Insight:
In Spectral, we are introduced to supernatural beings or anomalies that kill on the slightest of touch. When a delta soldier finds something unusual on his hyperspectral goggles and is killed suspiciously, the lead engineer, Dr Clyne, behind the hyper spectral googles is brought down to Moldova in Eastern Europe where the American forces are fighting insurgents. Suspected to be cloaking suits worn by soldiers, Dr. Clyne investigates these ‘White Ghosts’ and in the chase, they get stranded in an abandoned factory, in the middle of the city. Devising a plan and at the cost of several lives, they escape only to return with special weapons and gears. The fate of the whole world depends on them. Will they be able to stop them?
Buzz:
The movie was supposed to be released in August 2016 and was to be distributed by Universal Pictures. But, they pulled out of the deal as they didn’t want to risk another failure on a movie based on video-game patterns like that of Warcraft. Netflix later acquired the distribution rights and released it in December 2016. The movie has been extensively shot in Budapest, Hungary. In the movie, DARPA stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They are responsible for the development of new weapons and technology for US military.
What To Anticipate:
Technically, it is not a horror movie, but the elements present in the movie, where the enemy remains invisible to the naked eye and can be seen like rays of light in the form of human body and which even kills in a single touch and then to top it all.. you have the spookiest of surroundings and most part of the movie is shot in blue light.. they all seem like something you would get to watch in a spooky movie.
If someone made them, they don’t escape the laws of the world. Nothing does.
‘Aratare’ or the souls of the dead, as called by the locals provide some mythology to the scientific theory behind these supernatural beings. Visually, the movie is stunning. It seems to be a souped-up version of Black Hawk Down and Edge of Tomorrow.
At the same time, it has deep roots into the video games such as Gears of War, Call of Duty and Crysis. The guns, the gears, the armoured suits, delta soldiers and the locations.. well, it is a Gamer’s Paradise. I guess, the sad part of the movie is that it delves too much into it and doesn’t carry any Originality.
When it comes to acting, we have a bunch of good TV actors, but since it is a war movie, the huge star cast remains un-engaging as most of them don’t get a lot of screen space to connect with the audience.
Also, the fact that an engineer, Dr. Clyne suddenly turns to be a GI Joe, running around with delta forces and not being irked by any of it is very surprising and more than that the fact that he creates a whole new arsenal to fight these anomalies in just a matter of hours is also hard to swallow. The character of woman as a CIA agent is of hardly any significance and could have been done without.
It seems that the writers gave too much attention to the mystery of the Spectral beings and not to the storyline or the characters.
Trailer: