Starfence

Rating: Null/10 (19 July 2002)

Spoilers herein.
The thing that made `Bladerunner' special was that every element from the story to the movements of actor and camera to the sets to the colors were of one mind. It was successful science fiction and successful film because it was coherent. One man had the vision in all these areas and the skills to blend them in complementary ways. There are many such films, but they get fewer, the more special effects are involved.
That's because so many of the key elements of the vision and narrative are delegated to others, all over the planet, with different design sensibilities and philosophies. Here, that problem is immense, and we have enough experience with this filmmaker on prior projects to know he cannot control a smaller hive.
Add to this minor incompetences of minor lives (Smith, Goldblum and so on) and a script literally borrowed from the prior catalog. And what you are left with is a film whose entire marketing campaign (hundreds of millions) and central appeal is built on blowing up the White House. Hard to imagine today how much fun that must have seemed.
Ted's Rating: 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.