Thursday, December 18, 2014

Alien Rising Distracts and Nothing Else: A Movie Review

*full disclosure: an online screener of this film was provided by Breaking Glass Pictures.

Director: Dana Schroeder.

Writers: Michael Todd and Kenny Yakkel.

Cast: Lance Henriksen, Amy Hathaway, John Savage, Brian Krause and Dave Vescio.

Alien Rising is a sci-fi thriller, from director Dana Schroeder (Lost Soul). Previously titled Gemini Rising, this title was completed in 2013 and it is set to be released in 2015. Alien Rising is very CGI heavy and the film's believability suffers. Whole sets are completely constructed in post-production and the results look very poor. Starring Lance Henriksen and Amy Hathaway, Alien Rising is an indie sci-fi title that is more miss than hit.

The story's logline sounds good. Alien research, involving telepathy, takes place in a volcano. But, the film is not as great as its premise. Instead, the film brings in an unneeded female protagonist, who is not really part of the research. She is better at sabotaging one colonel's plan, to make a lot of money. Why is she even there? Now, it is alien versus scientist, in the underground research laboratory. The hokey visuals wreck any possibility of a compelling climax.

CGI enhancements take place hundreds of times. For instance, an entire exterior setting, the volcano, is composed from graphics. When the volcano explodes, the results look comic bookish. In another instance, several soldiers fight the alien creature, which has escaped. The creature, the gunfire and the entire setting has been composed on digital displays. Green screens have been used for entire sequences and none of it looks real. Helicopters, helipads and many other elements are completely composed from CGI. These visuals and many more look very fake and poorly rendered.

The use of CGI has reduced the believability of the film. The overuse of these enhancements distract from the film's story. Though, the film's story is also overreaching. This viewer found himself drawn out of the film's reality, because of the use of CGI. It is obvious that these enhancements were used to reduce the size of the film's budget. Still, Alien Rising is difficult to watch, especially through later portions, when the use of enhancements increase. The filmmakers have chosen to utilize flash and bang, when more dramatic elements could have helped develop the story.

Alien Rising is not recommended even for fans of sci-fi. Though, fans of b-movies might find some creativity here. Overall, the film's central reality is disrupted by so much faux special effects. Low in budget, Alien Rising rarely shows any indie movie charm, despite an intriguing premise. The end results are laughable and not recommended for most film fans.

Overall: 6 out of 10 (most of the acting is above average, martial arts sequences look mostly well done, there are some credibility issues in the story).

A trailer for the film is available here, on 28DLA:

A Gemini Rising/Alien Rising Trailer


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