Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Billie Boullet, Mila Harris
The only surprise in this derivative post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller is that Milla Jovovich is here directed by Brad Anderson rather than Paul WS Anderson. The latter Anderson may have brought more energy to this snoozer than Brad, who is a director better suited to slow burn horror rather than this brand of sci-fi action.
Worldbreaker has a setup that's intriguing for a few minutes at least. It's set in a near future in which the planet has been overrun by giant insect-like creatures known as "breakers" who emerge from fissures in the earth. Not only have the planet's combined military forces been wiped out, but many of the victims have transformed into human-breaker hybrids. Too late, it was discovered that male humans succumb to this inconvenience if they come into contact with breaker blood. As a result, the resistance is now comprised solely of warrior women, lead by alpha females like Jovovich's badass general.
That flipped gender dynamic never gets the chance to be explored however, as the movie blows its action budget in its opening set-piece. When their encampment is attacked by breakers, Jovovich packs away her wounded war veteran husband (Luke Evans) and their teenage daughter Willa (Billie Boulet) as she heads off to lead the fight. Anyone expecting a typical Jovovich action romp will be severely short-changed, as her sum role here is little more than a glorified cameo.
Instead we follow Willa and her father as they retreat to the safety of an island. A year later we find that they have built some sort of limited life there. Dad (can movies please give their characters names? Bill, or George, anything!!!) has rigged the beach with mines and built an elaborate assault course in the woods. He spends much of his time training his daughter for a fight that will inevitably arrive at some point in the future.
We can guess exactly where all this is going, and we're proven exactly right. It's no surprise that Willa finds herself having to employ her dad's training when she eventually encounters the threat of breakers, but what is surprising is just how long it takes for the movie to get to that point. The bulk of the movie is spent on Willa and her old man simply hanging out, telling stories as the film resorts to lazily building a backstory and fleshing out its world through dialogue. Its languid pace and lack of action suggest Joshua Rollins' script may have begun life as the pilot for a proposed TV show that would have more time to explore and develop its concept.
Worldbreaker has two original ideas, that of its female immunity and the notion of human-breaker hybrids, but it never does anything worthwhile with either of these concepts. Instead it leans into well-established post-apocalyptic tropes, borrowing zombie lore (the breakers can only be immobilised by destroying the brain) and transposing it onto its own alien antagonists. In every post-apocalyptic thriller the real threat usually arrives in human form, a cliché rolled out once again here at a couple of points.
Evans and Boulet have a likeable enough father/daughter chemistry, but there just isn't anything noteworthy about their characters; certainly not nearly enough to justify how much time we spend simply hanging out with them. Willa is a baffling character - we're told she's 16 but she's written as though she's a much younger molly-coddled child rather than a teenager who has lived her whole life in an apocalyptic, monster-infested Hellscape. Boulet, who was probably 18 at time of shooting, plays the role as though she's a 10-year-old, and it's impossible for us to believe that someone so innocent could have survived in this environment. With little to hold our attention in the human department, we're left to admire the film's stunning Northern Irish scenery while wondering just what is the point of this inert sci-fi drama?
Worldbreaker is on Prime Video UK from March 7th.
