I.S.S.

I.S.S. is a movie I'd only just heard about, probably less than a couple weeks ago, but one where the trailer hooked me. A genre thriller for sure - some say that like it's a bad thing - the premise is absolutely fantastic:

Russian and U.S. astronauts on the International Space Station witness the start of nuclear World War III between their countries. The earth's surface is peppered with bright explosions and they lose communication. That is, until each government contacts their emergency responder aboard the I.S.S., instructing their astronauts to overtake the space station as it's a "key foothold". 

Almost immediately, if that premise doesn't sound fascinating to you, then you're free to move on as I.S.S would likely bore you. And yes, there are some leaps in logic to get the ball rolling, perhaps none more so than "Why is the ISS a key foothold if we just blew our world to s**t?" (the movie semi-explains this...whatever). But I love a good "What if?" scenario and the success of ISS was always going to be in the execution and if it could capitalize on the strong scenario it sets for itself. 

Luckily, the answer is mostly yes. And even better, ISS knows exactly what it is and that it needs to do its work quickly. At a lean 95 minutes, this is an effective thriller that keeps tensions mounted. It doesn't waste a lot of time, which leaves us a bit distant from these characters - I still liked them enough - and it doesn't feel like it overstays its welcome. More often than not, we're in the tight confines of the ISS, which would start to wear on an audience if this were any longer, but for a film with this starting point, it's something that's immediately claustrophobic, increasing the tension, paranoia, and secrecy. Performances across the board are what they need to be. There's no particular standout, but there's no weak link either. If there would be one weak link to cite in I.S.S. as a whole, it would be the script as there are some early character interactions that feel awkward by mistake, rather than intention, and not realistic in how two people (or two meeting astronauts) would talk to one another. Perhaps it was an attempt to dial up tension before the bombs go off, which seems silly, but eventually the jilted nature of these interactions fade away. 

While there's no particular sequence that stands out as "ZOMG, SPACE!" there are some tension filled moments captured with good camera work, editing, and music. The special effects are mostly fine/good so no, there's nothing quite as electric as Gravity happening at any given point. Despite that, I.S.S. remains a better-than-expected thriller with an absolutely intriguing premise. I may never need to watch it again, but as a one-time view, it's worth it. 

Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10