Future Soldier

Directed by Ed Kirk

2023

The joy of advanced filmmaking technology becoming easier to access is that filmmakers can now do incredible things on shoestring budgets.

Future Soldier, the feature debut of writer/director Ed Kirk, is the perfect example of this. Using well put together CGI establishing shots, he turns the Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire locations into an alternate reality dystopia.

It builds on his 2017 short, Hoplite 2000, following super solider turned bounty hunter Captain Mo Harrington (Sean Earl McPherson) who is drawn into a conspiracy that envelops the drug trade, the military, and the corporate overlords that rule Supercity Europe.

Kirk is clearly a big 2000AD fan. Supercity evokes the Mega-City that Judge Dredd prowls, and the plot points revolving around the distribution of mind-altering street drugs could be a nod to the 2012 Dredd movie. Despite the clear influences, it never feels reductive. There’s a tastefulness to the nods, a tip of the cap to the media that has come before - everything from Blade Runner to Star Wars – which melded into Kirk’s own universe.

A strong central performance by McPherson brings personality to the super soldier (a role that could easily be one-dimensional) and he’s supported by a decent cast, especially Yasmine Alice as Harrington’s partner Xoey Cass, Sarah Whitehouse as crime lord The Matriarch and Adam Fox as Decks, who adds some comic relief.

Rather than stretch the budget and technology available to incorporate massive, intergalactic battles (although there are some impressive set pieces), Kirk focuses the action on tightly choreographed fight scenes. This gives Future Solider a far grittier quality and provides some standout moments. Notably, when Harrington, Cass and Deck infiltrate The Matriarch’s hideout at the halfway mark.

Kirk smoothly moves between fight scenes in multiple locations throughout the hideout, matching some top Hollywood directors beat for beat (or punch for punch as it were).

If there’s a weakness in Future Soldier, it’s the reliance on dialogue to provide key plot points. The script doesn’t feel as punchy as it should as characters meet to fill in gaps in the story or explaining how Harrington’s past fits into the wider story arc. The writing is good, but these moments of exposition slow down the pace, which is particularly jarring when Kirk so clearly excels at writing and directing action scenes.

Future Solider positions Kirk as a director to watch. One with blockbuster sensibilities and the creativity to stretch a budget beyond its limits. 

3.5/5

★★★½

Matthew Tilt

Twitter @Matthew_Tilt