Overview

• The screenlife-style update stars Ice Cube as a Department of Homeland Security analyst and unfolds entirely through computer screens, a device critics call implausible and dull.
• Reviewers fault the special effects as low-budget and poorly rendered, likening extraterrestrial tripods and lo-res attack footage to early home computer graphics.
• The plot’s persistent Amazon product placements and in-film ordering sequences have been decried as turning the movie into a prolonged advertisement.
• Some commentators argue this film’s critical failure signals that the screenlife genre—after hits like Searching and Host—has run its course.
• Despite the backlash, the movie shot to the top of Prime Video’s charts in 34 countries, reaching number one in 11 markets shortly after its July 30 release.