Ed's Review Dot Com

Bold Films, Film Afrika Worldwide,

Stephen Dorff, Svetlana Metkina, Maisie Williams, Peter Stormare

Paul (Stephen Dorff) is a research scientist. He’s about to leave on a trip to Africa, but his ex-wife calls to let him know his teenage daughter has been acting out, and needs some attention from her father. But Paul is taking his new girlfriend along to make it a vacation for her. So the daughter comes along, but their relationship is very strained. But when Paul is suddenly killed, the only means of survival for the two of them is to work together, and try to walk out of the African desert together.

Many people did not like this film very much. I’m not sure why, because for me it was a suspenseful survival thriller. The thought of being stranded in the desert with the intense heat, wild animals and lack of water and supplies is horrifying. The acting is very good, and the locations are stunningly barren. With a great deal of suspense and danger keeping us on the edge of our seat, this was an exciting film to watch. It does start out slowly, and it appears to be an “absent father, bratty kid” melodrama, but it quickly gets going and turns into an exciting and suspenseful adventure. After the first 30 minutes or so, the movie moves along quickly. The characters are believable, and the story is well told. The bad guys are really bad. I enjoyed this a good deal and recommend it as a nice action adventure.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Davis Entertainment, Adam Schroeder Productions, Film Afrika Worldwide,

Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell, Ashley Hinshaw, Anna Wood, Joe Vaz, Matthew Dylan Roberts

Three high school friends attend a party, but are startled by something that fell out of the sky. Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) is the strange somewhat dark of the friends and is filming everything in his day to day life, so he brings the camera into the woods where they find a deep dark hole. After the guys climb down to investigate a strange light, the find that they are developing super powers and able to do things with their mind. As they learn more and more of how to use their powers, Andrew gets more disturbed. Will their powers unite them for good or destroy them all completely. The friends soon learn that power has it consequences.

This is a very strange film, but I have to admit it was much better to me than Clockstoppers was. On the other hand, I can see how it was a bit of a disappointment in the box office department. That’s because it is anything but mainstream. Mostly this is a fable, trying to look at the character and problems of the characters. The special effects are fine, the laws of physics are freely broken, and there is some relatively poor acting among the gems, but the moral of the story is good, and you can really get into the minds of the characters. How did the former lives of the three friends determine what would happen to them? How did their experiences in life foreshadow how they are able to handle ultimate power. What could have been done to prevent the sorrowful outcomes? These are all questions you will ask yourself as you go through the film. The ending is kind of epic, but we won’t give that away, but it will stand up to a lot of really big films. So I don’t have a bad feeling about this film. I really enjoyed it. The science fiction is fun, if not really sensible, and they don’t go out of the way to theorize on how it happened, or who did it, or why. They just let you know that it happened and we have to deal with it.

Essentially, there is a lot more to this film than either a super hero movie (it’s not), or a teen angst, coming of age film (It’s more this than that). I suggest you give it a try if you’re looking for a deeper look at what teenagers go through in growing up with real problems at home, trying to deal with it, and growing deeper and deeper in depression. The science fiction takes second place in the story, but it impressive. And beware of reviews and summaries that call this a “found footage” film. It is nothing of the sort. I think this film has enough going for it to make it a movie you don’t want to miss, especially now that it’s on DVD.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog