0
out of
2
people found the following review helpful:
A truly painful experience
Overall Recommendation:
1 stars
Premise:
2 stars
Story structure:
3 stars
Character:
3 stars
Dialogue:
4 stars
Emotion:
2 stars
February 03, 2012
This is the first of these "test movies" I have watched, and that may have colored my perception somewhat.
***SPOILER ALERT***
The character of the professor/former Israeli army officer was intriguing, and I did think that casting Claudia Black in the role was very good. However, I would like to see her character fleshed out even more. It wasn't too hard to figure out that she is most likely Jewish, and yet I didn't see nearly enough attention given to how that entered into her motivations.
After spending a good part of the movie dealing with our main characters unraveling the mystery at the heart of the movie, it seemed like comparatively little time was actually devoted to overthrowing our villains. The confrontation between our hero and his former commanding officer, in particular, is something that could be stretched out with quite good effect. It would be nice if there were more than one actual fight scene.
Now, to my biggest problem with this movie. The comic book/storyboard-type animation was very difficult to watch, and poorly done (in my opinion). After a short time, I actually gave up watching the movie and focused instead on listening to it. If this was made into a live-action movie, then it might have more promise. But instead we see cut-out characters being repositioned around a static background without any apparent actual bodily movement. And then, in other scenes we see (for example) arms moving in a circular motion (sort of) while a character is swimming. To be more consistent, I would think it better to have the image of a swimmer carried across the background as is.
A live-action movie with this general story line would be much better if it were longer than 87 minutes. Relationships and action definitely need to be fleshed out. If so, this might make for an amusing flick to watch on cable or DVD, while I was doing something else. But pay today's movie prices to see it? Sorry, but no.
***SPOILER ALERT***
The character of the professor/former Israeli army officer was intriguing, and I did think that casting Claudia Black in the role was very good. However, I would like to see her character fleshed out even more. It wasn't too hard to figure out that she is most likely Jewish, and yet I didn't see nearly enough attention given to how that entered into her motivations.
After spending a good part of the movie dealing with our main characters unraveling the mystery at the heart of the movie, it seemed like comparatively little time was actually devoted to overthrowing our villains. The confrontation between our hero and his former commanding officer, in particular, is something that could be stretched out with quite good effect. It would be nice if there were more than one actual fight scene.
Now, to my biggest problem with this movie. The comic book/storyboard-type animation was very difficult to watch, and poorly done (in my opinion). After a short time, I actually gave up watching the movie and focused instead on listening to it. If this was made into a live-action movie, then it might have more promise. But instead we see cut-out characters being repositioned around a static background without any apparent actual bodily movement. And then, in other scenes we see (for example) arms moving in a circular motion (sort of) while a character is swimming. To be more consistent, I would think it better to have the image of a swimmer carried across the background as is.
A live-action movie with this general story line would be much better if it were longer than 87 minutes. Relationships and action definitely need to be fleshed out. If so, this might make for an amusing flick to watch on cable or DVD, while I was doing something else. But pay today's movie prices to see it? Sorry, but no.