The Posthuman Project

We popped in the Blu-Ray and the menu came up as expected. What wasn't expected was the amount of work that went into the menu alone, and this surprise set the tone for what we'd soon discover was true of the entire movie! If I only had one word to sum up this film, it would have to be this: impressive. It delivered an entertaining and engaging story with a fairly high production quality for a tiny fraction of the budget of a mainstream production.

There are some really funny moments of writing in this film. When Gwen says, "Us in charge of the world. What could possibly go wrong?" and then we cut to Denny's teacher writing "Mutually Assured Destruction" on the chalkboard. Tasty. Or when the assassin spits out "Shoot an unarmed man? You don't have the..." (nut shot) "Balls!" I laughed out loud. Or when Archie tries to disappear but belches instead. Too cute. I appreciated the silly moments like these in a film that doesn't take itself too seriously.

As for the film's other accomplishments, here is a modest list: the opening credits, chapter titles and transitions, and the special effects were each masterfully executed, and indistinguishable from those of any mainstream blockbuster hit (though the green screen scenes in the car were fairly obvious). The soundtrack was a pleasant surprise, and the car scene with everyone singing along was just too precious and reminded me of that classic "Tiny Dancer" singalong on the tour bus from Almost Famous. The filming locations were varied and interesting--abandoned fairgrounds? Yes, please. The choreographed fighting and accompanying sound effects were fairly convincing to me. The cinematography was reminiscent of J.J. Abrams with his stunning use of light. One of my favorite moments on film was a gorgeous, slow-motion flashback to a bygone Halloween that sucked me right in with a full dose of nostalgia. It melted me.

There is one major fault of the film that can't be directly attributed to the low budget: with the exception of the main star, some of the performances from each of the actors felt forced from time to time. Naturally, that pulled us out of the story. I'm not in the industry, so I may be wrong, but I don't think this can be attributed to budget because the rest of their performances would suggest these were fully capable actors. With an extra take or two, I think the poorly-delivered lines could have been re-shot (though I'm sure that would probably have its own costs). In my opinion, the relatively high production quality and the original premise and creative script were enough to overlook those occasional insincerely-delivered lines and missed opportunities for directorial intervention.

Normally I am willing to extend a little lenience to low budget and DIY made movies but this was hard to watch. Additionally I tend to have a soft spot for sci fi films, which typically require a little more suspension of disbelief. But there are no redeeming qualities here. The dialogue varies from awkward to cringe inducing and the acting is somehow even worse. It's difficult to single out any of the actors as the worst as none ever come close to believable and most boarder on laughable. Admittedly the script and direction seem equally to blame and at best verge on a rip off of other sci movies, most notably "Chronicle." However the comparison is almost unfair as the FX here are cheap and add an element of unintentional comedy. The soundtrack and music are all over the place and mostly ill fitting. The driving scenes are absolutely hilarious and recall the same level of authenticity of 90's sitcoms.

Ultimately even as this looks like it was shot and made by a local group of kids- film making has become so easy and accessible this is no longer a valid excuse. Not only would I advise against watching this, even with a Hollywood budget I think the results would be the same. And such, everyone involved should avoid film making altogether.

I personally know one of the actors in this movie. I am not saying his name because of this, and I don't want him to come after me. LOL I would have expected better of him. I feel that he is a better stage actor, than he is a screen actor.

In my humble opinion, they should have gotten someone else for the part of Uncle Billy. I felt that the guy I know was not best suited for it. It was really corny when the dad breaks out of his imprisonment, and says, "Where is my brother?" He should have said to his sons, "Are you guys OK?" THEN, "Where is my brother?" It was just not very well written. I realize it is not a realistic movie, but they could have done a better job with it. It was also a $60K budget, so there is that.

This is a movie where you quickly start thinking, "I hope this is a movie where everyone dies." It's just that bad... But based upon the viewer ratings it seems the cast and their immediate families were all very impressed. The acting is unbelievable on the worst level, but everything in this movie is equally stupid across the board. Nothing feels organic or real in this movie. The characters and situations are not quite as fake as something like Birdemic, but it is close. I tend to find that once a movie sinks below a certain threshold of natural delivery or organic characterization, I start to wish everyone would just inexplicably die under horrific circumstances, just to redeem itself for the effort given of trying to watch it.

Firstly, that guy above me who wrote one review for IMDb - for this movie - and gave it a 10 - that guy just about admits to being on the crew of the film.

This is a fairly bad movie and most definitely not worth the time to view. The acting is that of a poor high school drama club, the "special effects" essentially consist of occasional blue glowing eyes and the direction is virtually non-existent.

The plot line nothing you haven't seen before, exposure to radiation gives teenagers mutant super-powers. Right.

The movie openly adopts a graphic novel approach with occasional cuts to an comic book overlay of the current scene. Nice but I'm pretty sure we've seen that before too.

We live in an age where almost anyone can make a film because the tools to do so are so easily accessibly. This film once again proves that not everyone should.