Movie: “S. Darko”
Director: Chris Fisher
Rating: Rated R for language, some violent content and brief drug use.
Release: May 12, 2009 (Direct to DVD)
Running Time: 1 hr 43 min
Starring: Elizabeth Berkley, Daveigh Chase, Matthew Davis, Briana Evigan… IMDB listing
Verdict:
S. Dark is the sequel to the 2001 cult (debatably sci-fi) thriller Donnie Darko that picks up seven years after Donnie is killed by an airplane engine to follow his youngest sister, Samantha. …and there, dear readers, the object portion of this review ends. Because, aside from that little nugget, everything about this film is wildly subjective.
This film is either a beautiful, surrealistic masterpiece that pushes the boundaries between avant-garde expressionism and far-flung science fiction, or else, it’s a jumble of utter crap flailing to recapture the unexpected success of Donnie Darko by randomly recombining its predecessor’s bizarre plot devices for an hour and a half without any regard to any traditional storytelling conventions. It all depends on just how much of a film-snob you are.
My suggestion would be that casual video renters steer far clear of this movie, and leave it for the entertainment of the really, really hardcore Donnie Darko fans and audiences looking for more intellectual fare than the average Hollywood offering.
Synopsis:
Samantha Darko, fleeing from a home left shattered by the death of her older brother, Donnie, travels cross country to California with her rebellious friend Corey in the hope of one day becoming a professional dancer. Their journey takes an unexpected turn, though, when their car breaks down outside of the tiny town of Conejo Springs, Utah. Stranded while they wait for repairs, Sam and Corey soon discover that Conejo Springs has been epicenter of a string of bizarre events, including a number of child abductions.
When an meteorite strikes a windmill on the night of their arrival, events begin to entangle Samantha in the same dream-like way her brother was drawn into events in his home town before his death. Plagued by warning of the world’s imminent destruction, she is forced to confront her grief over her brother’s loss as she struggles to with her own hopeless situation. Now, only the decisions of those around her can set the world right for her once again.
Review:
S. Darko is going to being sheer frustration for audiences expecting the prosaic escapism and immediate gratification of the average American movie. Like poetry from an obscure literary journal, its methods are more about symbolism and metaphor than storytelling. Its final meaning is veiled, subtle, and utterly lacking a tidy Hollywood ending. However, for the committed film literati who find joy in the intellectual pastime of literary interpretation, S. Darko is going to be excellent entertainment for a quiet evening at home.
The film follows two angst-riddled girls as they attempt to escape their complicated home lives to something simpler. When they find themselves the victims of bizarre circumstances beyond their control, parallels between Donnie Darko and S. Darko begin to mount. Samantha is wracked with the same bizarre insomnia her brother suffered from. She suffers hallucinations. Disasters seem to surround her in her waking life. She meets a shy love internet. The cast of characters begins to mirror Donnie Darko. Then, just as it begins to appear that S. Darko be little more than a rehashing of its predecessor, new twists emerge, exploring new implications and possibilities of the bizarre form of time travel that the brother and sister share.
S. Darko doesn’t explain Donnie Darko, as fans might hope, or even elaborate on the mechanics of the McGuffin that motivated the films. Instead, it plays offers up variations on its predecessor. The final result of the film, after watching it twice, even three times, is that audiences are left with more questions than they began with about the events of the film and its predecessor.
Similar Movies
If you enjoy this S. Darko, you may also enjoy these similar movies:
Further Information
|
|
|
Pingback: Hot News » Donnie Darko