Reviews

From beginning to end, this movie grabs you by the throat and won't let go. Every time a question is answered, more come up, as the crew gradually regain memories, and the few survivors exchange what little they know.

The closest parallel I can think of is not a movie, but the classic Robert A. Heinlein story "Orphans of the Sky", written in 1941. In Heinlein's book, a group of people is sent to the stars in a "generation ship", one designed to let folk live and multiply for the several generations the journey is expected to last. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and the current passengers have lost most of the technological knowledge needed to run the ship, which is so sophisticated that it still continues to run itself. And some of the current passengers have become mutants, deadly to "real" humans.

This vessel is a bit different, having 60,000 folk in "hypersleep", and a rotating crew of 3 to run things. But something goes wrong, and a ravenous enemy roams the corridors of today's ship, possibly mutated passengers, and the few humans who are alive have memories badly impaired by too-long a sleep. There are, of course, the obligatory buxom damsel in distress, the insane crew members, and many elements of a traditional locked-in sci-fi horror movie. However, in this movie, it is very well executed, and, as said, grips the moviegoer from beginning to end.

This is a movie I will definitely watch again, if only for Antje Traue's performance as the buxom, ass-kicking damsel in distress. Wow.

This is the first show I've ever seen Emmanuelle Vaugier in, and she's not half bad, as an actress, or as eye candy.

The basic plot line seems to be, she's infected by a virus when she and her Army Special Ops team stumble onto a biolab camouflaged as an illegal drug factory. This virus is usually 100% fatal, but accelerates her body's healing abilities. She finds this out when she is the only survivor of an ambush as her team tries to evacuate the lab.

Naturally, Dark Forces in government and crime want to analyze her healing abilities, and create a force of unkillable warriors. For the remainder of the flick (pilot?), she's on the run, trying to figure out who's wearing the White Hats and Black Hats. She forms an alliance with a good-looking (naturally) thief and his buddies, and eventually figures out which way is up.

It is a pleasure to see Richard Roundtree again, and part of his excellence is, he is equally convincing as both good guy and bad guy (sorry, you'll have to watch the film to see which he turns out to be). Hopefully, the TV series, if it comes, will leave out some of the sappier sister/sister interactions, one of this film's weak points.

Good escapist Saturday afternoon stuff, about what you expect from SciFi's better original flicks.

Once I ignored some of the implausibilities, this was actually a fairly decent horror/monster flick. So, I'll give some of the good points first: - the dragon was quite convincing, especially as she prowled through the tunnels looking for lunch (hint: she likes humans). - the action was fairly non stop, and, after a weak beginning, I got quite absorbed in the storyline. - sorry to say, I was kind of rooting for the dragon - she was probably the most convincing and consistent character in the movie.

Now for the implausible stuff **maybe some spoilers**: - if you were hunting a fire-breathing dragon in 1100 AD, would you charge into its cave with a barrel of gunpowder under your arm? Duh. - a female character with an all-American name, blonde hair and obvious Slavic accent, trying to pretend she's Spanish? Huh? - a lead scientist whose Slavic accent you can cut with a knife, and he's supposedly born in Chicago, educated in USA? - a military helicopter pilot who does his own repairs, flies a huge transport copter with no other crew, and is an expert marksman and combat soldier to boot? OK. Uh huh. I won't even mention his giving 3 different call signs in 2 minutes while communicating with his base.

It's still better than some of the Japanese monster flicks from the 60's, but not by much. If we're lucky, we won't see Dragon Fighter 2, though naturally the ending left that possibility wide open. Or, maybe, they'll hire a real director next time.

In spite of everything, I gave this flick a 4 out of 10. Add 2 more if they rewrite the plot, and Dean Cain gets eaten in the first ten minutes. <grin>

**This review contains some spoilers**

I'll start by saying I gave this movie a 7 out of 10, largely on the strength of Megan Gallagher's beautiful performance. This actress carries her years very well, and the fine character lines on her face only add to the depth and maturity of her portrayal here.

The film begins with P.I. Jack Fletcher and his partner getting involved in a shootout, during which a bullet fragment `grazes' Fletcher's optic nerve, leaving him blind. (Naturally, any daytime drama fan knows what will happen later on, with a `graze'). Rebecca Rose (Megan) becomes his trainer in coping with sightlessness, and is obviously immediately, intensely attracted to Fletcher.

We also meet Rebecca's sister, Bedelia (the lovely Roxana Zal), who is a total recluse since an incident of childhood incest rape. Bea (Bedelia's nickname) is totally dependent upon Beca, unable to function in the world of reality, and feels terrifyingly threatened whenever Beca gets seriously involved with a man. All of this is laid out elliptically, almost in passing, and the writers refreshingly give the viewers credit for enough intelligence to put things together for themselves.

Beca obviously has some problems of her own, as she begins to spy on Fletcher, taking advantage of his blindness to be near him, in his house, without his knowledge (or does he suspect it, perhaps; some vague hints are offered in his behavior). She is there, hidden, when a thug comes for a revenge killing, and kills the heavy with a knife to the back while he is speaking to Fletcher. (One knife stroke, in the back, through ribs and all, directly into the heart(?), and the guy croaks on the spot - uh huh). She then drags the body out of the house, and dumps it, while Fletcher is trying to figure out what's going on, from the sounds alone.

She continues to spy on Fletcher. In a well-done scene, she noisily closes the front door of his house, staying inside. Fletcher begins looking to the door, clearly sensing something, and begins moving toward her. Then he passes a vase of fresh flowers, and picks them up to sniff, looking like a man who's found an answer. The shift and play of expressions on Beca's face, from nervousness, to fear and then relief, is totally gripping, as she clearly realizes he smells her perfume.

There's also an ex-girl friend of Jack's, who still has feelings for him, and begins to expose Beca's misdeeds.

All these elements come to a head in the film's climax, which I won't reveal, except to say it's not completely obvious; there are a few surprises at the end. But, throughout, Megan Gallagher gives a compelling, gripping performance, and carries me right along with her. It's a shame she has never found her niche again, since her days with Dabney Coleman.

I was a huge fan of the Highlander TV series, at least in part because of the welcome leavenings of humor it gave the characters.

If the TV series, on average, got an 8 out of 10, this movie gets a 3. Not least because it totally ignores the plotlines already laid out.

Case in point: immortals do not, ever, fight or kill each other on holy ground. In the TV series, on at least one occasion, it mentions a huge disaster (the destruction of Pompey) taking place when two immortals violated this prohibition.

In this movie, however, *spoiler* a squad of immortals kills another group of immortals on holy ground. Ho hum, just another day at the slaughterhouse.

Please.

This review will contain some **spoilers**, but I won't give away the ending.

I'd like to start by saying IMHO, Courteney Cox is a very fine actress, and one of the saving graces of this movie. But her portrayal of a woman who has been blind since age 11 is sadly lacking; too much fumbling, and acting helpless when it is not called for, and then doing something like quickly sitting in a chair pulled out for her, without brushing her hand over it to place it. This distracts the viewer, making the plotline lose some of its punch. (Maybe my experience with a blind friend is making me too critical).

Briefly, the plot is that a killer is raping, then brutally slashing young college women to death. Our blind heroine, Emmy, is raped in her bedroom at home, then spared when her husband comes home unexpectedly. Yet later in the movie, the dastardly villain unhesitatingly stabs a security guard to death, with two other people less than 20 feet away. Not someone who would be scared away by a wimpy husband's sudden return.

In between, the writers/director manage to load in a bunch of other cliches, like the cops who leak private details about the blind witness to a brutal, uncaring press. And the defense attorney who tries to convince the jury she cooperated with her rapist. Etc. I'm not sure where this movie lost its punch, but after about 15 minutes, I totally lose belief in the blind damsel in distress. The rest of the plot is typical TV Chinese menu, one from each column. When I got tired of watching Courteney trying to act her way through this mess, I simply tried to keep the yawns to less than one a minute.

I thing it was supposed to be a pilot for a series. Thank the Lord, it never happened.

This is definitely a character-driven ensemble show, and you either like the characters, or you don't.

The interactions between the characters are outstandingly well-written, too numerous to mention. Just one example: the complicated, support/fight relationship between Jordan and her father, which rings so true.

My only negative comment is about some of the plotlines, which take contrivance to a new low. Just for an example, **spoiler**, a producer offers to make two assistants in the ME's office stars of their own TV show; a week later, the show is on the air. Even I know it takes a lot more than a week to start a TV show; heck, it takes a community theater group months to set up a one-act play (I speak from experience).

But it's still a damned good show, and the writers have created a believable, enjoyable group of characters. It ain't Ibsen, Thank God, but it's pretty darned good.