My title says it all. This is one of those movies that just drags on and does nothing. If it weren't for the terribly slow pacing, it might actually be a decent movie with a message. The title alone makes you think it's going to be some kind of action movie with super monkeys or something. The term 'hyper sapien' is never once brought up and there is no explanation why it should be the title of a movie.
One of the biggest issues this movie has is the overwhelming Ex Machina present throughout the entire movie. Even scenes that are supposed to be suspenseful just come off as drab and uninteresting because all anyone has to do is "read minds" or "fire a few lasers". There's no suspense at all. The aliens can read minds, see through other creature's eyes, shoot lasers, and a plethora of other things that that were used because the writers were obviously unable to come up with alternatives or reasons for "why" something was the way it was. It's as if they sat around the development meeting and said "how do they learn to ride a bike? They read your mind! How do they understand human feelings? They read your mind!" It really takes away the mystery and awe of a movie when someone can literally do anything just by reading minds, it doesn't help you connect with a character because they have nothing to solve. It would be like getting a math test with all the answers and all you have to do is fill in the blanks. For being creatures that are (literally) lightyears ahead of humans, being able to read minds would be a sure-fire way to figure out how to interact with humans so we don't just kill them all.
There is also a sever lack of explanations for anything that happens. They never actually explain WHY they have come to Earth, though one could assume reasons why, but they don't actually say. Another small thing is why does Kirby drink gasoline and eat red hot coal? Do they even have coal where they're from? Do they have gas in their ship's engines? I get he's an alien, but it's things like this that bug me when it's never explained "why". Why does Robin and Tavi's hair change color when in and out of the sun, but all the other aliens always have white hair? Were they just special? I understand a movie needs a balance when it comes to exposition and a good movie can be ruined because they will explain things that actually don't need to be, but there is literally none to be had here. You'll find that a lot through the entire movie, just random plot points and things happening that never get a reason why.
That's not to say this is a terrible movie, it's just boring. The three-legged alien, Kirby, is actually kind of fun to see. He has three legs/arms, three eyes, and like five mouths. He also shoots lasers from his eyes. It seemed like the creature department and the puppeteers were given full reign on this characters because it just seems really well done, at least by this movie's standards. There's only a few points where you can tell it's a puppet, but I think that's true for anything that is on screen like this. Most of the acting is "meh", it's not the worst I've ever seen, but it just felt like no one really cared. Cinematography is done well, there aren't any boom mics in the shots and everything seems framed nicely.
Overall, if you're bored and want to stay bored, this movie is just for you!
