Alpha Rift

Alright so I love an independent film centered on gaming, especially one with Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Predator, The Terminator). I also greatly appreciated the acting of Nielsen (Mare of Easttown) and Dalla Villa too. I thought the three of them in particular elevated a rather average script to have some endearing moments. Despite the fact this film seems not to be able to commit to what it should be (a kid's film in the vein of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" would've been the best approach), I can't help but rate it maybe better than it deserves. The acting by the main three deserves that much, and they made me like this one.

It plays like a Marvel movie on a budget. The medieval backstory is interesting and the action is really competent. You can tell they didn't have a big Hollywood budget, but the story, characters are solid and I found myself enjoying myself.

It is light hearted, action comedy in the vein of an 80s movie. I could totally see this as a TV series or a couple sequels, mini series, etc.

Lance Henriksen brings gravitas to the movie and the Nolan actors is good.

Ok so I need to say that this film gets about an average rating from me because it has some problems with knowing what it is. I saw another review on here that said "know what you're watching," but like, did the director know what he wanted us to be watching? The acting is solid by the main cast at least, but all depth is only added through the acting. No real depth wouldn't be a problem if all this was was a fast-paced movie written without much character development made for the attention span of children. However, all the excessive language and allusions to sex then strip this film of being that, and I don't know if I'm supposed to want this to be more or less than what it is? If looking for more, any development by the characters, again, it's the actors who shoulder the burden of finding some development in their characters and trying to make it appear where it isn't in the script. I just think this movie could've been more, but because it couldn't decide what it wanted to be, it was just an alright watch. Nothing more, nothing less.

I love love loved the chemistry between Dalla Villa and Nielsen, their moments together were definitely the cutest of the movie. If the script had less needless cursing, their scenes could've come across even better, but alas, the film played too much into whatever angle that was. Still though, Henriksen's voice is mesmerizing enough to more than make up for those lines. I'd give it a watch. I mean, it's not a remake, ya know?

It was pretty cheesy and some corny dialogue, the main char was a bit annoying, but it was kind of fun, didnt take itself to seriously, very cliche story thats been told tons of times, i would say its worth a watch, has got some funny moments, and always nice to see lance henriksen, he actually is in the film the whole way through and wasnt just bought in for 1 scene for advertising, then killed of lol.