Netflix Sci-Fi Action Thriller With Two DC Superheroes Is An Indie Success Story
With how huge and successful the MCU has become, it has become pretty easy to spot Marvel actors in other movies. However, the bigger challenge is spotting DC actors who collaborated in other films, such as brothers Stephen Amell and Robbie Amell who co-starred in Code 8, released for streaming on Netflix in 2020. And perhaps most impressive, the independent movie was crowdfunded in part by contributions through Indiegogo where it initially asked for $200,000 but received $3.4 million.
The Arrowverse
However, rather than the DCEU, the Amell brothers made their mark in the more positively received DC television shows. Stephen Amell is perhaps still best known for playing Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow in CW’s Arrow. While Robbie Amell was on CW’s The Flash as Ronnie Raymond and Firestorm. So it is only fitting the brothers got to collaborate in Code 8 for Netflix with its focus on superhuman abilities.
The Government Fears The Powered
For fans of the X-Men, the movie has a similar premise as some of the plots that have been covered there. Code 8 is about a world where individuals with powers over electricity, ice, and other abilities exist.
The government fears what these people can do and mandates that anyone with such powers must publicly register themselves so the government knows who they are and what they can do. But Code 8 has some fresh twists in its story as well that might catch you by surprise in this Netflix hidden gem.
Critically Hailed
Reviews for the movie enjoyed the action-packed nature of the film and were especially impressed about how much it accomplished on an independent budget. Critics praised its passion, creativity, and intelligence with its plot. It could be argued that this makes Code 8 stand out as one of the triumph stories of independent movies that can be found on Netflix.
A Passion Project
Interestingly, Code 8 was apparently a passion project for everyone involved years before it ever showed up on Netflix. Before it was a feature length film, in 2016 it was actually a short 10 minute film.
Stephen and Robbie Amell both helped produce it, Chris Pare helped to write both versions, and Jeff Chan directed both versions. So clearly everyone attached felt that the story was something special that they wanted to fully bring to fruition.
Code 8: Part II
Best of all, if you enjoy Code 8, it recently got a sequel in Code 8: Part II that released directly on Netflix back in February of this year. The Amell brothers both return to reprise their roles from the first movie as well. So if you like the original, you have the continuation already available to see where the story goes next.
Check out Code 8 for yourself via Netflix to see how the Amell brothers compare to what you may remember of them from their DC days. They do say that necessity leads to creativity. So sometimes it can be fun to look to smaller budget movies to see what they are able to accomplish when they have to rely so much more heavily on their ideas than tons of special effects.
