As a viral epidemic sweeps over the streets of Buenos Aires, the slacker Coco and his pregnant wife Pipi wait in their apartment for a governmental allowance to leave their apartment building, doing nothing much but eat cereal, play board games and test a blacklight-bulb as they have none other left to change the burned out ones. But once his neighbors have decided to wage war on one of the elderly inhabitants, he bonds with the highly paranoid, quite loony Horacio that lives next door, who has all the gear and resources to make this a long, action filled ride. He shaves his beard to slightly resemble Gaspar Noé, slips into a full-body-plastic suit (see images below) and slowly morphs into an urban Bruce Willis.I find it particularly hard to review a film like Phase 7 - not because it bored me or because it is an uninteresting film. Quite the opposite: given that I have little to no knowledge of argentinian cinema, and that those I have seen recently operating rather as a set-back than a reminder that south american has a vibrant and interesting scene, this was a breath of fresh air. Well acted (studded by some of the countries biggest stars), colorful, wildly funny and action packed, with some interesting characters and a good pacing, I'd say that Phase 7 is one of the most successful 'summer blockbusters' if you count in world cinema releases. It's a whole lot of fun to watch and has everything to make a nice experience. It also has some inconsistencies here and there, and some parts are rather shoddily written (but hey, it's Nicolas Goldbart's first directorial effort, so even that can be excused), but that doesn't little the fun. What I find problematic though is to come up with things about this film that is really worth saying aside of... uh, watch this, if you want to have a fun ride.
So let's see - the film is weightless compared to other films taking place in tower blocks (like Attack the Block or REC). It does have characters which you can care for or identify with, but who are also stereotypical enough to make fun of them occasionally (granted, they are rather stupid).
You have a colorful cinematography that is closer to comic book aesthetics than arthouse or US-action-fare. You have slapstick that works at most times and dialogue that is occasionally funny. The plot development is a bit grim, but also optimistic - the twists are surprising enough although inoffensive. The violence, however, is rather offensive (luckily) and there are many scenes where I was surprised just how well the film used it to change the tone of what was going on. The villain is reasonably evil and still has a humane and interesting aspect.
However, nothing of all of this is a level up of a fun experience - nothing sticks with you, nothing really throws you off. I can't even proclaim that the director played it 'safe', as the violence and some of the twists are rather courageous to use in a film of this status. Maybe it could be compared to the recent Simon Pegg/Nick Frost comedies, in how it tries to blend genre tropes with black humor and interesting characterization. It's not quite as successful as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead though.
So, would I recommend this movie? Oh, absolutely. It's solid, it's funny, it has some slight suspense - it's everything a black comedy that plays with a predefined genre can do right. It's sadly not much more, but if you want to have a good evening with beer and some friends, I can recommend this one as good pop-cinema entertainment. If you intend to watch a truly deep, artful, emotional film, however, I think you should better wait with Phase 7 until you desire some popcorn, cold beer, laughs and thrills. Oh, and of course a lot of mindless over the top violence.
Rating - 7/10
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