The Last Sentinel

For some reason I thought going into this that this was a new mini-series on SciFi for Katee Sackholm since Battlestar is supposedly closing up shop after the next season. I probably don't need to tell you that I was wrong, but boy am I glad I was. This was such a terrible movie on so many levels.

First, there is absolutely no character development - None! Seriously! And, of course, that doesn't keep the two main characters from having sex, 'cause, well, that's what a guy and a girl in a super low budget awful film do.

Add to the lack of character development the completely re-hashed plot idea (robots take over the world - Terminator, The Matrix, and hundreds of other films) and the unbelievably undeveloped story line and you get a terrible, terrible film.

As I was watching it I kept looking to my wife and saying, "And this is what happens when you shoot a movie without an actual script. You see, you just set up a whole bunch of fight sequences and then say action and film." I've never been in the military and I could have given the film more realistic guidance on how soldiers behave in war.

Rarely do I sit and hope for a film to end, but I did with this one. Sci-Fi should funnel its money into the programs it cares about - its series, not these ridiculous, written-by-monkeys, movies.

This is the worst movie I've seen in some time. It starts off with a mildly interesting -- if rather unoriginal -- premise: Man's technology has turned against it's creator. This has been done a million times, of course, but it can still yield an entertaining action flick if done well.

This was not done well.

The script must have been painful to read. I would feel sorry for any actor asked to work with such excrement. To see Don Wilson and Katee Sackhoff, both of whom have much more potential, forced to wade through this quagmire was just sad. You know you've got script problems when the best dialog comes from a crazy, talking gun.

A plot would have been nice, too. And, no this movie doesn't have a plot. It has a premise. There's a difference. The entire movie consists of: "These are the bad guys. They shoot at us. We shoot at them." There were endless scenes of running and gunning, with a few scenes of sitting talking about the next/previous run-and-gun scene.

One major annoying aspect was that the movie couldn't seem to make up it's mind if Katee Sackhoff was supposed to be the tough, independent type or the "maiden in distress" type.

The absolutely gratuitous and completely unbelievable romantic parts were just pathetic. It was like somebody said, "Insert a romantic gesture here." Monotonous sets, and only two of them. Footage was re-used. Annoying, obvious clichés (storm troopers in masks, bad guys who cannot hit anything they shoot at, tracking device in the skull). Outright contradictions in places.

The only reason I give it 2 and not 1 is that the pyro effects and sets, while totally uninspired, were at least competently done.

The best part of this movie is the ending. Not the final scenes -- the fact that it ended.

While I appreciate those who have decided how I should vote this movie, I prefer to set my own score.

I guess I'm the only one who didn't watch this because of Katee Sackoff. I didn't know she was in it until she showed up. Who doesn't like to watch human killing drones getting mowed down by the dozen? Too much action in an action movie? Pah! Give me tons of robot slaughter and explosions.

I would have liked to see more of Bokeem Woodbine's Anchilles. He had style. Katee 'The Girl' Sackoff was good too. Keith David's voice of the gun and mad Colonel Norton added a lot to this movie. Don Wilson, alas, was the weakest link. Norton and Anchilles were EEs too but they showed some personality. Not so with Tallis. I guess you could say that being the last of the best put him in a bad mood. I attribute it to bad acting or not acting really. No matter, he takes out drones and I like that.

This is a low budget movie and it shows. It's so low budget the director blew up one of his own cars in it. (The BMW that the resistance van crashes into.) It's mostly about blowing away drones because the storyline is simple. Drones take over the planet. Last hero has to take it back by destroying the drone control room. Easy. Should take about 10 minutes so drone slaughter has to take up the rest of the time. They could have used some of the time for back story, like how the drones took over, but they didn't. The brief snippets of drone propaganda don't tell you enough. I assume drones were invented to augment the police and were gradually given more and more responsibility until they replaced human police all together. Then, after it's too late, the humans change their mind and try to get rid of the drones. But the drones like being in charge and fight back. I don't know, it's not explained.

But I like it well enough. 6/10

With 3 or 4 familiar names, I thought this would be a passable evening's entertainment after so often enjoying Katee's work on Galactica and most recently, The Mandalorian. But, I can only say that she must have needed the money, because this script is so abysmally bad and so far below her abilities. A high-schooler could have written this screenplay and done as good a job with a few of his/her classmates, an abandoned factory in the desert and some leftover storm trooper costumes from their last sci fi festival. Came so close to turning this off several times. Just a bad movie on so many levels and I cannot believe anyone financed this piece of junk. Listening to the rifle's AI voice, alone, was almost intolerable and who would have imagined that a notable martial artist could make a fight scene look laughable? Just stay away, it's not worth your time.

Jesse V. Johnson is my spirit director. He does the things similar to the movies I grew up on. Sure it's on a much smaller budget but the ideas and plot points are all solid. Plus, the rise of snark queen Sackhoff diddling the strong silent types makes me wanna shut up and workout. The use of Keith Davids voice in this movie is also fantastic. Might be the best part of the final act. Sure the gun fights don't make sense and the acting is stiff cause Don Wilson (no Dragon) is a much better fighter than he is a thespian. It's like Universal Soldier meets Terminator which, as a wee lad, I would've murdered my foster parents for.