STARRING:
Scott Bairstow, Joseph Lawrence, Troy Skog, Amy Matysio, Anne Nahabedian,
Wendy Anderson, Corey Livingstone, Aidan Simpson, Brian Hlusko
2006, 95 Minutes, Directed by: Paul Ziller
Basically a made-for-TV sci-fi retelling of The Defiant Ones (the one
in which Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier are two escaped convicts who must learn to get along in order to elude capture).
In a post-apocalyptic
future in which Phoenix is a domed city (like in
Logan’s Run), Joseph Lawrence is DeeCee 142, a “defective” - and
curiously effeminate - android who is sent to have his memory wiped.
Scott Bairstow is the bigoted anti-android Luddite prisoner he is chained to. On
their way to prison, rogue flying robots attack their transport (no wonder Bairstow’s character hates machines) and together they try not only to
outwit their attackers, but to avoid recapture.
Along the way Bairstow’s
character learns that, well, machine-ism (well, what do you want to
call it?) is wrong and one should be nicer to one’s household appliances. Or
something like that. A timely message indeed. Thrown into the mix is a
confusing subplot involving a mad scientist who wants to start a robot
rebellion. His plotting involves “brain juice”. No, seriously . . .
The biggest problem with
this cheapo Canadian production isn’t its lack of budget (most of which
seems to have been spent on big explosions), but its amateurish and muddled
script. Note to self: any science fiction movie that kicks off with a
voice-over narration dumping huge amounts of exposition into the audience’s
lap can only mean that the viewer is in for a world of pain . . .
That Android Apocalypse
ultimately turns out not to be quite as horrendously bad as the first ten
minutes may lead one to believe is however no recommendation. Avoid.
Basically a made-for-TV sci-fi retelling of The Defiant Ones (the one
in which Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier are two escaped convicts who must learn to get along in order to elude capture).