Norman

Ok I'm happy to write the first review for this movie.

So essentially you have Norman, trapped in the present day trying to travel back to the future of 2085. The reasons he wants to travel back I won't spoil. But every time he has some sort of interaction with the outside world, people and such, he gets headaches and flashes from other times and places.

So I really wanted to like this movie a lot more but the lead actor just isn't good enough, its a mixed performances at best with some underacting and overacting. The most lively performance is the A. I. companion A. N. I. (which isn't a good sign that the A. I. has more personality than the lead) who comes in a third of the way in. Another problem is the stakes don't feel high so we the viewer are not as invested as we could be. The third act fails as well because of the tonal shift, it decides it wants to be a action movie with too many close ups of people shooting and not enough wide shots of the action, and the ending is kind of predictable. There are many shots of tea being poured, switches being turned on, rain on the siding of the house. Its a slow burning movie and has some big ideas but its not very well acted, written, and too slow to recommend. But its not a train wreck or horrible. Its just slow, pretentious and the lead actor/character has no personality for us to get behind or care why stuff is happening. It is competently directed and is a good looking film and I'm happy for the filmmaker being able to get his project realized after 9 years but its a watch and forget kind of movie unfortunately.

It's easy to nitpick a B movie, especially one so limited by its available resources. However, I think the movie as a whole is impressive considering how modest the budget and resources were.

The movie is more of a character drama than a high sci-fi action movie. There is a lot of time spent watching Norman confront his demons and reflect on his invention. This may turn some people off but the cinematography and sound design are impressive enough that I was engaged throughout.

Towards the end we see more of the outside world and although it isn't long lived, the quality of the visual effects and action scenes really shine through here. Everything is polished and well shot in this regard.

It's not perfect, there are scenes where things feel a little too slow, acting is good but has its rough edges, plot could use a bit more direction, and other issues I'm sure others have pointed out.

As an amateur project though, I'm hard pressed to complain. I enjoyed my time watching this movie and I'm happy to see these guys finally get it distributed. The love that has gone into everything really shines!

And all of the sudden, NOTHING HAPPENS!! ON TOP OF HORRIBLE MUSIC!

The concept is decent enough and could have made a great 30 min episode of Black Mirrors or the Outer Limits. I kept waiting for it to get interesting with a plot twist or the action to pick up. But nope... 💤

There's a lack of story here that's crippling. Who knows what's going on after 20 minutes---and you'll be unable to care.