Month: May 2018

Released: June 2018

Director: Asif Akbar

Run Time: 104 Minutes

Not Rated

Distributor: Sony Pictures

Genre: Science Fiction/Action

Cast:
Gary Daniels: Jack Adams
Marshal Hilton: Alexander Biggs
Courtney Akbar: Laura Lee Adams
Max Wasa: Vivian
Louis Mandylor: Victor Khol
Michael Pare: Allen Smith
Dominique Swain: Julie Adams

Good science fiction isn’t always about people shooting each other with ray guns or being chased by ugly alien creatures.  It can involve that, but that’s generally not what good science fiction involves.  Good science fiction is more about ideas and exploration of our existence and universe.  Some of the best science fiction films don’t have a lot of action.  2001: A Space Odyssey is a perfect example, because it’s less about action and more about telling a story through visuals and music.  The ideas presented in that film were heavily researched and some of what that film predicted has come to pass.  Some hasn’t, but that’s neither here nor there.  The point is, is that science fiction is less about how we perceive our universe and more about how we see ourselves in the universe.  That being said, I certainly won’t turn down explosions or some serious ass-kicking in a sci-fi movie.  The movie I bring to you today is an upcoming science fiction action film called Astro.

The film’s story begins as a group of mysterious men approach Jack Adams’ ranch.  Allen Smith, the head of the group, asks Jack Adams to join a former comrade, Alexander Biggs, in a mysterious new venture.  After being assaulted by a group of masked men, Jack and his daughter Laura escape to a nearby hotel and call Jack’s brother for help.  Making sure his daughter is safe, Jack decides to take up Alex on his offer and is shown things he never thought possible, including a member of mysterious new humanoid alien from a newly discovered planet.  Realizing that Alex may have ulterior motives other than exploration, Jack must try to find a way to stop Alex and get back to his daughter.  The story is pretty straight-forward and without any real twists and turns.  That’s actually a pretty good thing.  You really don’t need to complicate a science fiction film with bizarre film-making tactics.  Let the story evolve on its own and it will become complex if it needs to.  While I can’t say that I haven’t seen a story like this before, I can say that I can see the passion behind the scenes about the story and the concept behind the story.  I think if the film had a larger budget they could have made something more of the story.  As it is, it’s actually pretty involving and is more about the idea of family than I was expecting.  Well played, movie.  I’m not sure about that ending though, but I’ll talk about that a bit later.

Gary Daniels is no stranger to direct-to-video films.  A lot of his films have gone straight to video, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all that bad.  Some are, but that happens.  While Daniels is clearly looking his age, he has lost none of his step.  The man is an expert martial artist and kick-boxer, so he can definitely handle himself in the action sequences.  Marshal Hilton plays Alexander Biggs, a former soldier that served with Jack Adams in the 90s.  I have to say that Mr. Hilton does a pretty good job at playing a fairly arrogant and self-absorbed billionaire.  Courtney Akbar plays Jack’s daughter Laura, and while she isn’t terrible, I’m pretty certain that anyone could have been cast in the role and it would have been just the same.  Louis Mandylor plays Victor Khol, a mysterious person who has some particular interest in Jack Adams as well as Alex Biggs’ current projects.  I have to say, this is the first time that I’ve seen Spice Williams outside of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.  Spice Williams also choreographed some of the film’s fight sequences.

While the action sequences in the film are decent enough, they aren’t the main focus of the film, which considering its low-budget indie nature, is a huge risk, and one that I feel pays off…..mostly.  A lot of the fights don’t last long, but they do hit pretty hard.  The one fight that I found curiously interesting was the fight scene where Jack is trying to protect the alien.  I can’t say that it’s completely awful, but it’s very bizarre, especially the knife-fight with the big guy.  Thankfully, a lot of the stunts don’t involve wires, which is also unusual in a film like this, so there is an element of realism here.

Now, some of the make-up work in the film is fairly….pedestrian.  Look, I understand that the film is of a low-budget nature and there have to be some sacrifices in certain departments, but I’m sure they could have come up with some better make-up for the alien than what we ended up getting.  Honestly, he looks like a cheap knock-off of the Na’vi from James Cameron’s Avatar.  I’m sure that wasn’t the intent, but that’s how it looks.  The blood effects are pretty convincing though.  Most of the CGI is limited to a few shots of a space-ship and let me tell you….ouch.  The spaceship CGI is on par with some of the early PlayStation video games.  That being said, some of the visual effects definitely work pretty well.  Again, Astro is a low-budget film, so I can forgive a lot of things here.

Astro is clearly an attempt at kick-starting a new science fiction franchise of sorts.  I absolutely admire the audacity and ambition of the filmmakers, but I have to be honest: The way the film ended struck me as pretty clumsy and blatant sequel-baiting.  I don’t like cliffhanger endings in science fiction movies, unless the follow-up film is not far off.  But I’m not entirely certain I see Astro getting a sequel anytime soon.  I guess time will tell and the audience’s reaction will determine that.  Honestly, I hope there is a sequel.  The ideas that are presented in the film are kind of wild and very interesting actually.  I just think they need a little more time to really work on the visual effects and certain story elements.  If they can do that, there’s a possibility that a sequel could outdo this one in every way.  That’s what I’m hoping for at least.  For a low-budget indie sci-fi picture, Astro mostly delivers, but falters in certain areas.  But overall, I would say it’s worth a look.

My Final Recommendation: 7/10.

Official Trailer:

It’s hard to believe:  50 years ago, last month, the world saw the release of Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  This was also my first review on this website, and it seems like yesterday.  I was going to do a post on the genre of science fiction, but seeing as how I nearly spaced(see what I did there?)the fact that this year was the 50th anniversary of A Space Odyssey.  I was not going to let that pass.  Why is that?  Well, there are a number of reasons.  First and foremost, 2001 is one of the most celebrated science fiction movies of the 20th century.  While at the time it got mixed reviews because of its pacing and almost lack of dialogue, there were a lot of folks out there that praised the film for its unique visual style, incredible use of music and sound, and overall presentation.  2001: A Space Odyssey is, by far, one of my favorite movies of all time.  It was one of those movies that I grew up with.

Everything about this film is nearly iconic.  From the opening title sequence with the use of Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra to the final sequence with the Star Child, there are very few moments in this film that don’t stand out.  The first act of the film appears to be about nothing except a group of primates struggling to survive.  Then the black Monolith arrives and essentially kick-starts mankind’s evolution.  There’s very little dialogue in the film, and that was done on purpose.  It’s almost a silent movie.  Instead of using dialogue to the tell the story, Stanley Kubrick opts to use visuals and music to progress the narrative.  A number of people had complained about the film with its plodding narrative and weak characters.  Again, you have to look at what Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke were trying to go for.  This is a story about our evolution:  Where we come from, where we are going, and what we might become in the future.  Story-wise, the film is really brilliant in its approach and is one of the most uniquely structured narratives I’ve ever encountered in science fiction.

From a visual standpoint, 2001 puts almost any other science fiction film to shame with its use of visual effects.  The models and background matte paintings are simply exquisite.  Remember, this film came out in 1968, so we really had no idea what the Earth looked like from space.  The film uses techniques that actually predicted some of the technology that would eventually be invented and used in current space travel.  The models and ship designs are amazing, especially the Discovery One spacecraft.  The Monolith itself is surprisingly simple in design and yet there is something….alien about it.  No answer is given for it, it’s just…there.  Again, this being 1968, nobody had landed on the moon yet, so the idea of a moon-based colony was amazing.  It still is amazing, as there is still no colony, but we have been there.  One of the final sequences of the film has the movie’s protagonist, Dave Bowman take a shuttle and is pulled into some kind of wormhole, which has some of the most psychedelic visuals ever put into a movie, and yet it is one of the most hypnotic sequences of the entire film.

While most movies used elaborate scores written specifically for them, 2001 opted for the use of classical music instead.  The aforementioned Also Sprach Zarathustra opened up the film in one of the most spectacular opening sequences in cinema history.  Then you have Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz used for the shuttle sequence at the beginning of the second act, providing one of the most visually interesting shuttle approaches ever.  It’s not the dialogue that evokes emotion here, it’s the music, and it’s used brilliantly.

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my favorite science fiction films because it is great science fiction.  Great science fiction isn’t always easily accessible or understood in its time.  It kind of requires the audience to sit back and take it all in while thinking about what it is you’re seeing.  Great science fiction provokes discussion as well as stoking the human imagination.  Movies like 2001 give us a glimpse into what could possibly be our future or the next step in our evolution.  2001 has inspired generations of film-makers like George Lucas, James Cameron, Peter Jackson and various other film-makers.  It also inspired people to go into differing fields like engineering and space travel.  The ending of 2001 has also inspired a great deal of controversy and mystery.  It was deliberately left to the audience’s imagination and some people didn’t really like that.  Some people wanted some kind of answer for what was going on, and they didn’t get it.  Up until the day he died, Mr. Kubrick never really gave an answer for why he ended the film the way he did.  I’m glad he didn’t.  It’s sequences like the ending that provoke real discussion and imagination.  I loved that ending.  It was so bizarre and visually distinctive.

2001: A Space Odyssey is not only one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest films, it is one of the medium’s greatest achievements in terms of visual storytelling.  There have been many science fiction pictures that try to imitate 2001, like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but nothing comes close to that epic film that was released 50 years ago.  Great science fiction takes time to be understood, and 2001 has stood the test of time unlike any other film.  It is as relevant today as it was back in 1968.  I dare anybody to try and find a film that can rival 2001 in terms of its majesty and visual brilliance.  No?  Didn’t think so.  So…do I still recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey?  Yes.  Yes, I do.  For the discerning fan of science fiction, 2001 is a landmark film that will live on long after we’re gone.  This is required viewing for any fan of science fiction.

Hello, fellow space cadets.  I find myself in the unusual position of asking for some help.  This is generally not the place for me to do this, because I really don’t like begging for help, but the situation I’m in kind of requires it.  My mother’s house is facing a threat of foreclosure, which means we could lose our home.  If a certain amount of money isn’t met, the house will go into foreclosure and we could end up getting kicked out of our house with no money and nowhere to go.  So, I started a GoFundMe campaign to see if I can try and get some money raised to pay this bill.  Any help that any of you could send our way would be greatly appreciated.  Here’s the link:

https://www.gofundme.com/need-help-with-large-house-payment.

You can donate as much as you want, but I’m trying to reach the goal of $5,000 US dollars hopefully by the end of the month.  So, whatever you can send our way will ensure that I have a roof over my head, so I can continue to bring you folks some quality content.  But I do need your help.  Thank you.

Released: April 2018(USA)

Director: Dominik Starck

Run Time: 87 Minutes

Distributor: Generation X Group Film

Genre: Action/Thriller

Cast:
Everett Ray Aponte: Lucas Kane
Don “The Dragon” Wilson: The Dragon
Erik Hansen: Joseph Kyler
Thomas Linz: Ronald Smith
Dominik Starck: Young Joseph
Carolina Rath: Nina

Really strong thrillers are hard to come by these days.  Why?  Often times, the films are not particularly well-written.  Generally, they also tend to be very predictable and have fairly mundane and straight-forward endings that aren’t really provocative.  The best thrillers can ratchet up the tension and have you on the edge of your seat.  That’s the purpose of an effective thriller.  Low-budget indie thrillers have a much harder time to get noticed because most people tend to go for the movies that hit theaters and not the ones that hit YouTube or VOD(video on demand).  Sometimes, though, you get a movie that comes from another country that can really put the big movies to shame.  While The Hitman Agency doesn’t quite hit the mark, it still manages to get by on its own charms.

The film opens as a possible drug dealer is brought to a fancy mansion somewhere in Eastern Europe.  At the same time, a lone figure shows up and begins to start taking out guards.  Another guy sees this lone figure and decides to take action.  After he takes out his target, the one guy is given another job from a mysterious assassination organization:  Taking out one of the organization’s best assassins.  Little does this guy know that his target may be more than he appears to be.  The story in this film is surprisingly interesting.  Having an actual agency dedicated to assassination is not original,  but how this film approaches something like that is a little different.  You get an idea of the politics and the conniving that goes on behind the scenes of the business of assassination.  Once the character of Joseph Kyler shows up, things get real interesting.

I’ll get to some of the action sequences and acting later on, but one of the issues that I would like to discuss with the film is the inclusion of Don “The Dragon” Wilson.  Now, I’m a huge fan of The Dragon, as he is also one of my first interviews that I did for this site.  My issue is that the marketing and poster seem to imply that he has a larger part in the film than he actually does.  I’m not necessarily opposed to film-makers bringing in some big names to cameo in their films.  This is a bit of a double-edged sword for me.  While I certainly understand that having a name like Don “The Dragon” Wilson can bring attention to your film, I feel that your film needs to work on its own merits without advertising that someone like Don Wilson is in the film.  If it’s a surprise cameo, that’s going to make people go, “Whoa, this guy’s in the film?  Awesome!”  Personally, I think Don’s cameo would have worked much better had it not been announced ahead of time.  But that’s just me.

There is definitely some action in this film, and it’s surprisingly not bad.  Some of these actors happen to have experience in the martial arts and that’s used to a fairly decent degree.  Now, considering the film’s low-budget nature, some of the choreography is not as fluid or as quick as a lot of other films that I’ve seen, but it definitely has a degree of competency about it.  Thankfully, there are no wires or over-use of special effects.  The film is actually fairly well-paced and isn’t boring.

The acting isn’t all that bad, either.  A number of these actors are German, but they do speak English quite well.  There’s no dubbing used, so they’re using their own voices, which makes the film easier to deal with in that regard.  While he’s only in the film for a few minutes, Don Wilson definitely makes the most of it playing himself.  He does get a little bit of action, which is cool, but his cameo is actually pretty funny.  Erik Hansen plays the aging Joseph Kyler, and I have to say, I really like what Mr. Hansen brings to the role.  He gives the character a quiet, dignified, yet menacing quality that makes you wonder what this guy is going to do.  Director Dominik Starck plays the younger Joseph in the flashbacks.  I really like seeing the contrast between the two different versions of the character.  Seeing how the character changes between present day and the flashbacks gives you an idea of who the character used to be, and I like how Mr. Starck a more energetic and straight-forward.  It’s not very often you get to see the backstory of a main character in a film like this, especially for a low-budget film.  I think that’s fantastic.  It gives the film more depth and substance than one usually sees from films like this.  Honestly, more effort was made in character development in this film than I’ve seen in a lot of big-budget theatrical releases.

The Hitman Agency, like any other film, isn’t perfect.  It does suffer from some acting that really isn’t on the ball, and some characters chew the scenery more than they should.  As I said before, some of the choreography is not quite as refined as some other stuff that I’ve seen, but it’s still decent.  On the whole, though, I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad film.  I think some choices in the marketing were kind of odd, but the overall film is pretty good for what it is.  Would I buy this on DVD?  Definitely.  I think if you’re looking for a low-budget thriller that has more brains than your average thriller, The Hitman Agency might very well be worth checking out.

My Final Recommendation: 8/10.  Definitely check this one out.