Alpha Rift

Alright so I love an independent film centered on gaming, especially one with Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Predator, The Terminator). I also greatly appreciated the acting of Nielsen (Mare of Easttown) and Dalla Villa too. I thought the three of them in particular elevated a rather average script to have some endearing moments. Despite the fact this film seems not to be able to commit to what it should be (a kid's film in the vein of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" would've been the best approach), I can't help but rate it maybe better than it deserves. The acting by the main three deserves that much, and they made me like this one.

Is that knight dude single..? This movie had me hooked. I love the snarky comments throughout it, and there are definitely tons of lovable characters in it. The story revealed twists in a very smooth manner, and even as someone who doesn't usually play fictional games or things of that sort, I found myself drawn to the medieval nature of this story. The director tied in "history" to make the legend real to the characters within the movie. I thought it was very well done.

It plays like a Marvel movie on a budget. The medieval backstory is interesting and the action is really competent. You can tell they didn't have a big Hollywood budget, but the story, characters are solid and I found myself enjoying myself.

It is light hearted, action comedy in the vein of an 80s movie. I could totally see this as a TV series or a couple sequels, mini series, etc.

Lance Henriksen brings gravitas to the movie and the Nolan actors is good.

Ok so I need to say that this film gets about an average rating from me because it has some problems with knowing what it is. I saw another review on here that said "know what you're watching," but like, did the director know what he wanted us to be watching? The acting is solid by the main cast at least, but all depth is only added through the acting. No real depth wouldn't be a problem if all this was was a fast-paced movie written without much character development made for the attention span of children. However, all the excessive language and allusions to sex then strip this film of being that, and I don't know if I'm supposed to want this to be more or less than what it is? If looking for more, any development by the characters, again, it's the actors who shoulder the burden of finding some development in their characters and trying to make it appear where it isn't in the script. I just think this movie could've been more, but because it couldn't decide what it wanted to be, it was just an alright watch. Nothing more, nothing less.

It sure won't win any Oscors, and maybe it's just me, ( ok, trolls, ATTACK ) but I didn't think it was that bad. Watch it as a comedy, backed by a not bad story premise at all. And Lance Henriksen was his usual bad ass self. Give it a chance. That's why I'm giving 5 stars to the movie. It deserves that!