Cashing in on the naive neoliberal zeitgeist of the time, this awful global warming tripe does more harm to the cause than good. The basic premise is farcical. Even if we suspend belief and buy into the idea of an oil-eating bacteria, somehow we're supposed to entertain the notion that it can be introduced to every reserve of petrol in the world at the same time - everything from the jerry can of gas you forgot in your shed, to the massive, as yet undiscovered fields of crude lying deep beneath the ocean. It's puriile nonsense. When cars start bursting into flames you have to wonder what pre-teen came up with the script. On one hand you're telling us this bacteria eats fuel, now it makes car engines - yes engines, not fuel tanks, suddenly combust sending them careening across the road. And it all happens at roughly the same time implying that somehow this bacteria has consumed - or whatever it does, all the fuel scattered across millions of containment vessels large and small all over the planet, almost simultaneously. Seriously? As if that isn't bad enough, this ridiculous plot is interwoven with the well-worn story of the hero and his wife trying to reunite their family torn apart by this questionable 'disaster'. When borders are inexplicably shut (because some cars caught fire?), and the world goes mad with violence and looting (again because some cars caught fire) the annoying wife puts her blind son in extreme danger trying to get from France to England. She's so desperate to escape she risks the authorities, pawns her wedding ring, and puts her life on the line because... nope, no idea. Maybe she just really hates France and can't handle the idea of waiting there in safety for a few days. Apparently electricity also stops when petrol runs out but that rule is applied very unreliably as our heroes get lights, cellphones, computers and all manner of electrical items when the stumbling plot requires them. Mid blackout they all have takeaway coffees so clearly coffee carts are a national priority and on some kind of an emergency grid. We're supposed to believe all this chaos is caused by a very large team of highly organised, tech savvy eco activists able to hack MI6 and various other world intelligence agencies while they evade the security of the most powerful oligarchs on the planet. Really? The eco activists I know couldn't organise a kombucha at their local organic community run scoop and weigh. The acting is painful, the diversity is forced, and the plot literally runs out of gas by episode 5. With just a few minutes to go, they Scooby Doo the ending with the kind of exposition you'd expect at your local kindy. "And then, all the oil is gone and stuff. And it's bad cos people fight. But then they don't. And everything comes out good. And we all live happily ever after". *Face palm. Why did I persist with this? In my defence, it started like a bad James Bond movie with a Black Mirror-ish premise. It reminded me of (the much better but still flawed) Blackout. But then it goes downhill faster than Max Stöckl. Save your time, skip it. Go watch some hobbits or dragons - you know, some grown-up TV with a more believable story.
Review of Last Light
