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Back in 2019, Jeff Chan managed to turn his short film, Code 8, into a feature length, sci-fi, crime flick that emerged from the notion of making superpowers grittier. Leapfrogging off of movies like Chronicle, Push and Jumper and dabbling in the sort of special effects laden social commentary usually seen from the likes of Neill Blonkamp, Code 8 may have hardly set the world on fire, but it’s vision of impoverished superpeople was screaming for some kind of follow-up to take it’s more interesting ideas further.
Well, thanks to the deep pockets of Uncle Netflix, both Chan and the Amell cousins (Robbie and Stephen) managed to get another shot exploring this world of down and out supes, robot police and a system that looks to exploit its most powerful members. Yep, it’s Heroes meets Power once more as we re-enter the streets of Lincoln City to see how the put-upon powers who live there are faring five years later. Hint: not particularly well.
It’s been five years since the electricity flinging Connor saw his mother succumb to her illness and turn himself in for his crimes, but after leaving prison he’s approached by telekinetic career criminal Garrett who feels that he owes him for the sacrifices Connor made by not giving him up to save his skin. However after firmly turning him down, Connor’s about to discover that a lot has changed in Lincoln City and for a start, pressure from the public to halt the use of the robot police force known as the Guardians has resulted in the creation of the K9. Essentially robot police dogs that have designed to be non-lethal, the programme has been pushed forward by Sergeant “King” Kingston (presumably pending a lawsuit by Doctor Who) and the hope is that it results on less dead powers on the streets.
Similarly, Garrett has also seemingly tried to make the world a little safer for those with unnatural abilities as he’s now built a crime empire around the “safe” production of the drug Psyke – the narcotic made from the spinal fluid of powers – that keeps exploitation to a minimum. However, all this was only allowed to thrive thanks to a union formed between both King and Garrett that allows the other to act with impunity as long as the bills are paid. This is put in jeopardy when a bag of cash is stolen by Tarak, one of Garrett’s low level underlings, who only wants to provide for his fourteen year-old sister, Pavani.
After Pav witnesses that the K9s are far less non-lethal than they’re being advertised, she flees only to eventually run into Connor, who is trying to keep his nose clean as the janitor of a youth community centre. Clueless about the agreement between Garrett and King, Connor calls in that favour with the newly minted crime boss to get Pav safely out of the city, but King isn’t too happy that there’s a child running around out there that knows his K9s are programmed to kill powers while making it look like an overdose.
It’s a common trait of superhero movies that sequels have a greater chance of being better than the original. The main reason is that once the necessary origin story has been dispensed with and the various rules of a particular universe has been laid down, the follow-up is now free to dive straight in with it’s new plot without having to juggle hefty worldbuilding or back story along the way. But while Code 8 Part II still ends up being something of an intriguing also-ran compared to the bigger, flashier, comic book-backed franchises, it’s a definite step up from its immediate predecessor. The main reason is that thanks to the heavy lifting of the first film, Chan’s sequel is allowed to hit the ground running while using the five year time gap to allow him to refine the world he’s created. It also allows him to take the main focus a little from Robbie Amell’s vanilla hero, Connor and have him be more of a reluctant victim of circumstance in the greater ensemble, which means that his continuing love/hate relationship with Stephen Amell’s newly minted crime boss takes a more interesting turn.
Much in the same way the relationship between Magneto and the X-Men remains in constant flux every time they come into contact with one another, the central connection between Connor and Garrett is made all the more intriguing by the fact that for most of the film, they don’t actually have one. It’s only when the plight of Sirena Gulamgaus’ tech manipulating Pavani suddenly imposes its way organically into Connor’s peripheral, that they’re forced to work together. But while Connor remains the flawed, bolt-hurling boy scout, the ascension of Garrett through the criminal ranks reveals the character to be something of a fascinating hypocrite who still engineers drugs from the spinal fluid of fellow powers, but has convinced himself that he’s a man of the people as he now pays them for it.
It also means that he has a curious similarity with Alex Mallari’s crooked cop, King, who also is disguising illeagal atrocities (among other things) as something great for the community (his admittedly cool robo-dogs are basically public-friendly assassins). However, while the world building continues to be solid and the drama between the two leads have both evolved while still pitting their values (and powers) against one another, the fact that the script creates someone with the exact super power to combat the exact problem that’s occuring feels fairly convenient. Giving Pav the ability to manipulate tech just in time to use it to blow the whistle on King feels more like she actually has the power to lazily fill plot holes with her rare ability and also the film chooses to eliminate the need for an expansive, Heat-sized cast by once again having a hail of bullets from the Guardians keep the list of supporting players down.
However, despite the fact that it remains a minor footnote in superhero cinema, possibly the best part of Code 8 Part II is the fact that Chan has figured out to use its smaller scale and conservative budget to its advantage. The transitions between superpowered setpieces and crime drama is far smoother and the robot visuals are actually far more effective now that they’re being used more sparsely. However, the script tends to stumble when it drifts too far away from the two Amell cousins and subplots involving the powers living in a building protected by Garrett’s influence feels underserved. Still, with a few genuine surprises and a clearer focus given to this world, a Code 8 Part III actually wouldn’t go amiss.
It’s still small-fry compared to the expansive, sprawling, superhero universes that rock out cinemas every other month, but it seems that Jeff Chan really has got a much firmer grip on this world he’s created. Whether or not we’ll ever get further peaks and valleys in the ever changing relationship of our two leads, I wouldn’t mind them showing up for at least one more super outing.
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