A classic theme in science fiction is how to deal with aliens finally arriving and what their intentions may or may not be. The Day The Earth Stood Still may have done it the best but there’ve been dozens, if not hundreds of films since then that beg the question ‘what do we do when faced with something that could annihilate us?’ Brian Hanson’s The Bunker attempts to grapple with that question.
The Bunker opens up with the arrival of The Travellers, an enigmatic race of aliens whose intentions are wholly unknown. World governments are at a loss as to what to do: do we assume their hostile and attack first, or do we wait and see what happens? Meanwhile, the US government initiates a program to create a contingency in case the Travelers are hostile: seven scientists placed in separate bunkers all over the country, each location unknown to them and the other scientists, are charged with creating a virus that is harmless to humans but lethal to the travelers. Things soon go off the rails, however, once the scientists realize their locations aren’t as secret to the Travelers as they’d hoped.
It’s a fascinating premise, but unfortunately in this case it’s executed rather poorly. There are a few plot holes that are almost impossible to look past, there’s little to no character development (despite the genuine attempts at doing so) and overall there’s next to nothing to feel invested in. The film ought to have a racing against the clock feel to it, but at no point is there any real sense of urgency. Despite decent performances from the cast there didn’t really feel like there was any chemistry between them; indeed, the fact that they never interacted in person made it seem like maybe all the parts were pre-recorded separately from one another. There’s a twist at the end that feels like the filmmakers were pinning all their hopes for the film on it but honestly it just falls flat. It wasn’t even predictable but worse woefully underwhelming. The visual effects felt like a Sci Fi original from the early aughts (so much to the point where I couldn’t tell the difference between the clearly marked ‘temp VFX’ sections on the screener and the actual finished FX) and the ending was so underdone and lackluster I asked ‘what?!’ out loud. Not even the genuinely solid performances from horror stalwarts like Tobin Bell and Tony Todd could save this movie.
I hate giving bad review, and I will always give a film credit for being made, but I really wish the filmmakers had taken their time with this film because there is a great story here with a little more work. And, while I didn’t really enjoy this film, it was at the very least made in earnest and done so with what was available, so I cannot deny that this was a labor of love and I respect that. But overall this film just didn’t really do it for me.
