The Final Storm

There's the main plot about "the stranger" and then there's the apocalypse plot. Which basically gets completely forgotten about. Pick one, because they clearly couldn't manage two.

This movie was actually decently interesting, right up until the last 10 minutes or so. In fact, if I hadn't gone in knowing it was an Uwe Boll movie, I wouldn't have had any idea because it was pretty low-key. It was an end of the world type with definite religious overtones, but in the end, it just got WEIRD! I wouldn't say it went off the rails so much as it was going in a certain direction, veered off course, then overcorrected so badly that it drove itself off a cliff! The ending was so completely weird, I can't even explain what happened, other than total insanity! I would have happily given this movie a 6/10 if the ending didn't confuse and annoy me so much that it lost 3 full points. Save yourself the confusion and just watch the Left Behind movies, at least they follow the same plot from start to finish!

This movie was sort of a deviance from Uwe Bolls usual action-packed movies. Now, I am not saying that this is a bad movie. It just was building up suspense for something grand, but it never delivered.

The movie in itself is fairly average, there are some nice scenes, and a constant underlying sense of dread throughout the movie. But somehow the movie never really reaches a climax. It never peaks, and just then it is all over.

The story was sort of nice, and had sort of a semi-supernatural thing going on, but then suddenly turned in another direction. And then you just sat there and wondered why. That really didn't work all that well for the storyline.

As for the cast and their acting. Well nothing wrong here. Lots of nice actors and actresses, and they all put on good performances. The cast really bore the movie, and kept it afloat.

Now, I am not one to bad-mouth Uwe Boll's movies, and I like his previous work. I just think this one didn't quite make it up to there. But still, it is not a bad movie. Quite adequate for a thriller.

There are many better thrillers out there, but give this one a chance. You might actually just like it.

I gave this film an extra star because the camera didn't go rolling down a hill unexpectedly, there's a minimum of shaky cam work (too expensive for Boll?), and you can hear what everyone is saying. As far as plot, story, or acting, I'd give it one star (the IMDb minimum).

I won't even try to explain the story. You would just laugh.

As far as other issues of interest...er...hm...well, there are none. As usual, Boll manages to sneak in just one short scene to justify an "R" rating. (It's a bit of Lauren Holly in bed, but it's completely irrelevant to the story. Fortunately, Boll gets it out of the way in the first five minutes. You can go on watching the rest of the movie with confidence that you won't see anything nearly as exciting again.)

As we're all tired of pointing out, there are fresh new directors out there who could use a little money to get a start on films with imagination. It's a sin and a shame that Boll still gets backers for turkeys like this.

Not recommended.

There's no real point in discussing the movie, if that's what it is. Just because you see moving images when you press play doesn't mean it's a film. There's money here, you can tell, which makes it even worse. So many daring, imaginative filmmakers out there would love to have had this budget. But no, Boll is given yet another project to insult moviegoers. When Boll makes personal appearances he does get crowds, people just love to have their photo taken with him and get his autograph. I'm personally offended by this practice in that it only encourages him. Truly bad movie making should not be praised or encouraged. There are bad films out there that are fun, we appreciate the effort, especially if the filmmaker was sincere but fell short. But this is just another example of a man's insistence on his talent, confident in his abilities, arrogant in the face of audience reaction, time after time. I see in the trivia he blames the script. OK. This mess should come with a manual and some sort of medication. Boll is making Zombie Massacre due out in 2010. May God Have Mercy On Our Souls

If you must see this movie, do yourself a favor and wait until it's in the bargain bin at the video store. If there's any justice in the film industry, one of the main actors will be there to rent it to you.