What did I just watch?

Last night, the wife and I watched a movie that while not good, was sadly interesting.

Today's topic is Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter (2017).

This is where I normally put in the spoiler warning, but I can't. Not really, as I don't actually understand the film. Sure, the title is just as corny as the film and it is a sci-fi action flick, but the story? Eh... Okay, let me go back a bit.

This is what I know: a robot AI is wiping out humanity. And there's space travel, worm holes, an attempt at exploring transhumanism and what it truly means to be human and alive. There's action and drama, special effects...

Sounds pretty good right? It wasn't and that is what makes me sad. At the core of RW:RF lurks a really interesting story, a story that if properly told, could become a classic in the sci-fi genre. But as it stands, it's a wonder if anyone is going to watch it, and it is such a shame.

There are so many problems with this film but we'll start with budget, what little there is of it. Now don't think I'm ragging on low budget movies here, because I'm not. My go to for a good low budget movie is Outpost (I wrote about it ages ago). If you have no money you have to work around it, and to be fair, sci-fi is the absolutely worst genre to go cheap on. You can film a horror movie in a darkened room but sci-fi action demands a little bit more. And in RW:RF it falls completely flat. Sad to say, the action scenes are not good. I'll just leave it at that.

They did a decent job with props and some of the green screen / CGI is alright, but it doesn't always work that well.

The cinematography is easily the best part of the movie, and as the writer/director Neil Johnson got his start directing music videos, it's not that odd. Some of the panning and panoramic shots are awesome, but since most of the scenes are filmed in deserts and other barren places, there's not much to look at.

The acting. Some people on IMDB say that the actors suck, but I disagree. Keep in mind that no actor can shine through bad direction. Natalie Portman (she's not in this movie) is a good actor, but if you judge her solely on the Star Wars prequels, you'd never say so. George Lucas has many talents, but directing people is not one of them. It's the same way here. Most of the actors are probably going to spend their careers in the direct-to-dvd pile, and that's fine, but they could do better.

Finally, the biggest, most enormous, glaring problem: the cutting. My wife and I both got the feeling that they filmed way too much and then ran out of time, and in desperation cut and glued together what they could to avoid the wrath of the investors, leaving a confused pile of spaghetti and disjointed scenes. I have no proof here, it's just a theory, but the end result is a mess. Scenes are interrupted by three second snippets that mean nothing. Entire plot points are mangled and torn, and if you want any kind of cohesion in your storytelling, look elsewhere.

Example with genuine spoiler:

The main character, Sienna gets hold of a dagger and shows it to a friend (I think). The friend explains that there is a planet near the galactic core that holds a super weapon that can wipe out the evil AI. With me? Cool. Sienna then sits on a hill and says she needs him and that she wants the codes. Shortly there after. Sienna and her “friend” Blister head off in a space ship, and she explains that they are busting him out of space jail. Blister objects and gets threatened with violence. They use the codes to gain access to land on the space-jail-station. Then a door opens and he says 'nice to see ya'. All three shoot at some security bots, plant a tiny bomb and in the next shot fly away from the exploding station.

Did that make any sense? With twenty minutes more footage, it might have, but as it sits it's mangled garbage. To really hammer it home, he also known as Skullcrusher, swaggers about a bit, has a three second sex scene with Sienna and then promptly gets killed. Makes. No. Sense.

Long term readers will know that I don't like to speak ill of others hard work, but Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter could be good, and it frankly pisses me off that it isn't. A remake with a proper budget and a more experienced director is in order, or better yet, a TV series that has time to explore the deep subjects of transhumanism and the soul.

Well that's enough ranting for me. Until next time, have a great week!