Monday, July 24, 2006

   TV Movies are Medicore
So… Fallen, it’s that new ABC Family TV movie. I’m a real sucker for anything that revolves around the mythology of Angels and Devils/Demons. So, I’m here to review it!

Synopsis – Think the Matrix meets the Bible…. Basically a prophecy revolves around a Nephilim, a half human, half angel kind of thing. And he’s a Messiah for Fallen Angels, to release them from their sins and allows them into heaven. Apparently God had been planning for this. Unfortunately, whenever there’s any kind of Savior, there’s someone out to kill him. We have one evil chick determined to slay every Nephilim she sees. And of course, our savior is naturally some sort of proverbial underdog. This time it’s a high school kid, just turned eighteen, he’s an orphan and struggling with his concepts of who he is and what is “family”.

Plot – This was apparently based off a book. I hope it was better. It’s not this is a BAD movie per say, it’s ‘not bad’ for a made for TV movie. I DID enjoy the film, primarily because I like anything Angel/Demon mythology centered. The film has some plot holes in it; things that just make you go “what? How did he…?” or “Why did they do that?” … I should’ve written the teleplay….However, to its credit It had a good ending… instead of happy fluffy kind… it’s rather bittersweet. For the most however, it plays out kind of like some hack work you can find on any internet writer’s forum. [4/10]

Characters – The only likeable one is the dog…and maybe the little autistic kid. Everyone else is flat and archetypical. Our main character ALWAYS does the “right thing” His parents are the generic “good Midwestern parents”. His friend is the classic jock, the red head kid plays a nerd who *GASP* wears glasses! [Hey, casting folks… not all nerd wear glasses….people with glasses aren’t necessarily nerds either… what are you in the third grade? Shouldn’t you’ve outgrown that by now?] The love interest is the “obligatory ethnic nice girl” and we even have a token black character! The villains are flat; the good guys are flat… BLEH. I’d rather this be made into a mini-series so that the characters were a little more fleshed out….. [1/10]

SFX – Not bad for a TV movie, even marginally good… until…you see the wings…. I can’t figure out if they’re supposed to be bat wings or typical angel wings. The fight sequence towards the end was especially bad but the flaming swords looked a little cool. For a TV movie…it’s standard SFX fare [5/10]

Overall: 3/10 [It’s a TV movie, so it’s going to be rather second-rate….]

Recommended? No, not really, unless you really loved the book this was based off of. Or if you’re like me and you love the mythology around Angels and Devils….. Regardless this is probably a movie you only need to see once. It’s not a bad waste of 2 hours; it just could’ve been a lot better. The network should’ve considered increasing the budget a little and shooting for a mini-series…at least the plot and the characters would be better

It’s a safe movie for anyone over the age of 8. I don’t remember much cursing (If any) there’s only one or two scenes with blood (both non-lethal) People do die…however almost all of them are the Powers and they have a Buffy the Vampire slayer-esque sequence. The final fight may be a little intense for the wee kiddies.

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