jamaisj

The good news is that the acting is pretty good, the SF/X are decent, and the pace is frenetic enough that you don't notice the time you're wasting. Oh, and the soundtrack is nicely funky.

I've always been curious what a movie made of screens and stock footage would look like; now I know. It's sort of interesting, but because it's so random it just doesn't jibe together well. There's also a lot of cell phone and camera footage that just doesn't make sense: The cell phones needed a long third arm to catch what it did and the CCTV footage would require a huge flotilla of drones to work.

Don't get me wrong: The cinematography is top-notch but he's able to call up footage as needed and follow any target. It works given the paranoid set up but it gets really funny really fast.

It also tries for a schmaltzy bookend, with the family coming together by the end of the movie. However, because it's developed so quickly it just feels like icing rather than cake.

Past that, I don't know where to begin: Computers just don't work that way. The systems work virtually instantaneously, with changes implemented as soon as they're clicked on. Viruses are programmed within a few minutes and take effect instantly. Access to a wide variety of systems is instantly denied and then instantly restored by someone outside the system. The miliary is shown to be totally dependent on its computers, until that weakness doesn't work dramatically (ignoring that the military would be able to function without computers in the first place).

There are some redeeming qualities to the movie, but the details trip it up.

I'm watching the Flash Gordon cartoon, and it's hitting all those pulp fiction itches I needed scratched. Throw in the rotoscope and early CGI, and it's a great cartoon. The best part is that the same guy who did Skeletor (Alan Oppenheimer) does Ming (including the throwing back of the head and laughing) so it's even more glorious. I even love it when they reuse animation bits every so often.

There is a notable lack of color, but the women are presented as large and in charge, so that's pretty cool. Overall, the cartoon has aged well, and is all sorts of fun.

The Good News: The cinematography and acting are decent. Too bad you don't see a fantasy movie for the acting.

The plot is boringly xenophobic and the usual anti-authority: The elves and humans don't get along, with the humans holding all of the cards and the elves being exiled to the woods. The sheriff is right from the Stock Evil collection: He's running roughshod over the local population while forcefully taking control of the bakeries and forcing others into the mines.

In other words, nothing you really haven't seen before. Adding to the fun is the usual over-the-top violence.

Then there's the ending, which isn't exactly your feel-good ending, which comes from nowhere. It's nice that the bad guys get punished, but only by making the chasm between elves and humans even deeper. It's the sole surprise in the movie.

All told, there is a surprise ending to the movie, but it's unlikely most people would last past the first twenty minutes. There's a lot of scenery chewing, but it doesn't really add to the movie and most of it has no payoff. You can miss this movie with little worry of missing anything important.