Painkiller Jane

This is an OK film as long as you aren't expecting much, definitely leave your brain at the door.

The plot is nothing new, no original thought here. The acting is actually quite good although it's sometimes hard to judge the acting when the dialogue is this bad.

The main problem is that all the "surprises" are obvious, you won't be surprised by anything in this film, the plot twists can be see long before they arrive and they have all been used elsewhere.

The plot is also a bit nonsensical with characters behaviour, the villains in particular, not being believable.

The directing is terrible with annoying visual effects thrown in for no real reason.

All that said this is watchable trash if you are looking to kill a bit of time.

QUICK REVIEW:

Okay, maybe a 10 is a bit high, but the rating is unbelievably low! Painkiller Jane delivers an unoriginal movie about someone that gets exposed to a biochemical weapon that lets her have self-healing powers. The military tries to get her so they can cure her, but also wants to get her back under their security. Not too bad a plot, am I correct? Yes, however, it is predictable and the story is unoriginal. But that doesn't mean this is a bad movie! You won't like it if you hate cheesy movies, however, if you like cheesy movies, go grab some popcorn and enjoy this film! It's more of a cheesy popcorn movie, and it is a bit too fast paced a lot through out the movie. If this movie was a bit slower, I'd rate it a 6.6/10. But, because it's really fast paced, I rate it 6.2/10.

Yep. That review sure was short. However, I'm a bit busy right now, so maybe I'll edit the review later.

While this is clearly not in the same league as the usual SciFi Saturday night godawful piece o'junk, with much better production values (not Bulgaria? sonofagun!) and decent acting, the story itself was a complete snore. Not an original concept in the whole thing and it just dragged on for two hours without anything really happening. Yeah, she's cute, yeah, she looks nice in leather, but Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Ooops, sorry, dozed off.

I spent two hours waiting for something, anything, to happen. Oooh, goodie, a shootout. Now there's an original concept, and certainly one worth waiting for. And, ooooh, the suspense is killing me. Is she really dead? If this was a pilot, I'm not too curious about the show. If it wasn't a pilot, there's no excuse for the utter lack of story.

Reasonable plot, sufficient suspense and misdirection. The premise is believable in a science fiction way. There are no fake monsters. There are no incredibly stupid moves by the heroine ineptly designed to create artificial tension, an amateurish plot technique that seems to be rampant even in network (e.g., "24") programs. Good role for great old Richard (Shaft) Roundtree. No really awful acting. Attractive heroine. There were no parts that were so slow or boring that I skipped ahead, and I would watch this again in a year or so. It is head and shoulders above most Sci Fi Channel fare. Clearly, I was pretty impressed.

No, it's not Emmy caliber, but it is so much better than expected, I really can't understand what "ambrazos" is whining about in his review.

For SyFy original movies Painkiller Jane is quite good. Most SyFy movies are garbage, but there are some tolerable ones out there and Painkiller Jane is one of them, in fact I'd go to say that it is also one of their better ones overall. And it is much better than the series that followed, which I never got into in all honesty. Sure the film is flawed, I didn't care for the twist ending, which was predictable and rather obvious, or for the rather clichéd villain and his motivations. The story is a good idea generally and has some good moments like some tense action, but the middle section does see it not as focused narratively and somewhat draggy in pace sometimes. Conversely, I actually found the filming to be quite good, I personally find the criticisms of jerky camera shots to apply to the series more than here, here it is much less hackneyed than most SyFy movies. The settings are less drab here too. Thankfully there is less of an emphasis thrown-in special effects, what effects there are are not that great but there have also been worse. The music is lovely, while most of the characters don't feel like underdeveloped props like they did in the series. The script is a mixed bag, again an improvement on most SyFy movies, there is evidence of wit and tension, but there are also bits that could have flowed better and felt rather forced. The acting is better than average and much more natural. Emmanuelle Vaugier is a beautiful woman and suitably charismatic and gritty, much more of a leading lady than the series' lead Kristiana Loken. In conclusion, a watchable movie that even with its flaws is better than most SyFy original movies and the series. 6/10 Bethany Cox