Finally, finally, finally I was able to watch the Neil Johnson written and directed film ‘Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter’. I have been anticipating seeing the movie for a long time, and (if you follow my twitter) have obviously been eager to write this review.
I just want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this movie. The movie has been presented as a whole bunch of things… a little ‘Mad Max’, a little bit ‘Terminator’, a little bit ‘Star Wars’, science fiction, drama, action…and a slew of other things. Well, it delivers on them all. From intergalactic battles in space, to making me laugh, to heart wrenching scenes. We are truly taken on this journey with the protagonist Sienna through pinnacle points in her life when she has to deal with not only her own journey to figure out who she is, but also to destroy the artificial intelligence that is killing humans.
I am not going to give away any spoilers or even really focus on the plot in this review, but I do want to say that I was engrossed in the intertwining stories and am impatiently waiting to hear or read confirmation of the rumours TV show so that I can see the further development of these characters.
Now, no movie is perfect and I have to be nitpicky here. The film opens with a distorted robot voice setting up the plot along with beautifully catastrophic images the world we are now part of. I still don’t really know what that robot was saying. I caught a couple of things that gave me the gist of what was happening – that, along with the videos and images, kept me up to date with what backstory, but I struggled with the extreme distortion.
Aside from the overly distorted voice, the effects in the movie were great! The explosions (of which there are many) were fantastic. I am not too sure what the sparkles after a few deaths were, but it looked cool. I thought the costuming, the ship and robot design, the landscape…everything melded together perfectly for a great atmosphere of desolation of desperation.
Aside from the exciting crash, bang, boom, and zaps of the movie, Johnson wrote some truly funny lines! And, unlike most movies, the comedy was used sparingly and at the right moments. I was a little worried about the stereotypical wise-cracking robot that is prevalent in so many movies, but the humour used was realistic and didn’t take anything away from the trauma that the characters were going through.
Daz Crawford (Skullcrusher) was….well I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley. Tim McGrath (Blister) and Ashley Park (Rhianna) made the perfect team even while being abused by the other characters. Tracey Birdsall (Sienna) really became her character as she took us through her journey. Her character changed in many ways many times throughout the movie and the audience felt part of her transformations. She was the right person to have in this role. Although a small-ish part, I also really enjoyed William Kircher as Dr. Johnson. I hope they get more into his character in the future.
I could go on and on about the film with its twists and turns and all of its awards, but the bottom line is to just watch the movie. I do want to mention Rhapsody of Fire’s music score (especially the song during the closing credits). It doesn’t matter what kind of movie you like, you will like ‘Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter’.
