First Hit: I thought the concept was interesting and there was some good acting, but I don’t think the staging, or why this city came into existence was introduced very well.
The essence of this film was that there was a destruction of the earth on the surface and therefore a few people built a city under the earth’s surface.
They built a generator which was built to last a very long time. The initial builders also left instructions on to how to leave the city and go back to the surface. These instructions were left in a box which had a timer and set to unlock in 200 years. The box was to be handed down from mayor to mayor.
However, along the way it was forgotten and left on the floor of a closet. As time when on the blackouts from the failing generator were becoming more frequent and the city was slowing dying. Two young kids decided they were going to follow their instincts, clues, and the partially destroyed information from the unlocked box which was found in a closet.
Saoirse Ronan plays a young messenger named Lina Mayfleet and Harry Treadaway plays a pipe works worker named Doon Harrow. These two were outstanding and made the film interesting. I also thought Martin Landau was perfect as the pipe worker who just does his job. However, the scenes with Mary Kay Place seemed forced and it felt as though scripts on cue cards were just out of camera range. Bill Murray, as Mayor Cole, was being Bill Murray and it worked for the most part.
Overall: I did like the film but I thought the beginning scene “set up” was poorly constructed. Above all I thought Ronan and Treadaway were wonderful and a joy to watch.