I have watched the film and read all the post for and against this with open eyes... if one thing seems to be a key is that it evokes lots of passion no matter what side of the coin that the viewer stands on... My background is FX so from that point I was blown away... incredible... what I am amazed about is how most don't understand the cost and where did the $30k go... Admittedly I do not know much about fan-based film but what I do know is film (16mm roll-type) is VERY expensive to shoot on... it is not DV and will eat up a budget faster than a jet engine goes through fuel... we aren't talking Walmart film here guys... and post production can also get very expensive... I have been involved in some projects and I can't stress enough how much this costs... and then FX materials (Not talking payment of the artisans, just supplies) Sprinklers, gaffing, permits, CGI, flying actors in (at the very least accommodations)... it goes on and on until the money is quickly gone and this is all before the first take...
OK my impression... Sandy has taken some high profile, extremely popular creatures / heroes and put them in one movie. why? because it sells...people love this THUS Freddie VS Jason... AVP... and others... does it make for great stories...well, no not exactly but the COOL factor is in full effect... we all loved King Kong VS Godzilla and Terminator VS Robocop... when doing this type of movie it is superficial by design... it relies on pure adrenaline to evoke passion from the audience... so the question is WHAT was Sandy trying to do... if this is the movie short he was going for then he hit a ball out of the park.. if it was to re-invent a character then it was a strike-out (to Para-phrase new tights does not a new bat make) I am not as critical over the acting... it is 8 minutes long... average screen time and amount of dialog per character in this short isn't nearly enough to "own" (or dis-own) a character. As far as show casing himself as a director...sure, why not? The use of lighting was effective for setting a mood... there were some very good shots (ok, to be fair there were also some mediocre shots that tried to be edgy, but that comes simply from lack of experience) a director is not a writer, he is presented with a story to be made to the best of his ability... if the story lacks substance then it better take another turn (such as a visual journey...which this does) I felt it was entertaining with a nice polish ... I would consider this a climatic scene in a larger story... sort of a slice and not by any means inclusive... from that point BRAVO!
OK my impression... Sandy has taken some high profile, extremely popular creatures / heroes and put them in one movie. why? because it sells...people love this THUS Freddie VS Jason... AVP... and others... does it make for great stories...well, no not exactly but the COOL factor is in full effect... we all loved King Kong VS Godzilla and Terminator VS Robocop... when doing this type of movie it is superficial by design... it relies on pure adrenaline to evoke passion from the audience... so the question is WHAT was Sandy trying to do... if this is the movie short he was going for then he hit a ball out of the park.. if it was to re-invent a character then it was a strike-out (to Para-phrase new tights does not a new bat make) I am not as critical over the acting... it is 8 minutes long... average screen time and amount of dialog per character in this short isn't nearly enough to "own" (or dis-own) a character. As far as show casing himself as a director...sure, why not? The use of lighting was effective for setting a mood... there were some very good shots (ok, to be fair there were also some mediocre shots that tried to be edgy, but that comes simply from lack of experience) a director is not a writer, he is presented with a story to be made to the best of his ability... if the story lacks substance then it better take another turn (such as a visual journey...which this does) I felt it was entertaining with a nice polish ... I would consider this a climatic scene in a larger story... sort of a slice and not by any means inclusive... from that point BRAVO!