I wouldn’t deny that Johnny Martin’s Off the Grid is a decent, entertaining watch, but the point is that it doesn’t bring anything new or unique to the plate. Also, I was not very convinced by the plot, and it all seemed a bit too convenient for my liking. That said, let’s find out what happened in the film, why our protagonist was on the run, and if his enemies were able to get hold of him at the end or not.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Jack run away from Belcor?
Not much was revealed about what happened back in the day between Belcor Industries and Jack that made the latter go into hiding. So what I could figure out from the scanty information that we got through the film was that Jack’s association with Belcor had begun almost 19 years back. Jack was a prodigy, and Ranish, his colleague and mentor, took pride in the fact that he had taught and trained him. Ranish knew how Jack’s mind functioned, and he was quite sure that his boy would make a name for himself. Jack was asked to build a mini reactor prototype small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. Jack knew that using the technique of cold fusion, he would be able to complete his task. But then he got to know about a deal that Belcor had made with their Italian counterparts. Jack realized that Belcor didn’t have any noble intentions, and wanted to use Jack’s creation as a weapon. Jack knew the kind of havoc they could wreak with the prototype in their possession. Jack didn’t know what to do, and I believe for days he must have thought about how he could save the lives of millions of innocent people. There came a time when Jack let his conscience prevail over his pragmatic side, and he decided to take all his research work and go into hiding. Jack was well aware that without his work and his support, nobody would be able to replicate the device. After Jack disappeared, Belcor started a nationwide manhunt, but he wasn’t able to locate Jack. Ranish had a hunch that Jack was hiding somewhere in the Southeastern part of the country, and he was not wrong. Jack was hiding in Memphis, Tennessee, surviving on basic amenities in a bunker that he had built for himself. Another problem that Belcor faced was that he needed to bring Jack back alive, and he couldn’t just ask his men to find and kill him, which would have been comparatively easier. Catching a man who was no less than an apex predator was no joke, and to top it all off, his survival skills were beyond elite. It seemed as if the man had gotten training to survive an apocalypse, and he knew how to survive on bare minimum resources.
How did Marcus and Ranish locate Jack?
Belcor’s surveillance team was working day and night to find one clue that would lead them to Jack. At last they made a breakthrough when they found out that somebody by the name of Guy Smith had made a purchase of a graphic card. According to their speculation, it was Jack, and so they informed the team about it. Belcor gave the responsibility of finding Jack to his trusted assassin, Marcus. Marcus was quite sure that he would be able to track down Jack, though Ranish didn’t exactly share that sentiment. Ranish knew that Jack was a genius, and that he would be prepared for any untoward outcomes.
Jack only talked to a couple of people in town: one was a boy named Chase, who managed his father’s local retail shop, and the other was a bar owner named Josey. Jack loved Chase, and maybe he saw a little bit of himself in him. The boy was academically gifted, and he wanted to get selected at a good university and make his own path in life. Josey, on the other hand, always felt intrigued by the mysterious aura of the man sporting a hat, who came in every Sunday to pick up supplies from their town. Josey asked Jack to have a beer with her for once since he fixed the wifi for her, but the latter refused, knowing that he shouldn’t mingle with the locals and just keep a low profile.
Marcus arrived in town, and due to his rude behavior and scary demeanor, he left an impression on everybody he had a conversation with. When Jack came to town the next time, Chase told him about the weird guy who had come to his store. Jack realized by the description that it was one of Belcor’s men, and he decided to straightaway go back to his bunker and strengthen his defenses. Marcus hired some local mercenaries, found out where Jack lived, and orchestrated an attack to capture him. But that seemingly normal-looking bunker had a defense system that was not easily penetrable. Though Jack was able to make a near escape that one time, he realized that he couldn’t afford the privilege of hiding anymore, and that he would have to face his enemies head-on.
Was Jack Dead Or Alive?
Belcor asked Ranish to take his men to Memphis to catch Jack. Ranish didn’t want to go on the mission, as he didn’t like being in the wilderness and coming in contact with messy materials like dirt and getting bitten by mosquitoes all the time. But Ranish didn’t have any option: Belcor Industries’ billions were at stake, and his boss, Belcor, wasn’t ready to take no for an answer. Ranish reached the town and started hunting down Jack together with Marcus. Ranish tried all sorts of things to get an upper hand in the fight with his protege: he tried to threaten Josey, he kidnapped Chase, and he even told Jack that he would be compensated more than fairly. He chose to complete his work and give Belcor what he wanted.
But Jack didn’t give in. In fact, at the end of Off the Grid, he met Josey and asked her to help him out and lead Ranish and his team into the trap that he had set for them. Josey went and told Marcus where Jack was and asked them to release Chase, as he had nothing to do with the issue. Ranish, Marcus, and their men went to the location Josey had asked them to, and it didn’t take them long to realize that Jack had rigged the entire place to blow. Jack killed Marcus, but he knew that as long as he didn’t die, Belcor would keep looking for him. So in front of Ranish, he sat in a car and set off a bomb, giving the impression that he had died in the ensuing explosion. But it was not so. Jack had created a trapdoor just beneath the car, and he had managed to escape from it just in time. When Belcor came to know about Jack’s demise, he held Ranish captive in a claustrophobic underground bunker and told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to emerge till he figured out how to make that reactor.
In Off the Grid’s ending, Jack hacked Ranish’s computer system and sent him an image of a Red Bull can placed on a bike. Ranish realized that Jack had survived, and he tried to tell his bosses about it, but to no avail. Jack and Josey ended up together, whereas Chase was able to get into a premier university. As for Belcor, he still didn’t have the technology he needed, and I don’t think Ranish would really be able to help his cause. So if he got it known that Ranish was not lying about Jack being alive, he would come again and start searching for him, but until then, Jack had the freedom to spend some downtime with the love of his life and create some beautiful memories together.
