Monolith - Impatto mortale

Another good idea poorly executed with pot holes in the story line, improbable action and one dimensional characters. Thoughtful Lindsay Frost (Hutch as a woman) and hard case Bill Paxton (Starsky as a man) stumble onto a zany murder (pretty, vulnerable and distraught, young Russian scientist tries to run down and then succeeds in discharging a firearm into a little boy). Evil Fed agent John Hurt takes custody of the murderer from police Captain Lou Gossett. Shortly thereafter, havoc ensues as discreet portions of Los Angeles are terrorized by the evil of the Monolith (the term is not used in the film so one assumes that Monolith refers to the evil or its source). Starsky & Hutch pursue the invincible evil being--continuing to shoot at it even though they discover early on that it is invulnerable (but everyone in the movie seems to shoot at it as well--to no avail). John Hurt is 100% bad--including his acting. Bill Paxton has greasy dark hair. Lindsay Frost has really skinny jeans for a cop. Lou Gossett and the Squad Room could be recycled into another movie--any other movie. Perhaps this was originally made for TV and commercial breaks were integral to the plot.

A couple of lively, prototypically querulous L. A. Cops, Tucker (Bill Paxton) and Terri (Lindsay Frost) fatefully discover the terrifying truth behind the sinisterly shapeshifting exploits of an alien in this enjoyably noisome 90s Sci-actioner. This neglected time killer has a golden cast, slam bang action, goofball buddy Cop badinage, mild weirdosity, healthy schlock elements and a thunderous climax, giving Monolith some viable B-movie heft. I can appreciate why some disparage Monolith, and, hopefully, they might also do me the same courtesy and regard my earnest enjoyment with comparable equanimity. You say Tomato, I say Clamato, what cooks your goose don't do much for your Gander etc. Etc. Etc. Patently Low brow, not quite monobrow, Monolith is less compelling than The Hidden, yet the cosy familiarity of the Twilight Zoned text kept me tuned in. Hey!!! No one in full command of their mental faculties will ever claim this specific Monolith is responsible for the evolution of man, but I'm more of a devolutionist, anyhoo!!!

I tend to cut SF more slack than other genres, simply because there is so much more setup work to be done in establishing a believable reality in which the story takes place. It is also my favorite genre. That said, this movie was one of the worst I've seen (I've seen a lot and own over 1000), which was very surprising considering the star power among the cast. Every, and I mean every, scene was stereotypical of some previous movie (cop buddy, action, etc.) done countless times before. And these worn out scenes strung together do not a plot make.

I kept dully pawing the remote in a futile search for some way to lower the frickin movie music volume somehow. It was just relentless! The "smoky sax", the "distorted guitar", the "ominous strings", etc. Someone got their hands on the latest 1993 synth and was wearing it out - and me too. It was often louder than the dialog, telegraphing the "mood" of every boring scene, removing even the possibility of anything unexpected happening in this dog.

An what's up with the name of the movie "Monolith"? I was expecting some large structure ala 2001 to appear at some point. No one even mentioned the word. I don't get it.

I'd rather watch the space saga Albert Brooks was editing in "Modern Romance".

Very likely John Eyres' most ambitious movie to date. A sci-fi/action/horror/thriller hybrid populated with good folks like Bill Paxton, John Hurt, Louis Gosset Jr., gorgeous B-vamp Musetta Vander and Lindsay Frost (who somewhat comes across as the wisecracking tough blonde acting equivalent of Yancy Butler). A secret government agency has been fooling around with an alien entity. Of course, the thing gets loose and starts to run amok in the city. Well, "running" isn't exactly the right word, since it's more like some form of alien energy that possesses the bodies of humans (that eventually do all the running). It's up to Paxton, Frost & Gosset to figure out what is loose in their city and try to stop it. The plot kind of looses itself along the way, not really knowing where to aim things and eventually not bothering to explain itself anymore. The film ends ridiculously, but before that we do get to see some nifty alien set designs. The SFX are pretty decent at times. For fans of Jack Sholder's "The Hidden" (1987), this might be another amusing watch (though Sholder's film is much tighter & better).

Detectives Tucker (Bill Paxton) and Flynn (Lindsay Frost) individually stumble upon an out-of-this-world case when they both spot a deranged woman chasing down a young boy with her car and then shooting him dead. Things get messy when the Department of Historical Research boss Villano (John Hurt) shows up and takes the woman away (according to the screenplay, he has a higher security rating than the President) from police chief Mac (Lou Gossett, Jr.). Naturally, two curious and rule breaking detectives won't be having any of this and begin to investigate. But the bigger question is will these two cantankerous cops get along?

Folks seem to peg this as an X-FILES ripoff, but that is hard to swallow because it was filming before that show debuted. It is more LETHAL WEAPON with aliens. Director John Eyres and screenwriter Stephen Lister had some marginal direct-to-video success with PROJECT: SHADOWCHASER so Shapiro-Glickenhaus maybe wanted a piece of that. It is nice seeing Paxton getting a film to carry on his own at this time (he previous did with THE VAGRANT), but the budget just isn't there for this one. Introvision handled the FX and some of them are really rough. It is a shame because I could totally get behind a "LETHAL WEAPON with aliens" film (well, I guess I have THE HIDDEN, which this closely resembles). John Hurt appears to have only done a day or two on this as his scenes in the last half have him isolated in shots (even including his major role in the finale).