3 out of 5

Directed by: Eric Zaragoza

While it might disappoint on an Adkins level, lowww budget sci-fi Incoming impresses as a B-movie, with a pretty tight script and smart use of limited sets and minimal effects.

A cheesy, Sharknado-level CGI explosion painted over Big Ben kicks off the flick – an apparent terrorist attack – and sets standards low.  We wait through the remaining setup: as a highlighted member of the terrorist group is arrested; as we’re shown his torture via the psychological methods of isolation; loud music; etc. to learn more about his group; as we’re flash-forwarded several years into this process, during which the International Space Station has agreeably been turned into a prison housing the terrorists, run solo by one man, Kingsley (Lukas Loughran) who takes joy in calling the shots.

Past the intro, the dialogue for Kingsley and his Earthbound contacts is surprisingly natural, without much forced exposition and shot in a cinematic enough style to keep us interested without any overt flashiness.  As we shift to our other characters – CIA spook Resier (Adkins), pilot Bridges (Aaron McCusker), and psychologist Stone (Michelle Lehane), who are there to check up on conditions due to a lack of ‘results’ on Kingsley’s behalf in the intervening years – these positives remain.  The budget constraints are obvious, as we’re only ever inside or outside of the ship, but it’s also well-handled: director Eric Zaragoza doesn’t go for any shots that can’t be achieved once we’re in space.

Soon enough, someone makes a poor decision during the visit and the prisoners escape and gain control, turning the ship into a missile to resume the agenda.  While the script (Jorge Saralegui) makes room for some scuffles, including a one-on-one Adkins fight, it’s not exactly the focus of the flick.  Instead, Incoming goes with a pleasingly grounded approach, with both sides sequestering themselves in opposite parts of this ship and sneaking out to see what they can accomplish.  This makes the scuffles quick and brutal street scuffles with brawling and stabbing, and while the choreography won’t blow minds, it’s believable and exciting; it never goes in for over-complicated gambits or pushes characters to make decisions that seem outside of their personalities.  To that effect, we also get some interesting shifts in those personalities that help the film pick up some slack during these attacks-of-attrition, since the process of fighting and retreating otherwise is a play to holdout for that 90 minute runtime.

Of course, it’s still a B-movie.  The thing political commentary is appreciated but just plot dressing, and some unmotivated edits during the fights are probably there to cover up some blocking that didn’t work during the first shot.  Dr. Stone, the lone female, gets a really poor run, and the fact that the prisoners are in space – intended to be a surprise to them – is flubbed when, before that discovery, one of the prisoners mentions being ‘aboard’ their location, which I wouldn’t really say if I thought I was in a building.  The logistics of the spaceship don’t quite match up to the outside shots – it’s only, like, two rooms on the inside, and sometimes we can hear people in the next room, sometimes we can’t.  But it’s an impressive B-movie, and a fun character for Adkins to spend some time in, even if it’s not the martial arts spaceship fest we might hope for.