor satisfying. It was the cinematic equivalent of the cliché, “the butler did it!” if the butler were introduced on page 195 of a 200-page novel. I will give McLean and Gunn credit for one moment of surprise late in the film, but they had to work the whole film to get it, and—all things considered—it wasn’t really worth it.

If you like this kind of film, you’ll probably like this one as well.  I’ve seen all parties involved do better work, though. IMDB has it at a 6.3. Much too high for me. I’d put it in the 4.5 range (but with an originality score of 2). (running time 1:29)

N.B. I almost used the phrase “Office Space meets Battle Royale,” until I noticed it was already on the poster, as a selling point. I was going to use it as an insult.