Kin Movie Review

Kin (2018)

Rent Kin on Amazon Video
Written by: Jonathan Baker & Josh Baker (based on the short film "Bag Man" by), Daniel Casey (screenplay by)
Directed by: Jonathan Baker, Josh Baker
Starring:  Myles Truitt, Jack Reynor, Dennis Quaid, Zoë Kravitz, James Franco, Carrie Coon, Michael B. Jordan
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
Chased by a vengeful criminal, the feds, and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, a recently released ex-con and his adopted teenage brother are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.

Verdict
This is a few different movies in one, but it's not even picking the best parts of the action, family, and chosen one movie types it samples. While it does finally provide some answers, I had some serious doubts. This is nothing more than a movie length introduction to a franchise that will probably never happen.
Skip it.

Review
Elijah is an adopted kid living with a single father and a fresh out of jail brother. He scraps old wire from abandoned buildings where he stumbles upon an unconscious sci-fi looking soldier with a crazy looking rifle. How the soldier and rifle got there, and why, we don't know.

Eljiah's brother Jimmy survived jail by promising money he didn't have to an unsavory character, Taylor. Played by James Franco, Taylor will stop at nothing for revenge. Franco does a great job in these bit part low life roles, though I don't know how Taylor planned to escape his gambit alive or free.

Jimmy being a screw up in part, or in whole, kicks this off. He and Elijah start a road trip, though Elijah is unaware of what's transpired.

I do like the subtext of children find guns and play with them, either unaware of the power or willfully ignoring potential repercussions. This movie isn't doing anything with that theme. Elijah finds the gun and has no problem operating it. The fact that no one got seriously injured until the end when it was his intention stretches credibility.

I did like the introduction to the gun, even if it was haphazardly lucky. Elijah wields it to save his brother and stop the attackers. Elijah is startled and accidentally fires at a pool table, obliterating it. The attackers back off.

On their road trip Elijah and Jimmy meet a dancer played by Zoë Kravitz who joins them for no good reason. She doesn't have much point other than being a feeble attempt at character development for Elijah and pushing the plot along. While they road trip, more sci-fi troopers are tracking them down with advanced tools to retrieve the gun. Basically it can be GPS tracked. The pair of soldiers steal motorcycles and are zooming across the country Terminator style.

Everything converges at a police station where Jimmy and Elijah have to fend off the cops, Taylor & his goons, and the sci-fi soldiers.

With less than ten minutes to go I was afraid I'd get a giant cliff hanger, but this does answer everything. While the answers don't have much of a point unless we get another movie, at least we go answers.

While I thought this might be based on a Young Adult book series, it's not. It's based on a short film. Michael B. Jordan has a quick cameo at the end. With such a small role, he did a nice job due to his natural charisma.

The problem is so little actually happens, this movie holds everything back. There is no reason to care. This tries to do a lot, blending multiple movie genres, but none of them are done well and the whole is not greater than the parts. It's a feeble attempt to mask what is ultimately an origin movie. It has to have been conceived of as a start to a franchise. The huge info dump at the end just doesn't work.