Nemesis: O Exterminador de Androides

So despite the awful acting, weirdly convoluted plot, oddball accents, and overabundance of running gunfights, this movie is charming and watchable. It takes a bit of lots of other movies, but makes something knock off Cyberpunk and fun. Not a good movie by any means, but not the worst POS on the planet either.

Albert Pyun's stylish direction and excellent use of dilapidated locales make this B-grade sci-fi actioner entertaining throughout (reminiscent of his earlier Van Damme vehicle, "Cyborg"). Although lead actor Olivier Gruner's wooden acting is often unintentionally funny, he has the look, physique, and physical grace to fit the role and to pull off the various kinetic action pieces that highlight the film. An adequate script and competent special effects also help to make this an above average cyborg adventure film.

"Nemesis" is a mixture of incoherent plotting (with rehashed bits from "Robocop" and "Terminator"), brainless action sequences, distracting accents and sarcastic wisecracks spouted by leading man Olivier Gruner, who comes off as a cut-rate version of Van Damme. By all means, it should be a pretty bad film, and maybe it is, but it's nevertheless always watchable and never outright boring. The pacing is continuously fast and the energy level high. (**)

Footnote: If you watch the film, look out for Merle Kennedy who plays Max, the hero's sidekick in the last 20 minutes or so. I loved the athleticism she brings into her small role. What an incredible body! Why hasn't anyone else mentioned her presence??

I had never heard of this movie when I first saw it in the store, but the cover looked cool, and the story sounded neat (well, actually I was more interested in the word "Cyborg" on the cover) so I rented it. I really liked it! Lots of action and CYBORGS!! The plot is a bit confusing, and you never really get a hang of it since they never fully explain it in the movie, but after several viewings I think the plot goes something like this:

LAPD Cop Alex Rain is half-human, half-cyborg (don't expect a mean killing machine àlà RoboCop, though) and he has to stop the Cyborgs before they complete their mission to kill all humans one by one and replace them with Cyborg duplicates. Well, Alex Rain goes to some "low tech, s**t hole called Shang Loo" (quote from the movie) and does a bit of killing and shooting. Well actually he does loads of killing and shooting.

Lots of action, and that's always good. The acting is poor, but Oliver Gruner does a good job as our man, Alex Rain! Poor effects, and a better soundtrack wouldn't hurt. But overall its a pretty good movie! 7 out of 10.

Director Albert Pyun is responsible for some of the most inept movies in the history of cinema. Never mind the action scenes - Even simple dialogue scenes can be mangled and made unbearable with his magic touch. Therefore, it comes as a surprise that "Nemesis" is so eminently watchable. Nice visuals, interesting ideas, evocative cyberpunk mood, good pacing, and a rather shocking grasp of effective action camerawork and editing. I suspect that another director did most of the work on this one, but I've never been able to confirm. All I know is that there are action scenes in here that are genuinely good, to the point where you might think you were seeing the work of a young but talented action stylist. There's even a "shoot through the floor gag" that was ripped off wholesale recently for the Kate Beckinsale vampire/werewolf film, "Underworld".

Of course, keep in my mind that this is a B-film. It's lower budget and the acting isn't that great. But among B-films, it's quite good. As I said, the action is way above average in energy and style. As well, the locations are varied, and it was one of the earliest films to achieve a William-Gibson-esque cyberpunk feel. If that sounds interesting to you, then give Nemesis a rent. BEWARE: Do NOT rent any of the sequels. Pyun regained his usual golden touch for the sequels, producing what may be the most hate-inducing cinema known to man.