As soon as the credits rolled on this short I headed to IMDb to check if my assumptions about writer/director Marisett were correct; sure enough he works in the area of visual effects and has done so on many large blockbusters of the last few years. My reason for assuming is that this AMP is great in terms of effects. We have a large robot called AMP, who is with his partner Quinn in a militaristic future; the pair return home to the city but a favor for friend Zoey soon exposes them to a threat – a very heavily armed threat.
I have taken a second to describe the plot there, but really I shouldn't have bothered because it is very much incidental in this shot film. There is a mcguffin of some sort of box that triggers all the action, but this is all it is and the plot never goes anywhere because as a whole the film feels like a teaser if it were to become a bigger film or, more likely, a digital cv to show what Marisett can do with his own project. In this regard it will serve him well in his career path in visual effects, because AMP the creation is impressive – looking and moving as good as the effects in District 9 (indeed he looks very similar to some of the things in that film). The problem is that once you go outside the effects there is really nothing to be had. The plot is nothing and offers nothing; the action sequences are OK but feature some obvious shots (ah the ol' "about to shoot hero but gets shot by someone who is revealed when the baddie falls out of frame" shot, how often we meet!). There is a bit of humor in here, but again it revolves around the effect of AMP himself.
The performances are pretty poor to, perhaps understandable when being directed by someone used to working with the created rather than the real. MacCaull has no presence and is really a bit too wooden and stiff – again he isn't helped by playing a generic rugged hero type and asked to do all his acting by staring out sadly over a ruined city (the city looks good though, again a visual effect). Rotaru will stick in your mind but not because of her impression of a poor man's Lara Croft, but more because her chest is forced right into your view as often as possible – I'm not complaining but from her first shot this is the case and it did distract me from the film by just how brazen (and awesome) it was.
AMP is a great little project if you are wanting to see some impressive effects delivered on a very low budget; however it is weak as a short film and while it does give the inspiration of "look what is possible if you have skills" it also serves as a warning to makers of effects-driven shorts that you can create as impressive a robot as you want, but if you have nothing to put around it to engage the viewer then you're doing your own work a disservice.
I have taken a second to describe the plot there, but really I shouldn't have bothered because it is very much incidental in this shot film. There is a mcguffin of some sort of box that triggers all the action, but this is all it is and the plot never goes anywhere because as a whole the film feels like a teaser if it were to become a bigger film or, more likely, a digital cv to show what Marisett can do with his own project. In this regard it will serve him well in his career path in visual effects, because AMP the creation is impressive – looking and moving as good as the effects in District 9 (indeed he looks very similar to some of the things in that film). The problem is that once you go outside the effects there is really nothing to be had. The plot is nothing and offers nothing; the action sequences are OK but feature some obvious shots (ah the ol' "about to shoot hero but gets shot by someone who is revealed when the baddie falls out of frame" shot, how often we meet!). There is a bit of humor in here, but again it revolves around the effect of AMP himself.
The performances are pretty poor to, perhaps understandable when being directed by someone used to working with the created rather than the real. MacCaull has no presence and is really a bit too wooden and stiff – again he isn't helped by playing a generic rugged hero type and asked to do all his acting by staring out sadly over a ruined city (the city looks good though, again a visual effect). Rotaru will stick in your mind but not because of her impression of a poor man's Lara Croft, but more because her chest is forced right into your view as often as possible – I'm not complaining but from her first shot this is the case and it did distract me from the film by just how brazen (and awesome) it was.
AMP is a great little project if you are wanting to see some impressive effects delivered on a very low budget; however it is weak as a short film and while it does give the inspiration of "look what is possible if you have skills" it also serves as a warning to makers of effects-driven shorts that you can create as impressive a robot as you want, but if you have nothing to put around it to engage the viewer then you're doing your own work a disservice.