Riddles of the Sphinx (2008) (TV)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

George Mendeluk

Writers:

Brook Durham (writer)
Jacob Eskander (writer)

Release Date:

27 September 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

An astronomer and a cryptographer uncover a series of ancient tunnels, unwittingly unleashing a deadly Sphinx...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Cast

Dina Meyer	...	Jessica
Lochlyn Munro	...	Robert Parr
Mackenzie Gray	...	Ryder
Donnelly Rhodes	...	Thomas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caity Babcock	...	Girl with note.
Donovan Cerminara	...	Cpl. Evans
John J. Gulayets	...	Student
Emily Tennant	...	Karen Parr
Ian Thompson	...	Bus driver

Runtime:

USA:89 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Insight Film Studios

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): One of the characters referred to Harry Truman dropping two H-bombs. He ordered the dropping of two A-bombs (fission, not fusion) on Japan towards the end of WWII.

A Unique Take on History

Factual concerns have little to do with this melodramatic fantasy. Forget the notion that you will learn anything about the Great Sphinx of Giza, mythology, or, for that matter, cogent story design in the art of cinema.

But you may enjoy seeing a strong cast working on green screen sets, trusting that the budget will be there to put them in a realistic and menacing setting. That trust was seriously misplaced.

I give it six stars because it crosses into the dreaded -- or prized -- "Plan 9" territory. Some will say this movie is a mess and a disaster. Others will say it's so bad it's actually fun to watch.

Filmmakers in this genre walk a fine line when they try to depict a fantastic scenario without losing the audience's suspension of disbelief. Here, the disbelief is unsuspended fairly early in Act One when the protagonist blows up his own house in order to kill a deadly mythical creature pursuing him. I was wishing I could be there when he gets around to explaining to the insurance adjusters what had happened.

The hero, Robert, is a high school teacher and language expert who transforms into an Indiana Jones clone as he and his allies jet from one ancient history site to another in search of clues to -- what else? -- the key to save humanity from a Biblical plague. Wait. Make that a pre-Biblical plague.

He does so with the help of Karen, his plucky teenage daughter, who has some kind of super-analytical skills that aren't really explained, and Jessica, a plucky operative of a super-secret paramilitary organization that labors outside of international law but somehow has the support of academics worldwide and seems to be intent on fighting the forces of evil. The fact that Jessica is a beautiful brunette who took her fashion sense from Catwoman gives this movie at least one leg up on similar Sci-Fi Channel fare.

My ultimate wish was that this was made as a comedy. That certainly must have been the conclusion of the closed-caption editors, who obviously had great fun. Several times every scene, when the pulsating soundtrack was turned up to explain motivation, the CC line was "music" -- flashing every 10 seconds. When Robert used his mystical amulet to try to break through an ancient Plexiglas barrier to save Jessica, the caption was "Bash, bash..." Indeed, this could be taken as a comedy until the last scene, when the climax unfolds in context of Ultimate Sacrifice. Certainly not the stuff of comedy.

This then, is the Riddle of the Riddles of the Sphinx. Is this a Disaster for the Ages or a misbegotten comedy of errant intent?

You be the judge.