Highly derivative but surprisingly enjoyable space romp based on the succesful video game franchise. Any film that stars both Matthew Lillard (Scream) and Freddie Prinze Jr (She's All That) is already worryingly dependant on a superlative script but sadly that isn't provided so we're basically treated to a film anyone with $30 million could have made with no effort at all.
Lillard is appalling, overacting and gurning to the extreme in every scene and his 'relationship' with a fellow crew member is one of the most embarrasing I've ever seen, clearly having been put in to either lighten the movie or give him a girl to kiss. Either way it's not at all required during the film and if you can't already see what happens then you should check yourself back into school pronto. Prinze Jr is, well, Prinze Jr. Having only one style of acting, looking stupid, strikes me as a little bland and one dimensional and I can't see him having much of a career outside of the worst of the teen dross.
Saffron Burrows, having already come in for a lot of my scornful hatred for her diabolical performance in Deep Blue Sea, does herself no favours again as the ruff & tuff squadron leader. I fail to see how she could make her cliched lines sound any more..... cliched. However, if she was doing this as an attempt to subtly mock the screenwriters then I will gladly apologise and add her to my acting Hall of Fame. I doubt that very much.
So why watch it? Because it's a lot of fun actually. The film thankfully suspends the bonding and emotional sequences, or just fails to do them right, and instead has plenty of good SFX with space battles and dogfights galore. The Earth starfighters are fantastic, designed in the style of WW2 planes, and they look great whizzing around. The capital ships are also nicely designed to look like their 20th century naval counterparts and the film doesn't miss a trick in letting us see them in action. The final battle(s) are excellent and for once in a film like this tactically sound and so, when at first you're shaking your head in disbelief at the films incompetence, you later find yourself just sitting back and watching the pretty explosions. And it has loads of British bit-part actors too so keep an eye out for them. |
