What if we made a science fiction movie that had a decent plot and even some acceptable CGI and special effects. Then we added actors who could at least hold their own in a B movie. Then we added a little girl who did nothing. NOTHING. Nothing throughout the entire movie but cry "dad, dad." Yes, dad, dad, dad, over and over. I counted 30 or more in the first 20 minutes of the movie. At every turn. At every tense moment. At every little opportunity, it was nothing but dad, dad, dad. Then toward the end they even made her say it in a whining voice, just to annoy us further. Seriously, if you can watch the movie and ignore the little girl, then you will not have wasted your time. As stated it has an intersting premise. Sort of "Day of the. Triffids" on steroids and with better effects.
13 Reviews
Style over substance.
Top_Dawg_Critic9 September 2022
The visuals were decent - for 1990's CGI, and I can live with that, but the story, especially the dialogue, was too cliched and overly melodramatic. Even at a mere 89 min runtime, I got bored with the long dragged out and mostly unnecessary scenes. It was just the same cliched and predictable "stretched out to the max" scene after scene. The entire bridge crossing scene felt like it was 20 mins long, and you can easily predict what will happen each step of the way. This entire film could've easily been chopped down to a 20 min short film, and it would've been much more enjoyable. The casting and performances were ok for the most part, some too cheesy and forced for my liking. There are much better disaster films, even dating back to the 80's; this one was overhyped without reason. As much as the trailer looks inviting, the actual film is very lame. It's a very generous 5/10 from me.
Oscar material it is not.
n_earl_roberts8 November 2022
Well, what a movie.
Not exactly rife with deep philosophical under tones but if you check your brain in at the door and don't aim too high, you should not be overly disappointed.
The story itself is pretty straight forward and is not what I would call taxing. Plants, mad scientists buggering with things they shouldn't be, end of the world, yada, yada, yada.
The staging of the story was, well, nothing flash. The CQI and the set pieces were at best acceptable and at worse ordinary sometimes boarding on the laughable. For example, it was more than noticeable that as the characters were seen traversing the landscape between the high-rise buildings and the cars on the street in some scenes, the definition of the wider horizon of the landscape was decidedly flat in nature indicating an obvious green screen effect. It certainly screamed low budget.
The other part of the staging of the story, the actors, is a different kettle of fish. Some of the acting was fine, some of the acting was more than a little melodramatic and some was just horrible. Case in point on this, the gentleman who played the rotund science tech "21" (and the comedy foil) simply put couldn't act. This criticism maybe harsh though as I watched the Chinese language version with subtitles (I cannot watch dubbed movies) and a lot of his lines obviously lost a lot in translation.
Finally, the child.
This child should win the Oscar for being the single most unwarranted and annoying child character in any movie since Dakota Fanning played Rachel Ferrier in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds. Certainly, as the film progresses and the child becomes progressive more annoying you hope that the plants do the viewers a favor and eat her and by the end of the movie, you are left wondering if the father saved the right person....
As the movie goes, quite the mixed bag but I have seen worse so maybe 6 out of 10.
Not exactly rife with deep philosophical under tones but if you check your brain in at the door and don't aim too high, you should not be overly disappointed.
The story itself is pretty straight forward and is not what I would call taxing. Plants, mad scientists buggering with things they shouldn't be, end of the world, yada, yada, yada.
The staging of the story was, well, nothing flash. The CQI and the set pieces were at best acceptable and at worse ordinary sometimes boarding on the laughable. For example, it was more than noticeable that as the characters were seen traversing the landscape between the high-rise buildings and the cars on the street in some scenes, the definition of the wider horizon of the landscape was decidedly flat in nature indicating an obvious green screen effect. It certainly screamed low budget.
The other part of the staging of the story, the actors, is a different kettle of fish. Some of the acting was fine, some of the acting was more than a little melodramatic and some was just horrible. Case in point on this, the gentleman who played the rotund science tech "21" (and the comedy foil) simply put couldn't act. This criticism maybe harsh though as I watched the Chinese language version with subtitles (I cannot watch dubbed movies) and a lot of his lines obviously lost a lot in translation.
Finally, the child.
This child should win the Oscar for being the single most unwarranted and annoying child character in any movie since Dakota Fanning played Rachel Ferrier in Steven Spielberg's 2005 War of the Worlds. Certainly, as the film progresses and the child becomes progressive more annoying you hope that the plants do the viewers a favor and eat her and by the end of the movie, you are left wondering if the father saved the right person....
As the movie goes, quite the mixed bag but I have seen worse so maybe 6 out of 10.
Bad Idea
bemyfriend-4018421 June 2022
The plants turn against us? The film began in a tedious way. And of course, I knew the film would be about the man trying to survive with his little daughter, as plants growing beating hearts try to swallow them. It looked depressing, slow, annoying, and predictable. Seen on Tubi, the free streaming site, which now has live TV.
The Incredible Melting Brain
Oslo_Jargo24 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
*Plot and ending analyzed*
There should be a sign posted at the entrance to the theater where this movie is playing. It will read, "Leave your brain in the box".
The movie is absolutely horrible. It felt as if the more I watched it, more and more of my brain cells were slowly dying.
It is a complete ripoff of every American action movie. But it has no substance or style, and the whole thing is atrociously bad.
Whoever wrote and directed this junk, should be locked up in a cell for eternity, and be forced to watch this.
Each scene is composed solely of contrived action sequences that are ridiculously long and dumb.
Add to the military group, two "tough as nails" women. Every modern action movie has that nowadays, and it is completely incredulous. And they also put in the obligatory "fat guy". He runs his mouth off pretty much the whole time, and taps on his portable computer to hook into dead systems that suddenly come to life again.
And guess what? China saves the planet Earth. I was laughing so hard.
I can't help but believe that in the end, this was nothing but nonsensical quasi-propaganda. But then again, maybe they actually thought that they had made a good movie.
Save your hard earned money and buy some bubble gum instead. Or donate to a dead bird sanctuary.
*Plot and ending analyzed*
There should be a sign posted at the entrance to the theater where this movie is playing. It will read, "Leave your brain in the box".
The movie is absolutely horrible. It felt as if the more I watched it, more and more of my brain cells were slowly dying.
It is a complete ripoff of every American action movie. But it has no substance or style, and the whole thing is atrociously bad.
Whoever wrote and directed this junk, should be locked up in a cell for eternity, and be forced to watch this.
Each scene is composed solely of contrived action sequences that are ridiculously long and dumb.
Add to the military group, two "tough as nails" women. Every modern action movie has that nowadays, and it is completely incredulous. And they also put in the obligatory "fat guy". He runs his mouth off pretty much the whole time, and taps on his portable computer to hook into dead systems that suddenly come to life again.
And guess what? China saves the planet Earth. I was laughing so hard.
I can't help but believe that in the end, this was nothing but nonsensical quasi-propaganda. But then again, maybe they actually thought that they had made a good movie.
Save your hard earned money and buy some bubble gum instead. Or donate to a dead bird sanctuary.
So very, very predictable...
paul_haakonsen8 June 2023
The storyline in "Restart the Earth" is simplistic, so very, very simplistic. The movie's narrative requires absolutely no involvement from the audience. This is a movie where you just lean back, grab your drink and snacks and watch the predictable and generic movie unfold, whilst the CGI is ensuring that you find some enjoyment in the movie.
It just makes zero sense why a plant would know when people are about to do something that would spell the doom of the plant, and thus be able to track down the humans and attempt to thwart their plans. Lazy writing, sure, but makes for mindless entertainment.
I have to say that the writing in "Restart the Earth" had some of the most cringeworthy and downright disturbing dialogue I have ever stumbled upon. There was a scene where a soldier sits with a little girl, and the soldier says "If your dad was dead, you could be my daughter", and the girl's father is standing right behind the girl. That dialogue was so toe-curling that it was hard to witness.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Restart the Earth", but they definitely had some nice enough talents on the cast list, each actor and actress did a good job with her given role and character in terms of bringing the character and the storyline, however weak it might be, to life on the screen.
Sure, I get why the movie maker would opt to put in a growling sound when you see the plant's long tendrils skulking about, searching for humans. It does add a layer of thrill and excitement to the scene. But come on, seriously? A growling plant? Since when did plants grow vocal chords? It is just downright idiotic and sort of turns what would otherwise be an exciting scene into something laughable.
Visually, then I will say that "Restart the Earth" was good. The CGI rendered plants did, for the most parts of the movie, look realistic and were well-rendered and animated, bringing the plants and their stalks to life in a believeable manner on the screen, if you can abhor from the growling sounds. However, some of the scenes where the characters are moving through the overgrown city just looks downright horrible, you can clearly see that it is green screen, and it is difficult to unsee once you notice it.
A movie such as "Restart the Earth", which clearly is a special effects dependent movie, should strive to have the best of special effects and CGI effects to be properly functional and effective.
Watchable for what it was, "Restart the Earth" is a somewhat hollow movie experience held afloat by the CGI effects. My rating of director Zhenzhao Lin's 2021 movie lands on a five out of ten stars.
It just makes zero sense why a plant would know when people are about to do something that would spell the doom of the plant, and thus be able to track down the humans and attempt to thwart their plans. Lazy writing, sure, but makes for mindless entertainment.
I have to say that the writing in "Restart the Earth" had some of the most cringeworthy and downright disturbing dialogue I have ever stumbled upon. There was a scene where a soldier sits with a little girl, and the soldier says "If your dad was dead, you could be my daughter", and the girl's father is standing right behind the girl. That dialogue was so toe-curling that it was hard to witness.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Restart the Earth", but they definitely had some nice enough talents on the cast list, each actor and actress did a good job with her given role and character in terms of bringing the character and the storyline, however weak it might be, to life on the screen.
Sure, I get why the movie maker would opt to put in a growling sound when you see the plant's long tendrils skulking about, searching for humans. It does add a layer of thrill and excitement to the scene. But come on, seriously? A growling plant? Since when did plants grow vocal chords? It is just downright idiotic and sort of turns what would otherwise be an exciting scene into something laughable.
Visually, then I will say that "Restart the Earth" was good. The CGI rendered plants did, for the most parts of the movie, look realistic and were well-rendered and animated, bringing the plants and their stalks to life in a believeable manner on the screen, if you can abhor from the growling sounds. However, some of the scenes where the characters are moving through the overgrown city just looks downright horrible, you can clearly see that it is green screen, and it is difficult to unsee once you notice it.
A movie such as "Restart the Earth", which clearly is a special effects dependent movie, should strive to have the best of special effects and CGI effects to be properly functional and effective.
Watchable for what it was, "Restart the Earth" is a somewhat hollow movie experience held afloat by the CGI effects. My rating of director Zhenzhao Lin's 2021 movie lands on a five out of ten stars.
China's version of diversity
markbuccolo25 November 2022
RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Start with an obese comedic tech wize, add a little girl and lots of more than ridiculous characters and situations and what you get is unwatchable. Imagery is straight out ofthe lowest level Japanese films from the age of Godzilla and others. Plot is a joke, characters are also just PC representations. If you enjoyed this excuse for a movie, please go back to your second grade class and refrain from leaving any movie reviews. Movies worth viewing does not include this amatuer attempt to cinema in any way. Pass and go straight to the exit when this "film" enters your radar.
A spin on a previously original movie idea
aim-9996727 May 2023
I'll mention the positive first:
Now some of the negatives:
Now, regarding my subject/head line: The idea of plants attacking humans (including the design of the plants' cannibalistic "heads") comes from the book/movie The Day Of The Triffids".
That old movie wasn't too bad.
This movie is slightly better than that black & white one.
But the book is better than both.
So the current "Featured Review" is wrong.
Mind you, they probably didn't know about that old book/movie.
- better than B level acting (but not better than A level)
- very good plotline (except for CCP typical 1 person sacrifices self for everyone alive)
Now some of the negatives:
- terrible script/lines
- terrible camera work
- even worse CGI.
Now, regarding my subject/head line: The idea of plants attacking humans (including the design of the plants' cannibalistic "heads") comes from the book/movie The Day Of The Triffids".
That old movie wasn't too bad.
This movie is slightly better than that black & white one.
But the book is better than both.
So the current "Featured Review" is wrong.
Mind you, they probably didn't know about that old book/movie.
i really enjoyed it
nublingnoob6 March 2022
Very fun film, i was very sceptical as usual with these chinese films with no other reviews, but my risk paid off!
The film basically follows a father and daughter + some military guys on a journey to complete their mission.
As we all know chinese cgi can sometimes be a bit ropey, that is somewhat true here but its more than serviceable, however some of it is really good and the scenery of the overgrown/postapocalyptic city is the star of the show, i was truley amazed at the visuals.
The plant/monster things were very cool.
The story and how things develop is very cliche and very hollywood which for me isnt a bad thing, why fix what isnt broke right.
Overal a solid action sci/fi post apocalypse film.
The film basically follows a father and daughter + some military guys on a journey to complete their mission.
As we all know chinese cgi can sometimes be a bit ropey, that is somewhat true here but its more than serviceable, however some of it is really good and the scenery of the overgrown/postapocalyptic city is the star of the show, i was truley amazed at the visuals.
The plant/monster things were very cool.
The story and how things develop is very cliche and very hollywood which for me isnt a bad thing, why fix what isnt broke right.
Overal a solid action sci/fi post apocalypse film.
Good if you cut out the extended Drama scenes
sunking4 September 2023
This movie wasn't too bad, and it was kind of a cool premise for the movie and it was even funny at times. The CGI and post apocalyptical scenery was nice to look at. However, the movie had about 25 minutes of extended Drama scenes that cut have been shortened from 25 minutes of drama to like 2 minutes. So for example if a key character dies, there is no need to spend the next 5 minutes sobbing and remembering the character. My guess is they added in these scenes to take the movie up to a respectable length. So what I recommend is skipping ahead when you come to these obvious dramatic moments. That is what I did and the movie was much much better that way.
Pleasantly Surprised!
HarrySmooth10 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I do NOT do "Sub-Titles" but since this was "dubbed" I gave it a shot, and glad I did! This was a VERY Different premise from your everyday Sci-fi film! Plants take over the World! Who'd of ever thunk it? LOL, PDG!!!!
Take a peek!
Take a peek!
Chinese busses are built strong
okpilak25 April 2024
There are certain things one expects in Chinese films. Some heavy handed propaganda and some terrible voice actors. This movie has an interesting premise, and could have been done much better. Specially engineered plants have suddenly become sentient, and have taken over the earth, and are feeding on all human and animal life to sustain them. The sets are done well, clearly with CGI, and the plants themselves are done very well, with plant and snake like features, and there is a lot of CGI in this movie. Teams of soldiers are to set out at specific points on the globe, to inject a substance into the roots of the plants to kill them off, and all the many sites must do that at the same time. And we follow one team. But first we meet a man and his daughter. His wife worked developing the plants, and died when they attacked. And he wants to protect his daughter at all costs. The young daughter has the worst possible voice actor and very limited vocabulary and her voice will grate at a person very quickly. A cross between whining and annoying. A team meets up with the father and daughter and slowly, members of the team are killed by the plants. Things start to get very melodramatic, in an excessive manner, which is part of the propaganda with films like this. But the idea is very interesting, as long as one does not ask too many questions. There is a scene with the team and father and daughter in a bus that tells a person those busses can really take a licking.
Wow, an original movie idea!
kirachloe19 March 2023
After almost every movie company continues to bank on remakes of remakes, here we get an original idea, and pretty well implemented! YES, there is still intelligent life on this planet.
And they actually did a real good job. OK, a few of the more tried and true, less original, plot devices were used (dad more worried about saving his daughter), but you have to expect a minor part of every script to do that (and hence not moving to a 7/8)
But lets get to the real things that matter. The acting is rather good. LOTs of CG, maybe a bit too much, but properly supports the storyline. The direction is well done and the script (my usual hot button) is better than fair, maybe even higher than. All in all, this is a production team that should keeping moving forward. You are on target ... unless you start doing remakes or sequels, and then I will not be as positive.
And they actually did a real good job. OK, a few of the more tried and true, less original, plot devices were used (dad more worried about saving his daughter), but you have to expect a minor part of every script to do that (and hence not moving to a 7/8)
But lets get to the real things that matter. The acting is rather good. LOTs of CG, maybe a bit too much, but properly supports the storyline. The direction is well done and the script (my usual hot button) is better than fair, maybe even higher than. All in all, this is a production team that should keeping moving forward. You are on target ... unless you start doing remakes or sequels, and then I will not be as positive.
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