3+1 Short Paragraphs: 2067

2020, Seth Larney (Tombiruo) -- download

Another from the Straight To listings, with a catchy scifi premise (involving time travel) and some recognizable faces. The problem with downloading these movies, is that they are not often very good. But I have said, that's alright, as long as you do something with your story and your world that catches my attention, and keeps it. But, and this is a loud but, if you cut corners on your writing & directing, and it's obvious to the point it annoys me, then you not only lose my attention but my forgiveness.

The year is (forboding music) 2067 and for the past 45 years, the planet burned (connection to contemporary forest fires in the US and Australia) and with it went the natural oxygen generation nature gave us. One by one the countries of the world went dark, leaving only a big city in Australia. Why Australia? Because the movie was made there. With no plants, a single Big Corp generates "synthetic oxygen" for the surviving human beings to live on. The problem is that some people are rejecting the man made oxygen, and no one knows how to "cure" this condition. I am not sure the writers of the movie knew that we don't actually breathe pure oxygen, but a combination of it and nitrogen and a plethora of other chemicals that can be manufactured. But pay no mind, oxygen going away, we are all gonna die.

Extra Special Maintenance Men, Ethan (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road) and Jude (Ryan Kwanten, True Blood) do their best to survive in this difficult world. Ethan's wife has the oxygen-is-bad condition and he will do anything to save her. So, when the leaders of the Big Corp come to him with talk of a time machine that Ethan's dad made, before he killed himself, he jumps at the chance to go into the future, find the "cure" and bring it back. You see, if there is a future, than that means people survived. Also, there is the message, "send Ethan Whyte".

This is one of the movies where I question all the self-doubt I have at being a writer. If this could be made, with all the stupidities and dumb dramatic choices, I could write a pretty decent post-apocalyptic road movie and have it succeed. And maybe have some self-aggrandizing blog writer claim he could do better. The movie assumes that the only way for the planet to "heal" is for humans to die off. That's a pretty common, if somewhat nihilistic, premise. But it doesn't make for a middle of the road dramatic scifi thriller, so they tossed in conspiracy and hate-the-1% and dumb fuckery and tons and tons of anguish laden cries at each other. I have nothing against adding in "the emotional component" to a middling movie, but at least have it pay off. And don't play the "if it happened, it happened" time travel card if you just choose to ignore it as soon as it becomes inconvenient.

Bleah.