PR didn't work on the fashion theme. Now very popular stories about a teenager who is very different from peers. While in theaters earned their millions "The Hunger Games", "Divergent", "Dedicated", "Maze Runner" little-known Laurence Block decided to release his version, but "Seventh" failed at the box office. Let's look for a reason.
The plot is insanely simple: a talented hacker named Sam is sent to a secret academy instead of prison, where he learns to develop his hacker abilities, fight, fall in love and go against the system. After reading the plot and 20 minutes of watching, I began to think that this film could be called "The Hunger Games for Boys", but immediately the whole idea of the first minutes of the film was forgotten and a banal love story began in an ordinary school.
The film deceived me. I came to look at the world of the future, where people are controlled, where for every wrong word can be imprisoned, where listening is not just phones, but also at home, where even being in the bathroom you can not be sure of your freedom. Instead, two teenagers find out what's going on in the academy, one of them even keeps detailed notes and nobody knows it because in the 21st century, criminals who are locked up for the night don't have a hidden camera in their rooms. Moreover, they manage to move quietly through the building during the curfew. Now, even in schools, a security guard conducts round-the-clock surveillance, and here is a secret academy without a person controlling the security cameras. Is that what I should be afraid of? Is this "total control"?
Minuses:
1) Poorly spelled protagonist. Almost at the very beginning of the film, Sam easily begins to start a conversation with girls on the street, albeit unsuccessfully, but we are shown that he has a character. A few minutes later he was asked to hack into the website of the Ministry of security and he agrees, because he was approached by a girl with the words: “Well, Sam, please.”
2) Cliched characters. Political villain, A girl, who will necessarily become the girlfriend of the main character at the end, A rude and cruel teacher who does not value human life, A kind mentor who works for the bad guys, but she "does not have the courage" and therefore the main character must do everything.
3) A huge number of plot holes and inefficiencies. Sam from the whole city goes to the restaurant in which he left a message through the waitress (who, by coincidence, was at work when he came). Why did the girl of the main character suddenly cry after talking to her parents? What caused the lights to be cut off when they talked to their parents via video, and how did they explain it to their parents? Why does Sam laugh at a classic and then say “good music”? How lucky do you have to be to break into an apartment that no one lives in? But the most surprising thing is that Sam, who was introduced to us as a clever programmer, tries to talk all the carriers of the chip into words instead of coming up with a plan to free them.
(4) Humor. Here, teenagers rhyme the word "self-defense" with "self-satisfaction." This is not even funny in the original, not that in dubbing.
(5) Play of actors. Maybe it’s not the actors’ fault, but when an actor needs to portray a “man who pretends to be an emotionless robot,” we ourselves have to believe that this is a robot, but when we see him swallowing nerves every 3 seconds, his eyes running and barely holding back tears, then these are too ardent hints of his humanity.
If it were not for the Hollywood ending, then this film could find its viewer even with so many minuses, but for such a stamped ending, it absolutely does not stand out. A very weak film.