Le Jour de l'apocalypse

Accidentally watched this instead of worlds end, took a while to realize but carried on cos it was kinda fun. It's a bit generic and predictable, but that didn't stop it being entertaining.

END OF THE WORLD is your usual bog-standard SyFy Channel disaster movie that perhaps feels even more generic than all the others put together. It's directed by the prolific Steven R. Monroe and written by Jason Bourque, who also directed his fair share of other numerous similar low-budget disaster movies.

The one thing END OF THE WORLD does differently is to self-reference other movies in the genre, sometimes from the same studio and sometimes better-known efforts. Brad Dourif plays the crazy old-timer who might just have the knowledge to tackle what's going on, and there's a rather ingenious clip from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST utilised at one point, which was rather neatly done.

Otherwise it's business as usual, with a bunch of stock characters, failing actors, and unfunny humour. The CGI effects of the solar flare attacks are as non-impressive as ever, and the various disaster scenes lack the kind of oomph you'd expect. It turns out that the END OF THE WORLD finishes with a fizzle rather than a bang.

Pretty average for a sci-fi channel movie, though the humor level is a little higher, and the presence of Brad Dourif, Neil Grayston (Fargo from "Eureka") and Greg Grunberg (from "Heroes", who rises far above the material) makes it much more watchable.

The earth is being bombarded by plasma balls, which fry people and stuff, but that's only the beginning. A far greater threat will destroy the earth unless our intrepid geeky movie line-quoting video store clerks can save the day (oddly, the most unbelievable part of the movie is that there's still an open video store in existence). The special effects are not bad, and the acting, apart from a few really noticeable Canadian accents, isn't bad either.

Until End of the World, The Lost Future held that distinction, so there was proof that SyFy could make a good movie. Unfortunately, those good movies are too few, there are a handful of tolerable if not great ones but most of them are just awful to bottom of the barrel. End of the World is not one of the best movies I've ever seen, but I wasn't expecting that. I was hoping that once in a while SyFy would make something that was entertaining instead of being ineptly done in all areas. And I got that. The production values are so much more polished than what we usually see. I have seen one too many of their movies that look as though they were edited on bacon slicers completed with half-finished special effects. That was not the case with End of the World. The scenery fits with the tone of the movie very well and it is competently shot and directed. And of the special effects of any SyFy movie, End of the World's are by far and large the best. Watching the gore is like watching something like Spartacus, and for me it was not excessively used or too in-your-face. And this is one of those rare occurrences where we actually see a real explosion, mostly it is a cheaply rendered computer effect with SyFy, but not here and it is thrilling.

The scoring isn't much of a problem either, it doesn't come across as sluggish or generic. End of the World is one of the better written SyFy films too, whether it said anything telling or new or not doesn't matter when you're having fun rather than rolling your eyes in contempt. Instead of cheesy and awkward, the script was witty with some refreshing inside humour, and delivered strongly. Whereas many SyFy movies had the script as a major weak point, here it was what made End of the World fun to watch. The story admittedly is standard and one that we have seen the basic concept before, there are moments that are unbelievable(like with a video store still existing after all that had happened) and admittedly it did feel at times that it was more an excuse to string its many homages together. But for once it didn't feel predictable, it was zippily paced, didn't take itself too seriously despite the seriousness of the situation and the references/homages to movies- by admission having varying degrees of subtlety- and to Grunberg's Heroes character made for a standard concept made fresh. Subtlety may not have always been a strong suit, but I could not deny that these references were cleverly used and moved the story forward on the most part instead of bogging the film down.

End of the World's characters are not much different from the usual ones we see in a SyFy movie as we do see many of the SyFy disaster movie clichés. The difference is that there is an attempt to make them likable and we do care for their situation. The drama resonates with you without being cloying, there is some decent suspense amid the referencing and the scientific elements are thrilling(I never did worry too much about whether the science was poorly researched or not, there have been far more blatant instances around). End of the World is almost certainly the best acted SyFy movie, which is saying a lot. Not just that the performances are great, but they do make the dialogue believable at least and there is definite chemistry between them. Brad Dourif's screen time is not large, but he makes the most of it and is very enjoyable to watch. Caroline Cave is also good and sympathetic without feeling like a bookend and not much else. Neil Grayston was a pleasure to see on screen again, and he is very endearing and actually looks as though he cares about the situation his character is in. But Greg Grunberg does the best work here, one of few actors in a SyFy that blends comedy and drama perfectly and with a magnetic presence to boot.

All in all, a surprisingly good movie and the best SyFy film- The Lost Future will have to contend with a close second as of now- by a mile. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Owen Stokes (Greg Grunberg) owns a video store. Suddenly, the world is bombarded by balls of electromagnetic energy. The boys are prepared for every movie apocalypse contingent. Owen's girlfriend Selena arrives with douche Max. Owen and his employee Steve Palmer go to get Steve's mother. The group tries to find Dr. Walter Brown (Brad Dourif) who is locked up in a mental institution. He just might be the only one who can save the world.

It starts with a functional idea. The special effects are mostly low budget sci-fi TV level. Most of the humor don't work. The jokes are mostly half-hearted movie references. It's Armageddon with no budget and not as funny. It's functional for the first half but it wears out its welcome. It would work better if the movie kept it small but it insists on going full Armageddon.