Superhero Media: Code 8

I had to watch most of Code 8 before I figured out what the film was trying to be, which was pretty frustrating and killed my enjoyment a little. In the not-too-distant future, people with superpowers are an oppressed underclass, forced to work insecure jobs for little pay and at risk of being arrested at any time for any reason. So is Code 8 about capitalist oppression of the working class, or the lack of rights of immigrants in the USA? Well, no. The Police use robotic drones and automatic weapons to kill renegade supers without any real oversight or jurisprudence, so is Code 8 about the militarisation of police forces and/or police violence? Also no. Although it took me until the third act to realise it, Code 8 is a small-time crime family film in the vein of The Town, but with superheroes. Now, I've long said that Superhero cinema should branch out to explore other genres, and urban crime is a really good one, given how much characters like Spider-Man and Batman engage in that world, but Code 8 just fails to be interesting or exciting. 

Conner Reed has the power to control/generate electricity, which he uses to day-labor on construction sites, supporting his mother who can freeze things and has some kind of serious but not-overly-specific illness. Accepting a job from Garrett, a small-time criminal and telekinetic, Conner soon finds himself taking more jobs so that he can get his mother the medicine she needs, but the cops are closing in and he's running out of luck. Code 8 runs pretty much the same as any of these low-key crime films, but with more spectacular fights thanks to the presence of super-powers and robot drones. The budget for Code 8 is clearly tiny, with the streets obviously being Toronto, no big name actors present and many of the effects-sequences being short and most of the power effects being reused. The cynical part of me assumes that Stephen Amell helped throw the thing together to get his brother, Robbie, more work. As far as cheap vanity projects go, though, Code 8 is not without it's charm; having something of the feel of an inFamous or Prototype fan film. 

Like many of these superhero also-rans that are popping up regularly now in the wake of the MCU's unbridled success, Code 8 has plenty to offer superhero gamers. For those who like a "grittier" setting for their games, "Vancago" works as a good stand-in for a real city and the idea of people with superpowers having to be petty criminals to survive would make for an interesting roleplaying campaign. People born with powers being an oppressed underclass has shades of many X-Men stories about it, it would certainly not be hard to marry elements of Code 8 to many of the films, or even some comics. The Marvel universe already has Sentinel Troopers and DC the OMAC Program, so supers-hunting robotic drones aren't a huge leap, perhaps one city in an existing setting introduces draconian measures in the wake of an event like the Terrigan cloud and heroes from outside the city have to work to help the newly-powered within. I'd honestly like to see more films like Code 8, but only if they tackle some of the broader issues they present; for now, this is fine to paint to, but that's about it.