Humanity is prey in a fast-paced science fiction monster movie

A coincidence in the release planning is that the art in “Elevation” imitates life, depicting America's near future as simultaneously bleak and full of thrilling danger. However, this isn't a “Civil War,” but rather a monster movie of sorts – with mysterious creatures decimating all humanity living below 8,000 feet.

George Nolfi's film plays more like an action film than a horror film and stars Anthony Mackie as a father whose medical needs force him to put himself in the danger zone. It's a reasonably taut post-apocalyptic survival story that makes up for its lack of original ideas with tight pacing and solid craftsmanship. Vertical opens in approximately 1,400 U.S. theaters on November 8, with openings in numerous other territories also planned later this year.

The screenplay by John Glenn, Jacob Roman and Kenny Ryan opens with a black screen over which we hear snippets of increasingly panicked news reports. They point to a catastrophic chain of natural disasters that will ultimately only force people to seek higher ground.

“Three years later,” says the text on the screen, the Rocky Mountains look as spectacular as ever. But as a boy who ventures below safety limits – hoping to catch a glimpse of people other than those in his isolated settlement – learns that they too are now home to tank-sized, fast-moving, seemingly indestructible “Reapers.” . (Basically, they're non-flying dinosaur insects that make noises reminiscent of the animals in the films “Alien” and “Predator.”) These “giant murder beetles hatched from the ground,” according to one character as expressed here later, have already killed off most sentient life at lower altitudes. Ruthlessly curious 8-year-old Hunter (Danny Boyd Jr.) is lucky enough to narrowly avoid this fate.

But he is lonely and unhappy in “Lost Gulch Refuge,” an old mountain town whose approximately 200 other residents currently include no other children – nor does Hunter’s mother, who reports an unhappy stay with moody neighbor Nina (Morena Baccarin). returned ) some time ago. That's just one thing his father Will (Mackie) blames on Nina, a misanthropic scientist who persuaded his wife to accompany them in hopes of reaching a lab in Boulder where they'll find a deadly solution to the world's pest problem humanity could find.

This hamlet has more or less reverted to the frontier era, complete with candlelight as the main lighting after dark, and is more or less self-sufficient. But despite his adventurous streak, Hunter continues to have serious breathing problems, and Will has just used the final filter needed to power the oxygen machine that saves him during these unpredictable bouts. Like it or not, Dad has to head to Boulder in search of fresh supplies. Nina, the only person to have fought the monsters and survived, reluctantly agrees to accompany him, driven by the stubborn belief that she can concoct a “miracle weapon” that will override their defenses. Also invited is Katie (Maddie Hasson), a younger woman who likes Will very much – and who hates Nina even more than he does.

What Katie calls “Earth's new apex predators” soon find fresh prey once the trio crosses the contour line. Their first narrow escape is via a ski lift, which they manage to get functional just in time. Will has found a way to minimize the threat by partially traveling through old mining tunnels – but it turns out the Reapers are there too. Not everyone survives to reach the ruined city, although there is ultimately hope for our species… although a tag sequence that leaves the door open for a possible sequel suggests that more bad news could arrive from space.

After working on the screenplays for “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “Ocean's Twelve,” this is Nolfi's fourth directorial film. He maximizes the mediocre resources to give Elevation a fairly expansive feel. Cinematographer Shelly Johnson takes full advantage of Colorado's stunning widescreen landscape, while visual effects supervisor Nathan McGuinness's nasty four-legged nemeses are seen enough to satisfy, although mostly kept in tongue-in-cheek restraint by editor Joel Quarter. H. Scott Salinas' grand orchestral score also helps spice up a film whose global crisis premise is somewhat belied by the relative modesty of the on-screen spectacle.

The performances are also a step above monster movie standards, with Mackie (who also starred in Nolfi's great 2020 drama The Banker) bringing his usual charisma and conviction. Baccarin creates a character who proves to be more likeable than he first appears, while Hasson compassionately fills a less defined role.

Ultimately, “Elevation” doesn't have the novel or distinctive qualities to be truly memorable, even in individual set pieces – it's conceptually a mashup of elements from “Pitch Black,” “Jurassic Park” and the countless dystopian future-screen visions that each become more numerous every month. But it's sophisticated and exciting enough to make a virtue of that familiarity, at least for an entertaining hour and a half.