Fahrenheit 451: in spite of its famed title and inspiration, Ramin Bahrani’s science-fiction adaptation plays like a generic dystopian struggle. The authoritarian dominating force is ill-defined, uninteresting; the rebels are not much better, getting the sympathy pretty much by default. The plot makes little to no sense, just a sequence of badly connected beats. The cast is stuck with the material, but rise above it: Michael B. Jordan is intense, and Michael Shannon’s quiet rage is already legendary; Sofia Boutella has a somewhat nondescript role, but she is passable. The film has a polished look, but it is very heavy-handed with the use of colored lights, to the point of distraction. Production design and costumes are minimalist, which also reinforces the generic feeling.