Movie Night! 'SongBird' (2020)


It's been a bit of a week, what with one thing and another (well, mostly work), so last night I didn't even try to pick up a book, just settled down with Prime and tried to find something mindless that would let my brain sort itself out while it went on in the background.

That something ended up being 'Songbird', a movie that is one of the first to take the COVID pandemic, run with it and see where it ends up. Given that COVID is happening right now, you can't help but wonder whether it's really in good taste to dash something out while people are dying of the illness that you are giving the big screen treatment. I mean, there's no law against it but in that respect, it almost feels a little seedy to try and make a few quid off it.

But I watched 'Songbird' anyway. The post apocalyptic feel, to the trailer, had me interested and the mention of Michael Bay's involvement (producer) suggested that it would be the kind of mindless fare that I was looking for. And I'm not going to lie, I'm a sucker for a pandemic movie... It still felt a bit weird watching it though, not least because 'Songbird' ended up being, well... a bit of a 'Bird Mess'...

By 2023, The COVID-23 virus has mutated and the world is in it's fourth year of lockdown. Immune to the virus, a courier races against time to stop the woman he loves from being sent to a quarantine camp. In his race to do this though, our courier is about to uncover something far bigger.

On paper, you would have thought that 'Songbird' would have worked. On the screen though, it doesn't. It really doesn't.

KJ Apa's 'Nico' (the courier) is a solid enough action hero type while Peter Stormare's Emmett Harland (evil head of the Department of Sanitation) is brilliant in his almost pantomime evil. That's about all I can say for 'Songbird' though. The rest of it... The main thrust of the plot (the big rescue) has its moments but is nowhere near enough to carry a movie for eighty four minutes. That's ok though because there are a few other subplots out there, fleshing things out. Right?

Well, not really. There are subplots but they don't really feel like they connect the main one and that lends a muddy, incoherent feel to the whole thing. I mean, YouTube singing lady had a nice singing voice but could have been removed and the plot wouldn't have even noticed. I didn't really get the point of that whole thing which is not cool as the title seems to be pointing at her for some reason or another. Or maybe it's Sofia, trapped in her flat? I don't know. And if the virus is mutating, can anyone really be immune for long? Okay, that last one is more of a pet peeve of mine but I'd still say that 'Songbird' felt like a film trying to go off in several directions while trying to tell one story. It didn't work, not for me anyway.

There were some nice moments that served to keep me watching, this film is at its best when there's either some kind of motorised chase or when large groups of armed men are hunting down our hero. Is it enough to keep 'Songbird' on track for eighty four minutes? Not even close, not for me anyway. It feels like there's a decent movie in there somewhere but it was passed over in the rush to get the film out. It's a shame as Apa and Stormare were really good. Would I watch it again? Probably not.

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