Chimera Strain

Maurice Haemms's debut film is an overall winner in my book. The first time producer-director (and also the writer here) helms this movie confidently and is helped all the way by his talented actors. Both Quinlan and Ian Cusick are no strangers to cinema goers, but to see how an actor shines in low budget indies you can see them both give some of their finest career performances in this film. A note of mention for the exquisite set designs and the gorgeous cinematography. Chimera Strain is a fantastic entry in the thinking man's science fiction sub-genre.

I am just amazed to read the high rates for this film. Yes, I know there are many PR works on movies so that it looks "decent" on the database, but the reviews on this one have looked quite sincere. Yet, I have just watched the movie, and it is not a movie at all!

The plot is so weak, and the annoying children keep talking behind the shots, and there is not one single "rational" character in the movie! Seriously.

Reviews aside, I am really curious about how this movie got so many - probably insignificant - rewards. Okay, low-budget, okay first movie, but every possible thing about the movie is so cheesy.

Chimera Strain by Maurice Haems could have been a great film- It looks amazing and the acting is sublime across the board. Henry Ian Cusick is so bloody good he deserves a nomination somewhere just to get noticed. However, there are some problems- for one the pacing is disjointed and off. Scenes seem rushed and many times a long take scene is immediately followed by a bunch of short ones, which dispenses the flow of the film. The script is good but there is way too much dialogue. Mr. Haems should know that the "show don't tell" rule also applies in a way that one should make the character do things to back their intentions and not just say it. That's for plays. All in all, this is a brave effort and I feel any science fiction lover should see this.

Some good, some not so good, The good: acting, plot, sets, medical sci-fi aspects. The not-so-good: over stylized lighting, confusing plot. Still it was better than the avarage crappy indie movie that comes out of sundance or cannes.

This is just one more "Scientist playing God and failing miserably" story. It doesn't matter that the reasons he fails are morally extinct and that the way he handles crisis is to succumb to apparent psychotic strength, because he is a nice scientist that can't do violence. A cliched and ridiculous promise that doesn't really do justice to scientists (or mad scientists for that matter). No person of science would be intimidated by a psycho boss lady and her uber strengthy hench... person. It took three thirds of the movie to reach an obvious conclusions, only to change things as a superfluous twist that no one needed.

Bottom line: a movie in which all people acted for the money, rather than for the idea of the film, resulting in a boring, cliched, pointless plot and a sub mediocre performance.