If "Star Wars" and "Riddick" are your thing, than you may just want to check out this low-budget western-cum-space-epic. Though try not to expect
too much as that will ultimately lead to a major dissapointment.
For starters, the idea is fucking genius. Create a Western but, to mix things up a bit, throw in a futuristic setting. You've got bounty hunters, hired guns, and sleazy politicians along with some nasty characters that show up now and again (noticably an interesting pimp-like character that should have probably stuck around a little longer than he does). Of course, the future gets its due as well, as frequently the background is populated with droids, strange aliens, and flying space crafts (though, again, the effects are sometimes a bit overdone).
The story is simple which is defiantly a plus seeing as there are many characters to follow through this film. A crate of the highly illegal Psylenol (think Tylenol except it gives its users murderous psychic powers) crash lands on a war-torn planet that is currently in the midst of a brutal civil conflcit between rival factions. Of course, each faction wants the drugs, and soon all sorts of mercernaries are called in to help the effort.
At one point you may be following female hired-gun (and psuedo cult follower) Lux Antigone who is not only trying to find the Psylenol, but is also trying to deal with a love-hate relationship with her former sidekick (and possible lover), Shark Sterling. Of course, just thirty seconds later, the story may switch pace to follow around female bounty hunter and gifted con artist, Wendy Stanton. She's joined by her partner in crime, Gorton "Ugly" Hex.
And then there's a whole mess of other characters that kind of just come and go... and then die.
One of the major problems with this movie is its visual effects. Now I realize this is a very independent release, but sometimes the blue screen effects are just
too distracting. At any given time, anybody can go online and hunt down fan films based around the "Star Wars" universe. Frequently, these films will implement the exact same effects that "Planetfall" uses. The only difference is that in these "Star Wars" shorts, the CGI will usually be used very sparingly, whereas in this flick just about every single scene seems like it was filmed in front of a green screen. Sometimes this works well (there's a pretty cool chase scene through a psycho-war torn city block), while other times (I.e.: most of the time), it is just too much.
Fortunately, where the effects falter, the direction really picks up. Director Gianni Mezzanotte (which is, according to imdb.com, actually a psuedo name for writer/producer/editor Michael Heagle) does a good job of keeping things together. The camera movements are done professionally and the action sequences are filmed extremely well. Unfortunately, you do have to wade through a boring script once in a while (the first half hour can be particularly mind numbing, but give it some time).
The acting is all alright, but some of the characters are played a bit too over the top. Others come off as a just silly and annoying (mostly the milatary types). Still, the leads (Heidi Fellner and Leitha Matz) do a good job. Alan Struthers is particularly memorable as the lovable, bumbling idiot "Ugly" Hex.
In the end, this one is a real mixed bag. The story and direction are really good, but the effects are thrown into full overtkill. If you dig television shows like "Stargate" (I do) or you can stomach some of the made-for-TV crap that sometimes wanders onto the Sci-Fi channel (I absolutely can't), you will probably have no problem. But, as you can probably tell, I'm still a bit up in the air.
**1/2 out of ****
For information of this title, check out the website at:
http://www.carschoolfilms.com