Mindstorm

Well, it was a dark gloomy November night. I was sitting in my sofa thinking what shall I do. The clock's pendulum just made hands align on 1am. I reclined back, wondering whether by watching this movie, I become excitedly thrilled with action or my heart would throb with fear of the unknown powers of human mind.

None of these expectations fulfilled. First 20 minutes of the movie I spend figuring out whether it is screenwright's, director's, actors' or componist's fault. I guess it was a bit - sorry - a LOT of all. The screenplay - I can't talk about a story as there ain't a hint of story to this movie - is horribly shallow, purposefully missing all good hooks that could send a shiver down your spine. Even such a straightforward moment as a mortal duel between two best friends passes without the viewer barely noticing anything happened. Actors were - well, matching the screenplay's standards. They walked, talked, breathed to not to suffocate, but that was it. One could expect more at least from J. Reinhold. Regarding the guy behind the camera - I hesitate to call that one a Director of Photography - he could shoot nice sunsets or party pictures. Not a movie. Too many static shots, too many mistakes in picture composition. And the music - I am sorry. There was none. Just some two beats sampled off some stoned DJ's houseparty, pretending to accompany the movie.

I managed to watch this tragical attempt, but I'm still considering claiming a health damage insurance. Sleeping, I'd make better use of the time.

Have a hammer? Crack yourself good across the knuckles a few dozen times - that would be less painful that watching this stinker.

Don't believe me? Well imagine a movie with video game special effects and you would have, yeah! Mindstorm.

I mean bad is bad but did they have to make a messiah out of this turkey? Aaahhh, God let it end, let it end!

Really they did make this up as they went along, no one could actually script this stuff, could they?

Did I mention...God let it end, let it end!

In case you forget - God let it end, let it end!

OK, here are the two biggest problems with this movie: Judge Reinhold and the sibling sub-plot. Nothing against Judge Reinhold, he's a decent enough actor when it comes to lighter fare like fathers inhabiting their sons bodies or flinging coffee into a robbers face but in this film we're expected to believe that Judge Reinhold is an ex-Black Ops Officer? Sorry, no. Knowing that Judge took this role to pay the rent and get a free trip to Bulgaria makes it a bit more forgivable from his point of view, but the casting director really should have gone for a younger, more athletic B-movie actor, like Antonio Sabato Jr. Sorry Mr. Reinhold, no hard feelings.

Also, what was with the sister?! Her accent was waaayyyy too thick (to the point that I couldn't understand what she was saying and with the lack of subtitles written into the DVD...) and her character was useless save for the fact that she provides a way to end the movie. Why not make Jerry an only child and develop a love interest. Same actress (dubbed over of course), different character name, and an extra ten minutes spent on explaining how/why they hook up. The ten minutes could easily have been lost from the "map" chase scene.

Even the fact that most of the aircraft featured in the film were CGI didn't bother me as they did a decent job on their surely shoe-string budget.

All in all, I'd have to say that this movie wasn't so bad. If USA still ran their "Up All Night" showcase of B-Movies I would have watched it and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I've seen this movie, and it's not to be confused with David Cronenberg's movie : Scanners (1981); although both movies utilizes the same premise - i.e. mind power... it is a standard B action flick with lots of explosion dumb script, and bad CGI (which you can pinpoint right from the opening scene). I give it a 1 out of 5 stars.

This film is confusing at first, but it later becomes clear who is who, and what the aim of the characters is. Judge Reinhold, whom I admit I hadn't really noticed before, is obviously the well known name here, and although he actually doesn't get much screen time, he makes a big impact. The characters are sympathetic, and really, there are no 'bad guys'. There is, however, plenty of suspense. I found myself really cheering for the main characters - all they do, some of it pretty gruesome, is for good reason.

The setting is beautiful, and unusual, and the ending appropriate to the established concerns of the principals.