Mr. Stitch

All the science in this science fiction tale is of the ludicrously pseudo sort, but it is stylish, well-acted entertainment. Will Wheaton, Rutger Hauer and Ron Perlman all give the excellent performances that one expects of them. Performances by the rest of the cast are more variable -- with some very good and some a bit over the top hammy. In terms of plot, the first half of the movie is quite original and makes the best of its obviously limited budget. Some parts of the second half are more trite and predictable but still stylishly done and ornamented by Will Wheaton's excellent performance. The special effects are minimal, the production design is a striking exercise in minimalism, and the musical score is quite good without being obtrusive. It is no SF classic, but it is both entertaining and thought provoking.

This movie had potential... an interesting premise... a not too bad first half... then, in the middle, it gets really really bad... screaming out for the MST3K treatment... where did those "funny cars" come from? And the skeleton appearing in the smoke of the car explosion... and the daisies in the foreground of the car chase scene... it almost looks as if someone malicious substituted "crank footage" for the last reel in a deliberate attempt to sabotage the movie.

But ultimately, if you are a Wil Wheaton fan, it's not THAT painful to watch. Well, ok, actually it is kind of painful, but it does have some genuinely interesting moments, and some touching scenes. Enough that you just have to feel bad for Mr. Wheaton... this COULD have been a much better film.

How they were able to attain funding to produce this..uh..movie, has to be more of a feat than the production itself.

I'm so glad to see Wil Wheaton didn't leave Star Trek: The Next Generation without such promising projects awaiting him.

Wheaton plays an androgenous, Palamino-skinned Frankenstein's Monster with amnesia, who after reading one of several books, the Bible, names himself Lazarus.

With huge vacant lab rooms, filmed using more lens gauze than Penthouse, an eventual laboratory breakout, and a crazy road trip(by the way, when did he take the 'Mad Max' driving course), 'Stitch' can only leave you asking one question? Ron Perlman had plenty of time post-"Beauty and the Beast", but what was Taylor Negron thinking?

This film is an interesting little experiment: lots of bright white light framing images that linger for the camera, the Frankenstein story updated as an anti-war morality tale. Rutger Hauer chews the scenery a bit as the update of Dr. Frankenstein, and the generic evil general is all cartoon; still, Wil Wheaton as Lazarus, the creation, and Nia Peeples as his sympathetic caretaker/tutor, are worth watching. (Taylor Negron also makes an appearance as a slimy cohort who gets his just reward--his specialty.) Not a big budget affair, but not a complete waste of time, either, if you like quirky sci-fi fantasy.

I kept it on for as long as I could, but after awhile this movie really began to bother me, so finally I turned it off. NOT one of Rutger Hauer's best films, or probably anybody involved best films by a long shot.

It's not like I was expecting a great movie. I admit, it was only the presence of Rutger Hauer and my knowlege of some bad blood on the set that made me want to watch this in the first place. The story, which is somewhat like Frankenstein, is about a young man (Wil Wheaton) who is patched together from various cadevers by an odd reclusive type (Hauer). The young man is horrifying in appearance, but brilliant in knowlege. The old man also possesses a great amount of knowledge, so he knows enough to keep his creation secluded into an odd building where everything is white. I think the white somehow represented a sign of religion, which was pointlessly made to look all bad, and like science was the key. That, along with the fact that Hauer "suddenly having to go away" (and never coming back) quite quickly played major factors in my turning it. I don't care for Wil Wheaton nearly enough to watch him by himself, and what was he supposed to DO for the rest of the movie without Hauer? I did not feel like finding out.

Note: Hauer "suddenly had to go away" because director Roger Avery asked him to leave the set...permanently. It seems that he and much of the cast were at odds with the rest of the crew. (maybe he didn't like the ridiculous view the film took on religion). Editing problems were also supposed to be a problem for this film. Those could be two reasons as to why it turned out so...oddly.