When ‘Code 8’ came out on Netflix four years ago in 2019, the film received a rather mixed verdict. We here at The Nerdy Basement, were also so so about the movie. While some of my podcast cohosts appreciated the movie for what it is, I on the other hand was not completely convinced of the film. I was pretty critical in my podcast review of the film and with the sequel, ‘Code 8 Part II’ around the corner, I thought it was time to watch the first film again.
The purpose of this’s not only to jog my memory, but also to determine whether my views on the film have changed. Naturally, after my second watch, the movie felt much better but still fell short of the qualities I thought it fell short on in my first viewing Somewhat naively, I went into ’Code 8 Part II expecting the movie would have a more polished screenplay and explore its science fiction aspects more. I also thought that the film deserved more action, with higher stakes and graver consequences that seemed more fitting for the society these powered beings lived in. This is a police state with militarized forces, and that allows for some rather uncomfortable realities to be presented and character development to shine through.
Having binge-watched the sequel, I would say that ‘Code 8 Part II’ almost certainly did better than its original in all areas but the film does have some flaws. The events of ‘Code 8 Part II’ take five years after the narrator’s last film where Connor (Robbie Amell), a former criminal, has been released from incarceration and is currently employed as a cleaner in a community center, trying not to make waves.
Fittingly, his past is his chains, constantly dragging him backwards. His calmness is shattered when he helps 14 years old Pav (Sirena Gulamgaus) flee a bunch of officers led by Sergeant King (Alex Mallari Jr.). As a supporter of his Candidate Garrett (Stephen Amell) Garret is a criminal corrupt member of the force currently running for union president standing for everything foul facilitating and greasing the palms of other candidates. Adding to his list of other affiliated campaigns, King has also introduced a new K9 unit trying to sell the idea of reducing Guardians’ usage to limit assassinations by the robots and offering a friendlier approach to capturing powered criminals.
King is seeking to use the statistics to his advantage and provide the residents of Lincoln City with a false sense of security, the lie of having a safe place for people with abilities, and secure their votes. On the other hand, the whole agenda and the campaign of vertex is also under threat when Connor contacts Garrett to lend him a hand in taking Pav out of the city, whose brother has recently been slain by Sergeant King and his K9. Garrett and King have a contract which enables Garrett the liberty of moving Psyke around the city without the fear of the law being present. For this, King and his team get a share of the earnings.
Tarak, Pav’s other late brother, was a powered being working as a Psyke runner for Garrett. The loss of Tarak, paired with King’s haste to end Pav’s life and imprison Connor, creates a rift between him and Garrett., mainly due to Garrett’s betrayal trying to assist Connor. On the other hand, Garret is not quite willing to neglect his interests in built up Psyke dominance just for Pav. She is quite an asset at this stage. The way he resolves himself for this situation is either assassinating Pav or erasing the memory of Pav’s brother and playing as if nothing happened–its quite literally brushing things under the carpet to make things more convenient for him and the Sergeant King.
Connor’s actions throughout the events that follow repeatedly escalate the tension between this member of their group and others. This creates a buildup of some jaw-dropping twists and burning truths. Like I have written the film takes a very straightforward view of sci-fi but this time the scripted is better and objectives are clearer. This allows for Robbie Amell to have a much stronger and more impactful portrayal of Connor whom I feel has improved over his performance in ‘Code 8 (2019)’. And let me emphasize that this is not one of those which was bad at all, the script was quite dull which created the issue with him as an overall performer.
From the other end of the spectrum, Stephen Amell appears too comfortable with some of his older, relatively simpler acting which does not say much in terms of diversity. Here, I still feel like the franchise as a whole is suffering the most. I have no doubt that there are ideas in this story and the execution has improved, but Amell for the life of me cannot convince me that he is this type of kingpin who runs drugs in a city where all the police officers are on his payroll.
This is the general problem why I don’t find it very believable. There is potential for Garrett to be turned into this intriguing character and if anyone but Amell was played this role, he would be more convincing, especially because he has to deal with the internal conflict between performing the right actions for the great good and the right actions for himself.
With that being said though, the Amell cousins do have amazing chemistry with each other and are amazing in every scene that they share together so to some level, I can excuse some of Stephen’s more mediocre acting since Robbie does most of the heavy lifting. It feels like Stephen Amell is still stuck in the role of CWs Oliver Queen and comes across like a douchbag with the attitude of I’ them. You do the hard stuff. The same goes when he shares a scene with Sergeant King (Alex Mallari Jr). There are times when Mallari Jr. makes Stephen look ridiculous because he is so fast.
In other news, the effects of the powers the characters possess in ‘Code 8 Part II’ have been greatly enhanced. This can be seen in how the pyro powers even apply to electrics like Connor. His power set has only expanded and that’s something that is shown which is something I enjoyed a lot. Also, Director Jeff Chan has some really cool images of the use of these powers. There were also some very cool overhead and wide shots of the Guardians which were nice to take in. His slow motion shots are also able to be utilized in a much more effective manner this time round as well.
Interestingly and rather predictably, ‘Code 8 Part II’ maintains its focus on police violence and political corruption which was only touched on in the first film where Colonel Rogers was played by Kyle, the sequel expands on that a lot. It’s now out in the open that Sergeant King was the one who abused his power and had to be dealt with yet Director Chan describes how viewers are I still skeptical and that is the beginning of the story only. There is a much greater hand involved and the audience must watch how high the stakes become and who that great player is.
Similar to the first movie in this universe, we finish on a more positive angle. Pav’s gunshot wound has healed and Connor has now taken charge of the community center which was earlier managed by Mina (she is no more thanks to Sergeant King, earlier in this movie as a sacrifice play for her–it seems rather inconsequential given that this was not brought up in the show when Khan was exposed, anyway).
All in all, ‘Code 8 Part II’ succeeds in standing its ground and pulling its weight. We are still only starting off in this world and just like an open-world video game, gradually but inevitably widening the lore and discovering new places. Sticking to the character’s general approach of barely delving into the sci-fi but keeping it all underground and gritty, the film does not only raise the stakes in the story but also ensures more focus on the character’s arcs and the consequences are more severe. One finds the film a pretty good pace so that even in the quieter times, you don’t feel as if it’s gone to sleep, resulting in a brilliant and entertaining sequel to the franchise which pushes the boundaries each time.
Both, Code 8 and Code 8 Part II, are currently available to be streamed on Netflix.
For more movies visit like Code 8: Part II on 123Movies.