"All animals are under stringent selection pressure to be as stupid as they can get away with." - Robert Boyd
Shane Abbess directs "Infini". The plot? In the 23rd century, humanity has developed "slipstream" technology capable of teleporting human beings hundreds of light-years away. This technology is used to send a search and rescue team to an off-world mining colony. Their objective? Rescue Whit Carmichael (Daniel MacPherson), the lone survivor of what seems to be a biological attack.
During its second half, "Infini" informs us that humans on the mining station have been killed by an alien species. A genuinely fascinating creature – similar to Octavia Butler's Oankali - this alien observes and infects all living organisms encountered. The alien then selects from its prey what it deems to be "alpha traits"; traits deemed to be beneficial for survival. The alien then reconfigures itself via genetic self-regulation, such that it now possesses or absorbs these selected traits. By constantly absorbing "alpha traits", by constantly adapting, growing and morphing, the creature remains at the bleeding edge of (self-directed) biological evolution.
What Shane Abbess seems interested in, however, is the traits his alien becomes preoccupied with. After confronting human beings, the alien begins "drawing out" emotions of rage and hate, thereby causing its prey to go violently insane. The alien also begins creating facsimiles of humans which exhibit heightened aggression, fury and madness. Filled with loving memories of his wife, Whit Carmichael is able to resist the alien's attempts to tease out these baser instincts. Whit does this repeatedly throughout the picture, using sheer willpower to keep his emotions in check. Like the alien, Whit thus seems able to actively control his own biology. His mind triumphing over matter, Whit then challenges the alien to choose "better" genetic/emotional traits to adopt. The alien obliges, chooses altruism over aggression, and ceases to be a violent parasite. It henceforth starts creating "helpful" and "benevolent" human facsimiles. Whether the alien has genuinely mellowed, learnt a valuable philosophical lesson, or whether it is adopting a benign facade for the purpose of covert infiltration, is left ambiguous.
"Infini's" alien may be interesting, but Abbess' convoluted plot does it little justice. "Slipstreaming" turns out to be totally unnecessary for the tale Abbess ultimately intends to tell, and the film features a wholly unnecessary subplot in which our heroes terminate a shipment of explosive material bound for earth. A better writer would have jettisoned all this erroneous material and got down to film's point. Elsewhere the film's derivative of "Event Horizon", "The Thing", "Pandorum" and the "Alien" franchise. Luke Hemsworth co-stars.
6/10 – Worth one viewing.
Shane Abbess directs "Infini". The plot? In the 23rd century, humanity has developed "slipstream" technology capable of teleporting human beings hundreds of light-years away. This technology is used to send a search and rescue team to an off-world mining colony. Their objective? Rescue Whit Carmichael (Daniel MacPherson), the lone survivor of what seems to be a biological attack.
During its second half, "Infini" informs us that humans on the mining station have been killed by an alien species. A genuinely fascinating creature – similar to Octavia Butler's Oankali - this alien observes and infects all living organisms encountered. The alien then selects from its prey what it deems to be "alpha traits"; traits deemed to be beneficial for survival. The alien then reconfigures itself via genetic self-regulation, such that it now possesses or absorbs these selected traits. By constantly absorbing "alpha traits", by constantly adapting, growing and morphing, the creature remains at the bleeding edge of (self-directed) biological evolution.
What Shane Abbess seems interested in, however, is the traits his alien becomes preoccupied with. After confronting human beings, the alien begins "drawing out" emotions of rage and hate, thereby causing its prey to go violently insane. The alien also begins creating facsimiles of humans which exhibit heightened aggression, fury and madness. Filled with loving memories of his wife, Whit Carmichael is able to resist the alien's attempts to tease out these baser instincts. Whit does this repeatedly throughout the picture, using sheer willpower to keep his emotions in check. Like the alien, Whit thus seems able to actively control his own biology. His mind triumphing over matter, Whit then challenges the alien to choose "better" genetic/emotional traits to adopt. The alien obliges, chooses altruism over aggression, and ceases to be a violent parasite. It henceforth starts creating "helpful" and "benevolent" human facsimiles. Whether the alien has genuinely mellowed, learnt a valuable philosophical lesson, or whether it is adopting a benign facade for the purpose of covert infiltration, is left ambiguous.
"Infini's" alien may be interesting, but Abbess' convoluted plot does it little justice. "Slipstreaming" turns out to be totally unnecessary for the tale Abbess ultimately intends to tell, and the film features a wholly unnecessary subplot in which our heroes terminate a shipment of explosive material bound for earth. A better writer would have jettisoned all this erroneous material and got down to film's point. Elsewhere the film's derivative of "Event Horizon", "The Thing", "Pandorum" and the "Alien" franchise. Luke Hemsworth co-stars.
6/10 – Worth one viewing.