The Division: Agent Origins (2016) User Reviews

Video game advert is chock full of well-shot action

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 22 May 2016]

TOM CLANCY'S THE DIVISION: AGENT ORIGINS - now there's a title to contend with! - is a short, 31 minute action film that seems to have been made purely to sell a video game series made by Ubisoft. I'm no gamer, so I don't know anything about that, but what I can confirm is that this short film is very well made and much better than a lot of full-length action thrillers.

First, the bad stuff: there's no real story here, just a collection of action sequences. The setting is an anarchic New York, where a viral pandemic has laid most of the population low and the streets are filled with murderers and looters. The heroes are a group of 'sleeper' agents who must come together to combat lawlessness.

I have to say that the action sequences in this film are very well achieved. There are hand to hand fight scenes here alongside free running and some violent shoot-outs. The camera-work is very nicely achieved and although the characterisation is nil you still end up admiring the athleticism of the participants. Although in essence this film is little more than a lengthy advert, it's a really entertaining one!

30 minute advertising for The Division UbiSoft game

[siderite · 5/10 · 12 February 2016]

They had the opportunity to give depth to characters that probably do nothing else than shoot people in the game. They did not. The premise is ridiculous as well: a sleeper agency that can be activated only in case of "real" emergencies, meanwhile they live like ordinary citizens. Where is all the training coming from, then?

The feel of the short is interesting, with people trying to fend for themselves, while infected people, escaped convicts and eradication squads are roaming the city. The ultimate purpose of the squad is not clear, though. They just meet somewhere and kill the convicts in a rather unconvincing firefight. What is their ultimate goal? How did they become agents in the first place? For a story title Origins, you get nothing more than a text scroll explaining the thing.

Bottom line: all you have to do is look up game play videos from shooter games and choose the ones that are the most liked by people and put them together in a coherent story. They did none of this. The actors are mediocre, the visuals are almost bad and the budget ridiculously low.

Lightning fast, cinematic and stylish, though only a game trailer

[quincytheodore · 6/10 · 12 February 2016]

Tom Clancy's titles have found success on both cinema and video game, so there's bound to be tie-in project along the road. However, Agent Origins is more of teaser for a video game rather than a full movie experience, that's not to say it's low in quality. For the short thirty minutes there are multiple facets of action one would expect from famous name, although there's little depth and intricacy here.

This is a simple rendezvous gig for several agents as they gather for one mission. Unfortunately, the backstory of the world, and its viral outbreak theme are not fully fleshed out, its short runtime is mostly used for nifty parkour or shootout. There's no vengeance, patriotism or even greed for motivation, these people just simply meet up and shoot people. It would have been better if the creator had prolonged the action movie to present more than cool military combat sequences, but it is still a visually pleasing work.

There are lots of melee and gunslinging action packed into the short movie, certainly poised with brutal choreography and fast pace. It shows some clever tricks fans of action, especially gamers would appreciated. For most parts it's a solid presentation throughout, with the exception of one or two hiccup in screenplay. The effect for gunshot or explosion can be slightly jarring, but it does convey the right color tone for its premise.

It's quite a missed opportunity to not produce actual back story, in a work called "Agent Origins", but the flashy and stylish shootout is a crowd pleaser, which understandably its original objective; a long snazzy trailer.

Not as in depth as the game itself, but great action

[nate-crain-642-411045 · 7/10 · 5 June 2019]

As a fan of the game series, I was a little disappointed that this series did not expand further on the already very rich narrative of The Division. However, I can appreciate the cinematography and well framed action shooting it took to put all this together. Taken as a whole, this is a pretty decent addition, even if it is short on narrative.

Take it for what it is

[suspect20 · 7/10 · 31 July 2022]

If you are a fan of the game this film delivers. If you are going into this expecting some sort of cinematic masterpiece you will be disappointed. In this short You see the different game factions interacting with one another, and if you are among the thousands that have put countless hours into the game, it is worth the watch.

Action-packed, no story as usual

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 12 February 2016]

"Tom Clancy's the Division: Agent Origins" is a half-hour live action short film from about a month ago directed by Devin Graham and Adrian Picardi. I am not an expert on the Tom Clancy video game series, but judging from this short film I have not missed a whole lot. It is certainly style over substance. The story is almost entirely forgettable and it's really all about the shooting, firearms and action scenes. Never a convincing foundation for a film. Maybe huge fans of the video games will enjoy it, but I personally found it pretty much completely empty and did not care for any of the characters in here, probably because character development is almost entirely non-existent in this little film. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.

Live-Action Short Film/back story Episodes for Tom Clancy's The Division video game

[planetdave-75899 · 9/10 · 12 February 2016]

The 2 previous reviewers obviously don't get the aim of these Live Action episodes for Tom Clancy's The Division: Agent Origins, a video game made by Ubisoft Massive.

The characters in these episodes are not represented in the game, they are based on hypothetical back stories for characters that 'could' exist in the game universe. The game is highly customisable and you play the game as a protagonist that you create. There are set characters within The Division game universe but none which are seen in any of these Agent Origins episodes.

To add to that these are promotional story trailers for a video game. I repeat - a video game. They are not part of a main feature length movie. So besides already spending thousands if not millions of dollars on already actually making the game, Ubisoft has a marketing/promotional department who probably have a finite amounted budget to use on promotional material such as back story trailers/episodes. If you have actually followed the game's development there has been a vast wealth of promotional videos covering various aspects of the game's features, development, story, community events.

Back to the Agent Origins short film, there most likely never would be too much fleshing out of characters, a huge production budget or development of a feature length story - that's what the game is for.

If you're a fan of the game you most likely have already seen the Agent Origins shirt film/episodes, and appreciate the production, mini-stories, characters, gadgets/gear, weapons, action sequences, easter eggs, and setting that they're shot in.

The Agent Origins live action film series is supposed to be short & sweet, and it hits the nail on the head in regards to The Division's atmosphere, setting, and main game points. The action sequences are exciting to watch with great audio and SFX keeping you in the moment, and the action is not too heavy, with equal snippets of humor, drama, and character and story development thrown in between. There also multiple perspectives shown, such as from the bad guys (Factions), civilians caught in the conflict, and of course the Agents themselves.

If you are a fan of the game, or curious about the game, I would recommend this to you to watch.

I would also recommend watching Ghost Recon Alphas - another short film made by Ubisoft.

100,000 rounds of ammo can't make up for bad acting and no plot

[vincemckenney · 3/10 · 19 June 2021]

No plot and B actors makes for a disappointing film all around.

Better than other huge budget film

[fellthefil · 8/10 · 16 February 2016]

There only few quirks in the movie that seem unrealistic. However with such minimal budget, this is very well made. I know you have seen movies when a man standing in the middle of the gun fight and he wins, killed all 300 bad guys. This is not so in the movie. The fight seen, especially the last one is very precise. They always take cover, which you do in a real tactical gun fight. Movies always forget to do this just because they wanted a better camera angle.

There are some quirks in the movie that I didn't like. When the Mia the girl was trying to take the gun from the guy, she was having a hard time. She already have a grip of the gun but couldn't take it. If she is very trained(which they portrayed), she would know how to easily flip the wrist and take the gun in a matter of seconds. I Also do not know where and why a shooter just busting up a door and start attacking, just because of Pizza?

It also needed more story on how the prisoners got out? and How the smallpox cause them to be able to escape. Why is it that they didn't get affected by the virus?

Anyway, still a great to watch, and I'm forgiving it since the budget is little. It did keep me interested the whole time which is the most important thing and reason why I am giving it an 8.

Not worth it

[mona_adina · 1/10 · 1 June 2017]

The scenario is very poor, in many cases it is not logical. Modern action movie (already classic) American: excellent effects, poor scenario, no logical thread. I suspect positive reviews - from the producer. The first part of this was much better done. But this is very badly done. Hardly I can find 5 rows to describe this time loss called short film.

Impressive

[theonlysaneperson · 9/10 · 16 March 2017]

Corridor Digital has made multiple small projects, a large number of them inspired by video games, but this is by far their best work. They picked the right actors, worked with two excellent directors, and made a short film that proves that video game movies don't have to suck. While so many things are done right, there are a few shortcomings. Due to the limits of a shorter run-time, plot is occasionally sacrificed for action. This action focus also leads strange things that seem out of place to occur. I only wish that there had been more dialogue and less gunfire. Regardless of these downers, the overall piece is highly entertaining.

Intriguing & Exciting

[davidwanderson · 10/10 · 6 March 2016]

Aside from the graphic violence, this movie was pretty good.

It was almost a 'Resident Evil 2' like scenario, where a co-op special forces team sweeps through a city, shooting masked bandits on site. At one point a heavy plume of smoke rises up in the distant city sky line; it draws you in to want to go further into the city with the team. I'd have been satisfied just sitting back and watching hours and hours of this kind of footage, but it abruptly ends on a rather good note, though it may leave you hangin' I suppose this is done to entice viewers to check out the game. But $69.95 or whatever video games cost these days, it wouldn't be worth it for the price for someone like me who'd rather watch instead of play.

Good movie. Now we need a mini-series. UBSoft missed their calling, they need to start making a Tom Clancy Division television series. I forgot to mention the realistic feeling the movies gives off. The gruesome imagery battle in a modern day civilian urban setting, really entangles the mind for the moment. One could see the horror of war in a reality they could fathom. That and the fact that you really want to see these guys wipe out the criminals and watch the swift hand of justice in action.

Note for PTSD victims, DO NOT WATCH.

The acting was on par, stunts terrific, story line amazing. I really wish this was the 1st in a line of shows. *Tosses penny in fountain, makes a wish. We'll see...

That's it, I'm going to go buy a Playstation. Can't wait for show. Got to get to the bottom of this plume of smoke deal!

0 Stars enough for this 30min 'Film'

[silversword-86664 · 28 December 2018]

I am not sure how come, people are giving this 30 min of no storyline 8-10 out 10 stars. No story, guys with flamethrower killing at random, and you end up with a fight of 4 'good' guys against a dozen of 'bad' guys who are criminals and convicts. Now the whole fight, not a single criminal was able to aim correctly, specially considering that it's a narrow road not a jungle, not a single bullet hit those 4 good guys. This bullet spray style movies are old and tiring already.

Please don't waste 30min of your life watching this poorly made film.

Well done!

[chasehaynes · 10/10 · 19 March 2019]

I really enjoyed this short adventure into the world of The Division. The director used some impressive shots and angles the action was well thought out and fun to watch.

I really liked this video

[Likeafrisbee · 10/10 · 15 June 2021]

Very well made and i was facinated of how good the characters looked so much like the bad guys 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

The America of Democrats went dreamscapes

[billmayes-65191 · 10/10 · 21 July 2021]

The America of Democrats went dreams visulazed on screen.