Prémonitions

A low rent Canadian TV movie that explores the idea of psychic premonitions in much the same way as the likes of THE DEAD ZONE et al. This one brings nothing new to the concept, instead happy to retread old ground in its telling of a man who dies in a car accident, only to be brought back to life with a special talent for foreseeing the future.

Casper Van Dien has always been a likable hero, an actor who I've enjoyed seeing since STARSHIP TROOPERS. He's certainly no great shakes as an actor but he has charisma at least, which counts for something. He's the best thing about this otherwise shoddy film, putting plenty of effort into his leading role and handling himself well in the action stakes.

Sadly, PREMONITION as a whole is spoilt by a script which copies disaster scenarios from other movies - an earthquake, a train crash which virtually reprises the one in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE - and doesn't have much in the way of originality to it. In addition, the CGI effects of trains, helicopters, and the like are very poor indeed. It's not a terrible film, just a generally lacklustre one.

I do not know where to start. Firstly the acting was really wooden n cheesy n pretty much dire.

The special effects were totally abysmal n the shaky cameras on rare action scenes were so off putting.

The plot was n has been done so many times n far more superior than this movie.

There was no suspense even tho there was a great effort to try n produce some. There were no tense moments at all.

The ending was hugely predictable.

I'm afraid I cannot recommend this movie n I gave 3 stars for effort.

Certainly, films like Premonition deserve to be panned for their gaping plot holes (often caused by shabby or rushed editing), cheap special effects, and questionable acting by unseasoned players. It's important to remember that such films are deliberately targeted at the less-than-critical juvenile market.

However, these failings can be explained by the fact that many U. S. producers cannot resist the temptation to cut corners and save significant expenses by filming in Canada, due to the favourable dollar exchange rate and tax credits.

As for the actors and crew, they are, if nothing else, glad to be working and every film they're involved in obviously adds to their resumés with the prospect that producers will notice them and hopefully hire them for superior quality films later on.

Plenty of famous actors began their careers as minor bit-characters in television episodes and cheesy, forgettable films, some of which subsequently became cult classics. No one forces them to participate and if such films end up being blasted by critics, well, that's just part of the business. They receive a paycheck regardless. Many actors would rather accept a minor role in a low-budget film than wait tables or sell vacuum cleaners door-to-door and can you blame them?

Furthermore, filming in Canada allows both American and overseas viewers a chance to see different locations other than the usual, overly-familiar U. S. cities and landscapes they've seen countless times before, while giving sharp-eyed Canadian viewers the opportunity to spot familiar giveaways (shown deliberately or otherwise) which clearly prove (despite the overly conspicuous placement of U. S. flags) that the screenplays are not shot south of the border. Watch carefully for those red mailboxes glimpsed in the background, railway identifiers, vehicle license plates, landmarks, and, of course, the additional, supportive role casting of Canadian actors such as Michael Ironside, Helen Shaver, etc.

Read the end-credits all the way to the bottom for extra clues.

Tough ex-GI cop Jack Barnes (Casper van Dien) survives a momentarily fatal accident that miraculously endows him with the eerie power of second sight! Det. Barnes disorientatingly experiences distressingly violent visions, and becomes strongly compelled to try and alter the dark fates of those victims he 'sees' in his frenzied premonitions. This conspicuously Dead Zone'd DTV action/thriller with studly Psi-cop Casper Van Dien is a mostly enjoyable jaunt into the supernatural. Switch off your noggin, switch on the kettle and revel in the chiselled, immaculately bestubbled, enormously attractive hero's earnest attempts to save the city from impending disaster!!!! Granted, we've seen it all before, but that only proves we're all just a little psychic, man!!!!!! Not the most invigorating text, but the director credibly keeps things peppy, and buff B-Movie Adonis Casper is one of the more affable action dudes! The CGI effects are not always convincing, but the film's big bad baddie shoes are capably filled by energetic character actor David Palffy.

Well, the 2005 movie "Premonition" from writer Will Stewart and director Jonas Quastel is built upon a concept that is over-used in Hollywood movie history, and sadly then "Premonition" didn't really manage to cash in on the concept in a very fulfilling or entertaining manner.

The storyline told in "Premonition", as written by Will Stewart was just too mundane, too stereotypical and predictable. And that left nothing up for the audience to get thrilled about. Sure, the movie was adequately enough paced, but the lack of ups and down, or curves for that matter, along the ride made for a rather monotonous movie experience.

The characters in the movie were adequate, albeit somewhat generic, thanks to the writing. And again, the character concepts were things that had been seen before, so there was nothing grand to be experienced here. And that sort of put a dampening restriction upon the cast of actors and actresses.

The special effects in "Premonition", however, were bad. They were laughably bad, and they looked like something that was discarded from a 1990s computer game. It was just atrocious to look at, and such bad special effects just hinders a movie in its progress.

Sure, "Premonition" was watchable, but it was hardly a memorable experience, and ultimately it was a less than mediocre movie as a whole. My rating of director Jonas Quastel's 2005 movie lands on a four out of ten stars.