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If you didn\u2019t see the 2019 movie \u201cCode 8,\u201d<\/a> but for some reason decide to take a chance on the sequel, fear not: \u201cCode 8: Part II\u201d begins with a vivid account of a not-too-distant-future where 4 percent of people \u201cpossess superhuman abilities\u201d and an authoritarian police force leans hard on robots both two- and four-legged.<\/p>\n Having more or less caught you up, the movie, directed by Jeff Chan and streaming on Netflix<\/a>, once again presents Connor (Robbie Amell), the first movie\u2019s protagonist, now leaving prison and rebuffing his former partner in crime, Garrett (Stephen Amell). (They are real-life cousins, in case you were wondering.)<\/p>\n Both are stuck in Lincoln City, a setting as bleak as any other sci-fi hellhole, wherein every day is a day without sunshine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The new story proper begins with Tarak (Sammy Azero), a young criminal who\u2019s trying to help his teenage sister, Pav (Sirena Gulamgaus), find a better life. He steals a bag of money from a couple of corrupt cops and is pursued by a robot police dog in a chase scene that\u2019s brisk, legible and passably tense. He doesn\u2019t get away, and Pav goes on the run. Guess which adult helps her out?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Along with a bunch of other contemporary sci-fi tropes (\u201cdesigner drugs\u201d also feature in this dystopia) we\u2019ve got a child in danger \u2014 a child with, naturally, emerging powers of her own. Pav\u2019s talent initially manifests itself by making the TV go wonky when there\u2019s something on it she doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n In the end, even genre fans with relaxed standards might try to similarly rebel against this insipid offering.<\/p>\n Code 8: Part II<\/strong>
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. Watch on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n