Underwhelming
Summary
Altered has a few entertaining moments especially the final showdown, but is let down by some terrible voice acting for some characters and the story is all rather familiar. Richard Brake elevates it by merely being there and Tom Felton does his best but aside from that there isn’t much to make this worth watching.
Plot: In an alternate present, genetically enhanced humans dominate society. Outcasts Leon and Chloe fight for justice against corrupt politicians exploiting genetic disparity, risking everything to challenge the oppressive system.
Review: Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter) puts his wand aside and plays a reluctant hero in this sci-fi action tale from director Timo Vuorensola (Iron Sky). The trailers wisely focused on the action making this look like it was going to be a kind of post-apocalyptic Iron Man.
Sadly, Altered is not that great, filled with some horrible dubbing work, which is the most distracting aspect of the film. It makes the character of Chloe (Elizaveta Bugulova) sound annoying, and she probably isn’t in her native tongue.
Tom Felton does a decent enough American accent, but the film is at its best when Richard Brake is on screen as he makes any film better by just being there.
The story is a familiar tale where the rich are kept apart from the “Specials” AKA the poor or people with disabilities left to suffer while they live the life of luxury. It isn’t saying anything new and I was hoping there would be more action. There are still several fight scenes, and the final showdown delivers a few fun moments, especially Leon (Felton) facing off against Hughes (Igor Zhizhikin) who you’ll remember from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Leon is a bit whiny, and it takes him too long to step up and stop feeling sorry for himself; I do prefer my one liner spewing badasses, but this isn’t that kind of movie.
The visuals are pretty decent and at 85 minutes Altered doesn’t overstay its welcome also promising a potential sequel. It doesn’t really need one and I doubt this will be a huge success to warrant it.
Overall, Altered has a couple of entertaining action scenes, but the poor dubbing and familiar plot let it down. Tom Felton and Richard Brake do the best they can with what they’re given, but you can otherwise skip this one.