I have been following this project since I saw the panel at Comikaze long before the film was coming out (they have since gone back to Comikaze). I remember watching the trailer with a high degree of hope and optimism.
Truly, I thought, this could be something special. A good cast, interesting idea, and seemed to have some talent attached to it.
Ultimately the result has been a disappointment. I give credit for the attempt, but there are several problems with this film from the beginning.
First and foremost, the music. It's an odd place to start, but stick with me: the music is formulaic, tinny, and lacks the timing to know when to fill the space with notes and when to let the ambient sound give us time to breathe. I don't know whether to blame the filmmaker or the composer, but I know the composer is responsible for the lackluster scoring. There was no vibrancy and life to the music, so it seemed to siphon the energy from the film too.
The cast was fine, although uneven. Specifically, Mark Hamill plays a very odd character that never quite seems the fit into this gaggle of characters.
The pacing is definitely a problem too. After about 30 minutes in we paused to note how long had passed with almost nothing happening. The character introductions dragged and weren't very engaging. The writing is primarily responsible, as the dialogue lacks the same vibrancy that the music does. It feels cheap, in the same way a movie of the week is cheap. And this is not an issue of budget, as I've seen other films do much more with much less. When you don't have the budget to support you, you need to have the script be sharp as a bladed diamond or the audience will drift.
The whole film seems like echoes of Pulp Fiction, as realized through a narrow, uninteresting lens. I realize that on a small project like this the filmmaker likely reads these reviews, so I want to say something specifically to him: I remember you from the panel, and how enthusiastic and excited you were. I could feel the same excitement and energy from the whole cast (except for Hamill, who exudes this persona of a disinterested deity, which suits him). I'm glad you were so invigorated and excited, but this is not the best you could have done.
The script should have been more polished with more engaging dialogue and situations. The editing was at times to frenetic, giving talking scenes an unnecessarily jumpy quality more reserved for action sequences. And the music was really poorly done, and there's no nicer way to say that.
I feel like there are better things for you on the horizon, but I'd be lying if I said this was a great start. You have better projects ahead of you, but you need better material to work with, and better people to help with the creative process, from writing to production. I do believe you have some really interesting work ahead, so don't let negative reviews discourage you. Take them under advisement, ignore the ones that are petty and useless, and become a better filmmaker.
I want to see what you can do next, so show me something.
