Inevitably, The Marked Ones bears some of the over-familiar tropes of the parent franchise - the ominous bass rumble, the abruptly disappointingly deflating ending - but it also has a lot to recommend it and is a considerably better film than the weak trailer suggested. This Latin-community-based offshoot shows considerably more energy than the ossified formula of the main movies, helped enormously by two engaging (older-)teen leads and their Chronicle-style shenanigans in the first half, paving the way for the darker turns as the movie progresses. There are some effective jump-shocks, and the lively first-person shooting is generally well-used in this entry, although there is now a real sense of deja-vu and an unnerving ability for the viewer to literally guess the next shot in play. This film might actually have benefited from being a standalone movie, as the references to the core franchise (one completely random, the necessary location tie-in for the finale, and a truly audacious jump-the-shark moment at the end) add little. In spite of some underdeveloped potential - the supermarket scene cries out for a more violent display, for example - The Marked Ones is more accomplished and has more actual content than expected.
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