Kin is and will be one of those kinds of movies people will like love, or hate. I didn’t mind the story even though I felt it left me with more questions than answers. I understand this feature-length film is based on a short film, so it may explain why the story isn’t good enough for a longer run time. Having stretched the story into a 1:42 film, they created more problems than they could ever imagine by leaving gaping plot holes and absolutely no backstory. Who are the mysterious futuristic guys? Why is this gun so magical? Why is Elijah (Myles Truitt) the only human who can operate such a gun? Why is the film all about violence and revenge? I think I could go on for hours about this, but I’m sure someone else somewhere took hours out of their day to break everything down.
Whenever they film a movie in Detroit now, I always chuckle and wonder if it is a live feed of the streets or if things are really that bad in the Motor City. We were recently there for a baseball game and although our time there was short, I didn’t see a single house that looked the way Hollywood has depicted Detroit since the late 2000’s. I think one of the lessons of the entire story arc is that once you’re a bad guy, no matter what happens in life you will never get out of the rut. You know like they say, once a cheater, always a cheater. Jimmy (Jack Reynor) just gets out of jail and spends the entire movie doing stupid things to get back there. Yes, running away from someone who is looking for you for murdering his brother will have that effect on you, but seriously he could have just gone on the run and hid, not steal and shoot up Las Vegas.
Dennis Quaid must be broke because he deserved a better father figure role in a different movie. Zoe Kravitz is never going to be someone I would imagine working at a strip club. Michael B. Jordan is in the movie, so that goes to show even the most promising actors sometimes have to be in crappy movies to pay the bills. James Franco probably took on the role because it was fun and gave him a chance to be a gangster. The list of flaws and nonsense can continue, but I can say this wasn’t the worse movie I saw on the same day. 3/10
Ten Stars or Less 