4. The Characters Are Incredibly Boring
Literally every character in this film is a walking cliché; the ex-military man who retired because his partner died, who is then forced to return; the current hot-shot of the military who thinks the returning man is too old and slow, only for him to be saved by the returning man and instantly respect him; the inexperienced rookie who is clearly the best person for the job but has emotional problems holding them back; the wacky scientists I could go on. The fact that every character in this film is so ridiculously familiar makes them all quite dull. Almost everybody can guess what is going to happen with most of the characters within five minutes of being introduced to them. Whats particularly strange is that Del Toros handling of the characters in this film and the likeability of them has been quite highly praised and I just cant understand why. Charlie Days scientist was the only main character I really liked and that was because he was actually enthusiastic with his role. Everybody else is distinctly average in their roles, even Idris Elba, a man who normally pulls out great performances no matter what film hes in. Theyre all just so plain and predictable that it doesnt make for very interesting character development scenes. Predictability is actually another of this films issues, bringing me to my next point.