Post by Hanelle on Aug 29, 2009 3:36:37 GMT -5
The (short) wait has finally come to an end. Rarely do I look so forward to a film as I did BLG's Ufology. Why? I don't know. Not that the film didn't look intriguing, but there wasn't a lot of information out about it. I do love an alien story though....is that what I got?
Sort of.
I'll start off by saying the film at least met the expectations I had. If it surpassed them, not by much. If it was less than I expected, not by much. It was quite a unique film, with many good qualities and very few bad qualities. I'll try to take a look at each as I break down of the story, the characters, and the ending.
THE STORY:
As I said, the story itself is simple. At it's core it's a coming of age story about a young man struggling through life. Nothing new really. It's the outer layers of the story that make it so unique. His "experiences", not only with his sister and the bully, but also with the ufology group, that really give the film flavor.
Though it started off a bit slow, it was not enough to deter further reading. Well, to be honest, the opening scene on the rooftop had me hooked. But it did slightly drag for roughly 15 pages or so after that. But it was necessary and was made up for in the end. I hope that makes sense.
THE CHARACTERS:
There was only about 5 main characters in this film. I'll take a look at each...
Max: The central character. The young and troubled boy, looking for his place in the world. To be honest, I had a bit of trouble relating with him for the first half of the film. I felt he wasn't written as sympathetically as he should have been. But once he meets Helena, his character improves dramatically.
Emma: Max's sister. Great character, as Casa said in his review, I'd loved to have seen more of her. She was the mother figure in Max's life and the only character who truly cared for Max. Something Max spends the entire film looking for, though it was under his nose the entire time.
Helena: Max's new-found friend. The new girl at school with the mysterious conspiracy-nut of a father. She was probably my favorite character in the film (not surprising). I really only had two complaints regarding her character.
a) I would have liked to see the story revolve more around her and Max's relationship. At 90+ pages, the story was just the right length. Everything that was in it was well done, so I'm not sure how that could be accomplished. But I thought it was worth mentioning.
b) I didn't like Helena's almost willingness to agree with Max when it came to her "family" being a bunch of nuts and how she would leave her father if she could. I suppose it made sense in the end, considering the twist, but at the time it just didn't seem to fit her character.
Helena's Father: The man with no first name.
He was a great character as well. His words were spoken like a true "cult" leader, which was nice to see and added a realistic element to the script.
Danny: The bully. Sort of stereotypical, but not really in a bad way. Not much else I can say about this character, he was there to serve a purpose and that's exactly what he did.
THE ENDING:
I thought about ten pages into this script I was being set up for a twist. I even got so close to believe it had something to do with either the pills or the rashes. But luckily I was still surprised when the twist screamed off the page. It had a very strong "Fight Club" feel to it, especially seeing him alone in all these situations that he had previously been with Helena and her father. As most know I love a good twist and this was very fulfilling.
Past the twist, I thought the final scene between he and Helena was beautiful. Probably my favorite scene in the film, and I wish it had gone on just a little bit longer. The following scene with Emma was also well done and a fitting end to the story.
As for one last complaint(sorry), nothing major. I got very confused during his dreams, lol. The first section of him running toward the light, he is called Mark instead of Max. When I first saw this I thought it was just a typo...but the dream was repeated three times all three using Mark. So in the end I'm guessing it was a Copy&Paste issue. Just thought i'd let you know in case you wished to fix it
Sorry if this ran on long, and I know there is more I wanted to say...I just can't remember.
To sum it up, I thought this was a great film by one of the sites best writers. Not being a huge fan of the action genre that Captain Scarlet seemed to fit into, it was very satisfying to see BLG's try his hand at something more melodramtic. With the Reelies coming up I can imagine he has a tough decision on which film to nominate...but I can't feel to bad for him, that's a decision all of us would love to have to make.
Sort of.
I'll start off by saying the film at least met the expectations I had. If it surpassed them, not by much. If it was less than I expected, not by much. It was quite a unique film, with many good qualities and very few bad qualities. I'll try to take a look at each as I break down of the story, the characters, and the ending.
THE STORY:
As I said, the story itself is simple. At it's core it's a coming of age story about a young man struggling through life. Nothing new really. It's the outer layers of the story that make it so unique. His "experiences", not only with his sister and the bully, but also with the ufology group, that really give the film flavor.
Though it started off a bit slow, it was not enough to deter further reading. Well, to be honest, the opening scene on the rooftop had me hooked. But it did slightly drag for roughly 15 pages or so after that. But it was necessary and was made up for in the end. I hope that makes sense.
THE CHARACTERS:
There was only about 5 main characters in this film. I'll take a look at each...
Max: The central character. The young and troubled boy, looking for his place in the world. To be honest, I had a bit of trouble relating with him for the first half of the film. I felt he wasn't written as sympathetically as he should have been. But once he meets Helena, his character improves dramatically.
Emma: Max's sister. Great character, as Casa said in his review, I'd loved to have seen more of her. She was the mother figure in Max's life and the only character who truly cared for Max. Something Max spends the entire film looking for, though it was under his nose the entire time.
Helena: Max's new-found friend. The new girl at school with the mysterious conspiracy-nut of a father. She was probably my favorite character in the film (not surprising). I really only had two complaints regarding her character.
a) I would have liked to see the story revolve more around her and Max's relationship. At 90+ pages, the story was just the right length. Everything that was in it was well done, so I'm not sure how that could be accomplished. But I thought it was worth mentioning.
b) I didn't like Helena's almost willingness to agree with Max when it came to her "family" being a bunch of nuts and how she would leave her father if she could. I suppose it made sense in the end, considering the twist, but at the time it just didn't seem to fit her character.
Helena's Father: The man with no first name.
He was a great character as well. His words were spoken like a true "cult" leader, which was nice to see and added a realistic element to the script.Danny: The bully. Sort of stereotypical, but not really in a bad way. Not much else I can say about this character, he was there to serve a purpose and that's exactly what he did.
THE ENDING:
I thought about ten pages into this script I was being set up for a twist. I even got so close to believe it had something to do with either the pills or the rashes. But luckily I was still surprised when the twist screamed off the page. It had a very strong "Fight Club" feel to it, especially seeing him alone in all these situations that he had previously been with Helena and her father. As most know I love a good twist and this was very fulfilling.
Past the twist, I thought the final scene between he and Helena was beautiful. Probably my favorite scene in the film, and I wish it had gone on just a little bit longer. The following scene with Emma was also well done and a fitting end to the story.
As for one last complaint(sorry), nothing major. I got very confused during his dreams, lol. The first section of him running toward the light, he is called Mark instead of Max. When I first saw this I thought it was just a typo...but the dream was repeated three times all three using Mark. So in the end I'm guessing it was a Copy&Paste issue. Just thought i'd let you know in case you wished to fix it
Sorry if this ran on long, and I know there is more I wanted to say...I just can't remember.
To sum it up, I thought this was a great film by one of the sites best writers. Not being a huge fan of the action genre that Captain Scarlet seemed to fit into, it was very satisfying to see BLG's try his hand at something more melodramtic. With the Reelies coming up I can imagine he has a tough decision on which film to nominate...but I can't feel to bad for him, that's a decision all of us would love to have to make.
