(I had the honor of serving as an extra on this film, but being the kind of guy who watches tons of movies and always finds something to complain about, I figure I'll offer some 'constructive criticism', as my pals Jason and Nick are looking for.) So we've got this short film that was made for $200 and was shot guerrilla-style, mostly in an abandoned building. If that's not a humble beginning I don't know what is. I'll go for a pro-con style review here.
Pros: You wouldn't believe how much of the film is made up of special effects - and even if you do you'd be astounded at how good the effects are. Every gunshot, every explosion, every ship - even some of the guys running around. All this from ONE guy who TAUGHT HIMSELF how to do it. I wanna see ILM pull that off. (I shouldn't say that since Nick's dad works for ILM.) Aided by the special effects, the film has a strong sense of atmosphere. The desolation, the sense of a world slowly choking on the war being waged across it, is highly palpable.
The battle scenes effectively create a sense of disorientation, confusion and chaos without letting them overwhelm the scene. Despite the frantic pace, we are still able to follow what's happening (points for good camera work and editing).
The acting is nothing spectacular, but a war movie - especially such a low-key one - isn't demanding that much from its actors except grim determination and a little anguish.
Con: When IGN reviews episodes of "The Office" they say "'A' Plot" when referring to the main plot of the episode and "'B' Plot" for the numerous subplots (because hey, there's a lot going on). I think that applies here. This film's 'A' plot - a soldier on a journey to save his captured brother - is solid, real "Saving Private Ryan." But then it's got these 'B' plots that just seem extraneous. The package thing is brought up and left hanging. The romance plot - the spontaneous kissing - was disturbing me to watch; out of nowhere, with no real buildup, and just as quickly ended.
This carries over to the dialogue. Much of the film is silent, but what talking there is feels somewhat forced and serves mainly to drive the plot. Again the romance subplot is a negative, not because of phony romantic dialogue (there is none, thankfully), but because it's a brief yet dramatic shift in the film's tone. Just before kissing, the protagonist stubbornly argues his brother is alive over the girl's objections; in the subsequent scene their roles have reversed - now he is in doubt and she is the voice of reassurance.
Ah well, whatever. I'm obviously expecting too much from a movie that did what it could with the resources it had. I'm still very proud of my involvement with it - although I'm hurt my death screams were dubbed...
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