‘Elevation’ Review: Anthony Mackie Holds The Line In B-Movie Bash

An Anthony Mackie-led, high-concept action movie set in a reality far removed from our own… that isn’t a Marvel movie. Elevation is the actor’s precursor to next year’s Captain America: Brave New World, and serves as a lofty preview to not only Mackie’s ability in such a role, but also as a taste of late-year, under the radar, straight to streaming b-movie mania. On a basic level, that sounds like a lot of fun.

When you actually engage with it though, beyond the premise and into the apocalyptic hills of the film’s rural setting, you’ll find that it takes itself seriously to a stifling degree. Where fun could be had, it falls through in favor of a stringent rigidity that betrays much of the potential suggested by the ideal.

Mackie, despite his well-known comedic tendencies, still manages to shine through despite the overarching tonal confusion. He’s an underrated, naturalistic dramatic actor; his performance weaves in threads of his usual lighthearted nature, yet filters them through the circumstance to bear the weary smile of a father who’s trying to hide from his sickly son just how dire their version of the world is.

Broadly, the film follows a group of post-apocalyptic survivors who have taken refuge in the Rocky Mountains in an effort to avoid “giant, insect-like creatures,” for lack of a better word. The plot hinges on the need for life saving supplies for Will’s (Mackie) son, which can only be found in the so-called “danger zone.”

The zone is below the 8,000 feet elevation line, which is given as a point past which these creatures cannot survive. They lie below it, waiting for someone like Mackie to fall right into their inhuman arms.

These beasts can track CO₂ outputs and have tentacles adorned with glowing alien lights. Fighting them isn’t like fighting a bear or some other dangerous wildlife, and the film makes that clear through multiple revelations, dilemmas, and appearances as the plot comes along.

“Either of you guys afraid of heights?”

“No, I’m afraid of monsters.”

Elevation does well in wasting no time getting to the meat of this story. The first fifteen minutes or so are dedicated to introducing you to the few main characters you’ll have to know, as well as the context necessary for understanding them. It’s not even a first act; prologue would be a better word.

The film’s eagerness to get involved in the action helps remedy the tonal extremity relayed throughout the opening. This is one of those that lives and dies by the sound of the premise, and it’s a huge plus that Elevation understands that point.

Yet on the flip side of the same coin, it never really manages to convince the audience of the altered world that it posits. All is said and little is shown, aside from the creatures themselves; nothing about these mountains or visuals screams apocalypse at all. Everything looks oddly unbothered.

Perhaps the plot doesn’t call for any kind of scorched earth, but the film could use a little more blood, bile, and swirling evil. Little, aside from the giant monsters, suggest this place has changed at all. This is in spite of a film that is undeniably well shot and executed, too.

Lighting is stark, occasionally dramatic, and always fitting. Whatever the budget lacked in the aforementioned spectacle, it made up for with a team that let this film breathe. Shots hold, shadows hang, and the camera creeps along, almost like another entity in itself. The film is as patient as the monsters who’ve waited for Mackie and company to venture below the line, and such a feeling is a fitting distraction for other mentioned missteps along the way.

Elevation spends a great deal of time fighting itself, but for what it’s worth, it all works out for an entertaining-enough whole. The plot never really moves past the setup in any way that isn’t predictable or expected. You can root for the characters, even if you don’t care all that much about them. The visuals and monsters are the main draw, and there, the film meets the line. These are the trademarks of a successful b-movie, and it’s safe to say that Elevation is at least that, if nothing else at all.

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