Mosquito: A Fistful of Bitcoins

I love finding the rare odd film that has great directing, excellent cinematography, terrific unknown actors, a surprisingly good sound track and a plot that twists in just the right direction.

Unfortunately, this film has none of that. From the post-apocalyptic world in which the main actress sports pristine nylons and immaculate hair-- tothe often-unintelligible dialog-- and down to the script itself-- this sounds-like-flimed-in-a-tunnel flick sets itself up as prime Mystery Science Theater fodder. The only reason I give it two stars rather than one is because it wasn't a gore flick; at least that was in its favor.

From the intentionally-precocious is-she-18-yet? main actress to the worst scripting ever, the only real positive to this movie is the very well-drawn storyboard, of which we get short glimpses both before and after the movie. This is a satire without the satire, comedy without a chuckle much less a laugh, science fiction without the... well, anything.

I'm actually sorry to have to down-thumb this one as it's pretty apparent they were trying to make a humorous schlocky film. If they'd succeeded I'd have been happy to give it high stars for effort. But failure is failure and this one is fails on all counts. It should only be watched if... uh... well, it's not even rainy Saturday afternoon popcorn fare. MST3K can't use it because there's not enough content to make fun of. I have to wonder why some folks bother to spend time and money on such a film. Either their sense of humor is significantly different from the rest of the planet's... or they needed a good tax write-off.

Zany and fun. You will not mind the low budget.

A larger budget would have only led us to expect too much. (as some reviewers have) Plot: A brainless (but loveable and innocent) teen from 2083 gets pulled back to 2013 and gets tasked to stop a facebook clone from getting turned into the 'skynet' clone that rules her world.

Part of it's charm is acting on par with the silent era. Unfortunately we don't get to see her changed 2083 or any resulting paradoxes.

A larger budget would have only led us to expect too much. (as some reviewers have) Part of it's charm is acting on par with the silent era.

It's like a students film, but students who are really bad at film making. Acting is terrible, sets are atrocious and the plot is ridiculous. They obviously don't know the first thing about bitcoin either.

Mosquito: A Fistful of Bitcoins surprised me right from the beginning and didn't let go until the end. As the opening credits rolled, something about the main character Mosquito walking through the vast, empty desert landscape to a neat Morricone-esque soundtrack really entranced me. Watching this cheerful, yet lonely young girl navigate the world as she time travels to the past is hilarious, and she just plays it so cool while embarking on a mission to save the world. It was a wonderful performance and the actress really is one to reckon with! She has something special and her quirky charm through tough situations is the quintessential role model for girls (perhaps a bit too rebellious).

The movie also treaded the line between a children's movie and a tribute to low-budget films, which is something you don't usually see too often in cinema today. The story was an interesting one involving time travel and corporate greed.

Mosquito does have its weak points though. It drags on for a bit and is perhaps a bit too long. The sound is noisy at some points and it takes you out of the film. The acting also is not always superb, as is common in low-budget features. Nonetheless, for a movie with no violence, an inspiring female protagonist, and a storyline involving saving the world from destruction, it doesn't get much better than this!

Highly recommended.

8 stars