OFFICE UPRISING. Here, energy drinks kill instantly

Everyone has their poison. I don’t smoke, I don’t eat fast food, I stay away from alcohol — but energy drinks… Even now, as I write this text, one stands before me, luring me with caffeine, taurine, and the placebo effect that lets me believe there’s superhuman strength waiting at the bottom of the can. I suspect that among all poisons, this one is the least deadly — but not in Office Uprising. Here, energy drinks kill instantly.

Lin Oeding tried to dissuade me — a director with a big heart for B-movies (because if we’re sticking to alphabetical classifications, “B” fits this one much better than “Z”). He first revealed that affection to the world by directing two episodes of the sorely missed Blood Drive. Then came Braven with Jason Momoa, a straight-up 1980s-style action flick. Still, Oeding’s biggest impact in the industry comes from his stunt work — he’s contributed to several superhero productions from both Marvel and DC, and early in his career, he even met Chuck Norris on the set of Walker, Texas Ranger.

Another of Oeding’s talents is his ability to attract a solid cast. The lead role in Office Uprising is played by Brenton Thwaites, the future Robin from Titans, joined by the always phenomenal and criminally underrated Jane Levy (of the Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe), Karan Soni a.k.a. Dopinder, and Zachary Levi a.k.a. Shazam. With such experienced and talented support, even the disgustingly fake CGI blood in most scenes and the dumb, stale jokes manage to go down smoothly. This version of the corporate world seems much more entertaining — even though people aren’t “walking dead” only metaphorically, and their transformation into maniacs is caused by an energy drink.

Sound familiar? Yes, it’s a film almost identical to Mayhem with Steven Yeun (Glenn from The Walking Dead), but this time without the forced romantic subplot, featuring sharper satire and a faster pace that allows you to enjoy the carefree, bloody fun, complete with some clever ideas for killing white-collar workers (led by a decapitation using an aluminum can turned into a shuriken). Oeding struggles at times to maintain balance — early on, he uses stylized, music-video-like visuals reminiscent of Suicide Squad, only to abandon them completely shortly after; by the finale, he serves up a robot fight worthy of the infamous studio The Asylum — a robot powered, much like the cars in Blood Drive, by pieces of human flesh.

The tone shifts several times, creating the impression that Oeding hasn’t yet fully developed his own style — he’s testing different approaches and stitching together interesting ideas with such thick thread that the viewer can’t help but notice where one piece of fabric ends and another begins. The dose of sheer entertainment is high enough that the bumps in the narrative don’t hurt, but I hope that next time the director delivers a more coherent vision that might earn him a place of honor in the history of “bad” cinema.

The corporation specializing in firearms design, led by a stereotypical Texan with a southern drawl and cowboy hat, is not only painfully exaggerated but also seems intended as a form of social commentary. Here, Oeding fares the weakest. He was likely inspired by Mike Judge’s cult classics — Office Space and Idiocracy — and wanted to address the burning issue of gun control dominating the current American media discourse in a similar way. Unfortunately, he lacks the freshness of perspective or new insight that could push the discussion in an unfamiliar direction.

Office Uprising is, in many ways, a rerun — a fusion of themes explored before by other directors. Still, accusing it of being entirely derivative would be unfair. The film has its own absurd charm, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who visits this section of reviews intentionally. It’s just a pity they didn’t go for a more corporate title — something like Deadline.