YMMV / Code 8

YMMV for both Works:

• Anvilicious: Both the short film and the full motion picture aren’t very subtle in being allegories for prejudice and police brutality.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The Guardian robots are by far the most memorable characters from both the short film and the full film thanks to their cool and intimidating designs.
  • Officer Park is also well-liked for being a Badass Normal By-the-Book Cop and the only regular human who isn’t prejudiced against Specials.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Surprisingly enough for a Science Fiction film, the moments where the police use excessive force are made even more unsettling by the fact that excessive force incidents were still happening in 2019.

YMMV for the 2016 short:

• Inferred Holocaust: Sure, Taylor has escaped the police, but how long is he going to last on the lam, and how far are the police willing to go to take action against him?

YMMV for the 2019 film:

• Alternative Character Interpretation: In-Universe, the public and police are unsure as to whether those physically supplying the Psyke should be considered victims or drug traffickers, due to the invasive nature of the extraction.
• Cliché Storm: While the film manages to deconstruct a few tropes related to the superhero genre, it follows most of the cliches associated with a heist or crime film. A Jerkass Woobie Anti-Hero living with a dying loved one cannot save her due to poverty and discrimination and instead resorts to crime to pay for her treatment. As a result, he is recruited by an Affably Evil right-hand man working for a dangerous Big Bad crime lord to join a Caper Crew consisting of other Ambiguously Evil mooks, and going through a Training Montage before a Bank Robbery. Eventually, shit gets darker when the loved one's condition gets even worse and the protagonist's One Last Job goes to hell when the crime lord screws over the team and massacres them. And, of course, a protagonist who normally doesn't kill ends up killing the villains because It Was The Only Option before moving on to a better life free of crime (or as free as it can be for him anyway). And we didn't even mention the Good Cop/Bad Cop duo hot on his trail this whole time.
• Complete Monster: Marcus Sutcliffe is a dapper drug lord and Loan Shark whose specialty, Psyke, is made by extracting the spinal fluid of powered individuals. After one of his drug farms is raided, Marcus recruits Connor Reed in multiple robberies at the behest of his subordinate, Garrett Kent, in order to pay off a debt to the cartel known as the Trust. Nia eventually reveals to Connor that Marcus forced her into a position as a healer. Falsely offering Nia's services under the pretense of having her heal Connor's mother, in exchange for the crew stealing his supply back from the police escort, Marcus has his men turn their guns on the crew and steal the supply back for him, resulting in the deaths of two crew members and four police officers. When Nia confronts Marcus about the others, he threatens her imprisoned father, who is in debt to him.
• Spiritual Adaptation: There are some critics who'd say that the film represents the concept of X-Men better than the actual X-Men films.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Some viewers had wished they expanded on the short film’s plot of Taylor being on the run from the police since it ended on a Cliffhanger. Instead, this film settles for a completely different, crime drama with superpowers.