This weekend I watched SciFi channel's Alien Apocalypse (I know, I know, but it had Bruce Campbell in it, cut me some slack!) To put it briefly; it sucked! I thought that at the very least, since they had spent most of their budget getting Bruce Campbell, they would at least let him ramble on or something.
But no, this was not the case.
To begin with, the script was horrible. Well, let me revise that. The script had potential, but it really felt like it was a first draft. The characters had no motivations, there was way too much talking and not enough action. It hit most of the points in the blake snyder beat sheet, but did not do so with any intenstity, which left the film feeling rather plotless and boring. In addition to this, it felt like it was shot using only one take! To make this even worse, I believe all the lines were dubbed in post. Now, this wouldn't normally be that big of a problem, but Bruce Campbell seemed to be the only one who knew how to do this! He is, as he states in his book, If Chins Could Kill, a veteran of this.
Now, while the script was weak and the acting was terrible (aside from Bruce Campbell, of course), I still feel like it could have been an entertaining piece of fluff if there had just been some action and gore! So lesson learned; you can make up for a lot of problems with a horror movie if you just have enough blood. Not that I want to resort to this... but it's still good to know.
The film also seemed like it was trying to be a political commentary, but it was just too heavy handed. As far as I could tell, the theme of the film was that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. But there was just no subtlety.
Now, the sad thing was that this actually might have been funny, if it was re-written, re-cast, and re-shot. William Shatner would have made a great president. Damn, I want to see William Shatner opposite Bruce Campbell. That would be awesome.
Heh. Maybe someday I'll remake it and it will be awesome.
For now?
*****
But no, this was not the case.
To begin with, the script was horrible. Well, let me revise that. The script had potential, but it really felt like it was a first draft. The characters had no motivations, there was way too much talking and not enough action. It hit most of the points in the blake snyder beat sheet, but did not do so with any intenstity, which left the film feeling rather plotless and boring. In addition to this, it felt like it was shot using only one take! To make this even worse, I believe all the lines were dubbed in post. Now, this wouldn't normally be that big of a problem, but Bruce Campbell seemed to be the only one who knew how to do this! He is, as he states in his book, If Chins Could Kill, a veteran of this.
Now, while the script was weak and the acting was terrible (aside from Bruce Campbell, of course), I still feel like it could have been an entertaining piece of fluff if there had just been some action and gore! So lesson learned; you can make up for a lot of problems with a horror movie if you just have enough blood. Not that I want to resort to this... but it's still good to know.
The film also seemed like it was trying to be a political commentary, but it was just too heavy handed. As far as I could tell, the theme of the film was that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. But there was just no subtlety.
Now, the sad thing was that this actually might have been funny, if it was re-written, re-cast, and re-shot. William Shatner would have made a great president. Damn, I want to see William Shatner opposite Bruce Campbell. That would be awesome.
Heh. Maybe someday I'll remake it and it will be awesome.
For now?
*****
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