Painkiller Jane

It could have been worse. The plot was realistic and reasonable but need more factual details to be more convincing. There are a lot of interesting characters but the lacking of their background stories make them feeled more like props. The direction was foggy. It seemed like the director let the audience fill in the blanks. There seemed to be a lot more of the story to tell but it was left out, trying to fit the whole stories into the movie. This should have been a ten-hour mini-series or a series.

There were no romance or sexual tension (from what I got) and that was the good part of the film. I also like the superhero(ine) that has enough weakness to make her feel like a human. I probably like Jane more than Superman, Batman or even Laura Croft.

The soundtrack was lovely, it could be the best part of the film. The worst part would be the Vaugier's hair. What were they thinking.

This is a reasonable TV pilot. I would even watch the series if only the SciFi channel would hire a military consultant to sufficiently cultivate the illusion of realism.

Here are my military complaints: (1) The uniforms do not match the depicted branch of service. (2) The mixed-gender assault element in the beginning of the film is unbelievable. (3) The Aliens-style crab-walk-with-a-rifle does not pass even school-children's idea of tactical muster.

The protagonist is believable in other respects, not to mention physically attractive without crossing the 1950's Amazon Action Heroine threshold. The directing seemed inspired, the casting excellent, and the acting well above the level demanded by the mediocre script!

Ich_Yama's SciFi-meter:

(BBB: 1 primary character)

(BEM: None)

(World: Present/near-future)

(Preference: Conspiracy theorists)

Having recently watched (and reviewed) the TV series (which I enjoyed, with some caveats), I still had a need for a little more Painkiller Jane. When you binge an enjoyable TV series - the characters, the experiences, the world that was created stay with you for a little bit on an emotional level.

While the TV series had drama, emotional highs/lows, emotional responses to characters (positive and negative) - this film offered none of that.

The plot was as basic as it gets. There was no drama, no sense of expectation, no layered or complex story-telling. It felt like a template for a plot that wasn't fleshed out; an idea scribbled on a napkin; an overused pun; business speak, small talk - predictable, empty.

If the plot didn't put you to sleep, the acting most certainly did. Everyone was cool, stoic, in control. Every interaction was cool, in control. No emotional ups or downs. No screaming, no fear, no sense of danger, no heavy breathing, no sweat, no drama, no problem. Just people talking to eachother. Even the secondary characters acted the same - cool, in control, above it all.

When you couple the total lack of emotional acting with a very linear predictable plot - it's like unwrapping a candy bar only to discover that it's plastic. You are left wanting.

Rating this a 5 because all the technical stuff is there (like mannequins on display or robots on an assembly line) but the film lacks any semblance of a soul. Would never watch this again not because it's horrific but because it's empty of everything that matters.

Nothing really imaginative, creative, or original about this movie, but well made and a very earnest effort to make you think as well as entertain you. Definitely avoided going for cheap scares or titillation. The earnestness of this effort is shown as much by what was not there as much as what was--there were no romantic/sexual scenes at all. Had this movie been the hackwork that 'ambrazos' would have you believe, we would have seen Jane tumble into bed with either Nick the thief or 'Dr. Knight' (maybe both). We didn't and that impressed me some.

While the cast generally did well enough (and it certainly was good to see Roundtree again), I was really impressed by Vaugier. A very impressive presence, without being sexual or showing much skin. As an action heroine, I think she stands comparison with Jennifer Garner, maybe even Angelina Jolie All in all, a movie worth recording and watching (mostly because of Vaugier).

After watching a few episodes of the recent TV series, I expected the worst. However, this movie (the original) was surprisingly different and better. All the actors are different and the plot is actually interesting.

Basically, the story is about a female soldier who has an unexpected reaction to a chemical agent. She gains regenerative and some sort of perceptual power. The military wants to seclude, study and use her ... but she's more interested in finding out what and who is responsible for what happened to her.

The film is reasonably well acted and the plot is interesting. Her quest to find a diabolical foreign scientist who is as surprised at her situation as she is ... is interesting. Plus, he's not quite as far away as one might think.

If you're looking to pass time with a semi-decent "made-for-TV", B-level sci-fi movie, this might work for you.