Film 014 - S. Darko

(2009, colour, 103 mins)

Director - Chris Fisher

Starring - Daveigh Chase, Briana Evigan, James Lafferty, Ed Westwick

I was a huge fan of the first Donnie Darko. I thought it was hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and melancholy all at the same time with a nifty plot twist that had me talking to my mates about it for days afterward. Simply put, I thought it was a work of art. If Donnie Darko is art then, this "sequel" is a stickman drawn on a Post-It note by a blind six-year-old with no arms.

S. Darko is set seven years after the original movie. Now a teenager, Donnie's youngest sister Samantha (played again by Daveigh Chase whose appearance has seemingly matured better than her acting skills have) is on a road trip with her friend Corey (a girl, despite the name). Their car breaks down in the middle of a desert so they make their way to a small hotel in a sleepy town while they wait for the car to be fixed.

Then... well, I don't know. I couldn't make head nor tail of this film, if I'm being honest. I know that was sort of the charm of the first movie, but at least after a lot of digging around and theorising the first movie begins to make sense. This makes none at all. Apparently Samantha sleepwalks (like Donnie did), but also appears to people as a sort of angel with a bleeding head. At some point someone makes a rabbit mask for no apparent reason other than so the movie can have a bit where someone holds up a rabbit mask in a dramatic way to please the Donnie Darko fans.

In fact, it seems that the whole film's just one big attempt to re-do all the best bits from Donnie Darko, only do them much worse. The excellent school scene from the original (where time goes quickly and slowly to the tune of Head Over Heels from Tears For Fears) is completely ripped off for a rubbish pool party scene, the music is very Donnie Darko-esque, there's another paedophile in it, there are loads of quotes from the original ("they made me do it, the world is going to end" etc), Roberta Sparrow is briefly mentioned for the sake of it and there's a couple of dumb time-travelling moments chucked in to justify the "Darko" bit in the title. Even the main creepy guy in the film looks so much like Jake Gyllenhall (the original Donnie) that there's no way in hell it was a coincidence. They just forgot to put a plot in there to tie it all together.

If you're a fan of Donnie Darko, I wouldn't be surprised if you feel obliged to see this anyway. I promise you that you'll regret it. Watch the trailer below: it makes about as much sense.

1 out of 5

Film 013 - Hakaider

(1995, colour, 80 mins)

Director - Keita Amemiya

Starring - Yuji Kishimoto, Mai Hosho, Yasukai Honda

Let's face it: for western viewers, a lot of Asian cinema doesn't make a lot of sense. That's why it's refreshing to see that, despite the setting and plot being a bit mental, Hakaider does actually make sense for the most part.

The film is set in the futuristic Jesus Town (formerly Jerusalem), and sees a society ruled between a controlling government and an all-powerful leader called Girjev (Honda). A few rebels form a group to try to put a stop to them, but for the most part they struggle to make an impact. That's until Hakaider turns up, of course.

Hakaider (Kishimoto) doesn't really have a proper backstory in the film: he was an android (think a Japanese version of The Terminator) who was kept away from society and somehow ends up back in it. He saves the rebels from certain death by blowing the hell out of a group of government soldiers so the rebels, led by Kaoru (Hosho), befriend him. He ends up going a bit mental and turns on the rebels too, but eventually he falls for Kaoru and decides to help her put an end to the government by destroying Girjev and his robot helper.

What this all results in is some cheesy acting, daft action (which is sometimes surprisingly gory), and a pretty awesome final battle between Hakaider and Girjev's robot buddy.

In all, Hakaider's a fun little film. Nothing too serious, but still a good laugh. Worth a watch if you can find it.

3 out of 5