I was stunned by this film.
Or rather, I was stunned AFTER the movie, i.e. not really by the movie itself. I was stunned after I'd seen it and then opened its IMDb page to rate and review it. I was, mildly put, amazed that this is some obscurity with barely over a thousand ratings. Amazed because:
1. There was obviously a decent budget invested into this. (Though some people seem to believe it was made on a shoe-string budget.)
2. It's the kind of modern, commercial, more-or-less Marvel-like flick that makes studios a lot of money these days. (Yet it seems the film needed a while to get an American distributor...?)
3. It's better than most such dumb superhero movies and yet remains unknown by the vast majority of Marvel-zombie comic-book geeks. Even horror-film fans!
Oh yeah, and because Monica Bellucci has one of the leading roles. Is her 15 years of fame so over that even a starring role in a decent, commercial movie can't help push a film? Is she that over-the-hill? Or what is it?
While I like mysteries, I like them on the SCREEN, not off it. I have no explanation for this real-life mystery, and I hate being confused this way.
But before you get the somewhat wrong impression what awaits you in this film, let me underline the fact that this is NOT a typical superhero entry, but in fact a comedy horror sci-fi action film. "Star Wars", "Tron", "(insert-any-superhero-film)", "Underworld" and "Ghostbusters" all rolled into one.
It's very much an Aussie comedy, stereotypically so. From the accents to the broad gags and the overacting, you will instantly know it's 100% Down-Under. Cockroach-Turner has improved a lot since his crappy debut "Wyrmwood", primarily in terms of writing. He must have realized in the meantime that not annoying the viewers is much better than annoying them. He still annoys a bit, mainly by including a comedy-relief character whose only purpose seems to be to comment on events by uttering unfunny one-liners and to endanger the lives of the protagonists (he essentially gets Wenham killed and then almost has his daughters wiped out as well).
Logic-wise, there are far dumber movies of this kind. But that doesn't mean it isn't a bit absurd at times. For example, why does Wenham sacrifice himself? He could have easily escaped along with the others. Why don't necromancers simply keep Bellucci in the Hellraiser-like cube once they capture her? Why risk getting her out? Why does Haubrich not get immediately shot at by Bellucci's demon guards upon seeing her enter? They just aim the guns at her then WAIT for her to start shooting! (And you thought Lucas's stormtroopers were useless.) There's also a semi-crass continuity error: when Haubrich hides in the elevator, it seems to be wide enough for her to hide beside the doors. And yet, when the doors open again a few seconds later there is no space to hide: the elevator is suddenly much narrower.
Another mystery is why Caroline Ford isn't a rising star by now. She steals the movie with her charisma and great exotic looks (white girl with black and Oriental ancestry). Of course if her name were Helena Bonham Carter, or Helen Hunt, or Blake Lively - i.e. if she were part of a well-connected nepotist "Hollywood royalty" elitist clan that uses its power and influence to push its inferior offspring into stardom - she'd be a grade-A actress by now. And this is one of the many reasons cinema in such great decline: film-makers, actors and producers placing personal interests over the quality of their alleged "art". Because, clearly, barely anyone in the film industry gives a hoot about making a good product. And why should they? Hype and CGI will earn their stink-bombs money anyway! Besides, it's not as if millennial audiences have any criteria: as if they are able to distinguish a good product from a bad one.
Check out my "Nepotism: Hollywood's Dirty Secret" list. It explores this type of corruption and stupidity in cinema in detail.
Or rather, I was stunned AFTER the movie, i.e. not really by the movie itself. I was stunned after I'd seen it and then opened its IMDb page to rate and review it. I was, mildly put, amazed that this is some obscurity with barely over a thousand ratings. Amazed because:
1. There was obviously a decent budget invested into this. (Though some people seem to believe it was made on a shoe-string budget.)
2. It's the kind of modern, commercial, more-or-less Marvel-like flick that makes studios a lot of money these days. (Yet it seems the film needed a while to get an American distributor...?)
3. It's better than most such dumb superhero movies and yet remains unknown by the vast majority of Marvel-zombie comic-book geeks. Even horror-film fans!
Oh yeah, and because Monica Bellucci has one of the leading roles. Is her 15 years of fame so over that even a starring role in a decent, commercial movie can't help push a film? Is she that over-the-hill? Or what is it?
While I like mysteries, I like them on the SCREEN, not off it. I have no explanation for this real-life mystery, and I hate being confused this way.
But before you get the somewhat wrong impression what awaits you in this film, let me underline the fact that this is NOT a typical superhero entry, but in fact a comedy horror sci-fi action film. "Star Wars", "Tron", "(insert-any-superhero-film)", "Underworld" and "Ghostbusters" all rolled into one.
It's very much an Aussie comedy, stereotypically so. From the accents to the broad gags and the overacting, you will instantly know it's 100% Down-Under. Cockroach-Turner has improved a lot since his crappy debut "Wyrmwood", primarily in terms of writing. He must have realized in the meantime that not annoying the viewers is much better than annoying them. He still annoys a bit, mainly by including a comedy-relief character whose only purpose seems to be to comment on events by uttering unfunny one-liners and to endanger the lives of the protagonists (he essentially gets Wenham killed and then almost has his daughters wiped out as well).
Logic-wise, there are far dumber movies of this kind. But that doesn't mean it isn't a bit absurd at times. For example, why does Wenham sacrifice himself? He could have easily escaped along with the others. Why don't necromancers simply keep Bellucci in the Hellraiser-like cube once they capture her? Why risk getting her out? Why does Haubrich not get immediately shot at by Bellucci's demon guards upon seeing her enter? They just aim the guns at her then WAIT for her to start shooting! (And you thought Lucas's stormtroopers were useless.) There's also a semi-crass continuity error: when Haubrich hides in the elevator, it seems to be wide enough for her to hide beside the doors. And yet, when the doors open again a few seconds later there is no space to hide: the elevator is suddenly much narrower.
Another mystery is why Caroline Ford isn't a rising star by now. She steals the movie with her charisma and great exotic looks (white girl with black and Oriental ancestry). Of course if her name were Helena Bonham Carter, or Helen Hunt, or Blake Lively - i.e. if she were part of a well-connected nepotist "Hollywood royalty" elitist clan that uses its power and influence to push its inferior offspring into stardom - she'd be a grade-A actress by now. And this is one of the many reasons cinema in such great decline: film-makers, actors and producers placing personal interests over the quality of their alleged "art". Because, clearly, barely anyone in the film industry gives a hoot about making a good product. And why should they? Hype and CGI will earn their stink-bombs money anyway! Besides, it's not as if millennial audiences have any criteria: as if they are able to distinguish a good product from a bad one.
Check out my "Nepotism: Hollywood's Dirty Secret" list. It explores this type of corruption and stupidity in cinema in detail.