Synthetic Perspective: Debug (2014)
Dear readers, though it has sometimes proven to be a hindrance in an increasingly modernized landscape, I have never prided myself on owning and brandishing the latest gadgetry. This attitude usually assures a peaceful existence bereft of the dings and hums associated with personal electronics but it does, on occasion, leave me somewhat unprepared when it when it comes time to grapple with the various pitfalls of contemporary technology. My sweet Penny Dee and I recently had to replace the icebox handed down to me by my grandfather and the newfangled contraption that took its place has a habit of manifesting obscure delicacies that we aren’t in the habit of purchasing. Though this would hardly seem to be a problem in many a household, both my betrothed and I have adopted a fitness regimen that forbids ocular hors d'oeuvres and unfashionable organ meats. And yet no amount of tinkering on my part would force this confounded appliance to yield its unsolicited bounty.
Jason Momoa embracing the Kruger model of merry horror villainy
Though their level of competence far exceeds my own, the human cast of Debug finds themselves similarly unprepared to work out the kinks in an electronic adversary. At some far flung point in the distant future, a band of computer criminals is off serving their time as a technological "chain gang." But theirs is not the sun-baked toil of traditional correctional environments, no! Instead their mandated labor involves stripping vessels of unnecessary programs, setting their systems up for a fresh new start. Their most recent assignment is the Orcus Freighter Amphitrite, an abandoned vessel of considerable size whose unexplained absence of occupants does little to rattle the convicts and their supervisor.
To their grave misfortune, this sorry lot is unaware that the ship’s artificial intelligence (Jason Momoa) has evolved into a curious and murderous digital chap. This sentient system goes by the thoroughly unpretentious moniker I Am and its primary objective seems to be dispatching any living thing it encounters with a bevy of messy technological mishaps. Mr. Momoa, typically known for playing various brooding musclemen, is a merry sight as the sort of upbeat slasher villain who says things like, “let’s see what you're made of” with the most literal of intentions.
A fairly common perspective in Debug
A great deal of Debug is executed in a found footage fashion, with security cameras and video communication headsets recording the human player’s every move. This is obviously an attempt on the part of writer and director David Hewlett to simulate I Am’s point of view and while it may lack your typical cinematic elegance, it is surely more important to plunge us into the steely perspective of the film’s synthetic predator. For some reason, the creative forces behind Debug were unable to secure the latest in computer-generated graphics, which can, at times, hobble the effort to simulate the viewpoint of a superlative technological entity. But even this ostensible shortcoming is a strong reminder, as is all of Debug, that technology does not always bend entirely to our will.
Debug runs 86 minutes and does not possess a certified rating in the United States.
