For a straight to DVD Movie I have to say that the movie meets expectations. It has some kind of originality that set it apart from other Sci-fi movies. I could not help to think of Alex Proya’s sci-fi masterpiece The Dark City. It is very similar in style, photography and acting, I could say, in my opinion, that this movie, with a little more thought and money had the potential to become a cult movie, nonetheless, for fans of the DNA Hackers Chronicles, Sci-fi, action movies, and Punk music the movie would be quite enjoyable.
The movie moves in a futuristic dystopia, which is very well depicted by the used of computer graphics and lightning. Everything is dark in this movie which makes the audience get in the mood. Also the characters are masterfully design and depicted, each character have been worked skillfully to introduced their own personalities in the story, and each actor did a great job depicting their character, it looks like each one of them felt knew what the director wanted to approach. Bai Ling (Southland Tales) surprised me with her performance after her discrete performance in Southland Tales. But what really impressed me the most was the music, this is the most impressive quality, it just go with this world, it sets the atmosphere, and each musical piece just make you want to bob your head. Special FX wise, the movie get its point across, the action is well coordinated and enjoyable to the eye, thanks to Michelle’s abilities and stunts, and although many of the CGI FX look fake and cheap they have some of them that leave you speechless like the city, its design is awesome, it is almost as good as the music, it has a gothic kind of look where art meets functionality. Regardless, of all what is happening in the story is more important than the visual, and the visuals are clear enough to make the audience understand what they are trying to accomplished.
Pearry Teo did a great job portraying the world of DNA Hackers, its visuals sets an atmosphere that makes the audience be alert, nonetheless, the story is not delivered properly, something in the script sometimes make the audience to lose interest, or looked away. There are some parts on the movie where it just jump from scene to scene leaving the audience questioning about what had happened. The description of characters are poorly shown, little background is shown making the audience being impressed for the way the look, but at the same time it insert a sense of indifference toward them. The resolution of the movie could have been improved, it is one of those type of endings that result predictable and surprising at the time, it was like I knew what was coming, but when it happened I could not believe that was it. It let me waiting for something unexpected and made me question if it was all worth it. I recommend this movie to fans of the comic book, they might enjoy it more since they know the mythology of the series, and fans of the Sci-fi genre might have mixed reactions comparing it with other post apocalyptic movies. In conclusion The Gene Generation kept me entertained for most of the time, it is a movie that I see people watching it only once, it was enjoyable, original and fun, but it will stand a long time on my DVD shelf.
Review By Milo
Release Date: January 27, 2009
