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Director: Scott McQuaid
Starring: Yi Jane, Cassie Foo, Dirk Benedict Not every film we review has to be one that a major film production company put out that we happened to go see. We get invited to review independent films, just like this one that was submitted by Scott McQuaid.
Available to watch on Amazon Prime, the synopsis is: "Detention becomes survival for five students trapped in a high school with Space Ninja assassins. This B movie comedy slash horror follows these misfit heroes trying to survive the night from an alien invasion." I'm obviously not going to shine this under the same light as your 'Batman V Superman' or 'Avengers Endgame', but I still feel there is a talent of measurement to criticise a small budget, B-Movie film by, after all, acting and film making is a skill. B-movies are no exception, done right they can break through glass ceilings e.g. Clerks. |
And there is a lot to like about this film. For starters, the cast. The people who really stood out for me were:
Yi Jane as Stanlei
Yi does an extremely good job of looking like the unassuming hero. Not too unlike Sigourney Weaver as Ridley Scott in Alien. She shows a badass attitude early, but her character definitely feels like she is being pushed into taking charge.
Dirk Benedict as Jack Strange
You may know Dirk from the FUCKING A-TEAM and Battlestar Galactica, and certainly takes centre stage when we are lucky enough for him to grace our screen.
Brian Narelle as Professor Rosencrantz
A very unpredictable character who really bungles through the movie very well, showing the outlandish ridiculousness of the whole situation.
Damien Zachary as Zack
Possibly the best actor out the whole bunch. I think it helped that Zack almost knows he's in a movie, so it made it much easier to connect with him and made his reactions a lot more realistic and funny.
Yi Jane as Stanlei
Yi does an extremely good job of looking like the unassuming hero. Not too unlike Sigourney Weaver as Ridley Scott in Alien. She shows a badass attitude early, but her character definitely feels like she is being pushed into taking charge.
Dirk Benedict as Jack Strange
You may know Dirk from the FUCKING A-TEAM and Battlestar Galactica, and certainly takes centre stage when we are lucky enough for him to grace our screen.
Brian Narelle as Professor Rosencrantz
A very unpredictable character who really bungles through the movie very well, showing the outlandish ridiculousness of the whole situation.
Damien Zachary as Zack
Possibly the best actor out the whole bunch. I think it helped that Zack almost knows he's in a movie, so it made it much easier to connect with him and made his reactions a lot more realistic and funny.
The dialogue between characters was great too. One of the most important things you have to fill time with in small budget movies is interesting conversation, you can't just do a Michael Bay and explode everything and hope for the best. The banter between Stanlei and Zack was great, in fact his interactions with everyone were very entertaining. Scott writes some very believeable high school spiel, that even though at times may seem a little dumb sounding or laborious, you have to realise any eye-rolls or cynicism you have for what they're saying says something more about what your attitude is to high schoolers than the script.
Another point to make is that, considering that this was shot on a shoe-string budget in Kuala Lumpur, it looks really good. If I'm honest, it looks like a lot of skate punk and pop punk videos from the early 2000's. From how the cast is dressed (Yi could be out of an Avril Lavigne video) and how they act, down to the filters used on the camera. This may not be for everyone but my clock is always set to 2005, and I loved it. It also clearly has larges traces of anime influences too.
Another point to make is that, considering that this was shot on a shoe-string budget in Kuala Lumpur, it looks really good. If I'm honest, it looks like a lot of skate punk and pop punk videos from the early 2000's. From how the cast is dressed (Yi could be out of an Avril Lavigne video) and how they act, down to the filters used on the camera. This may not be for everyone but my clock is always set to 2005, and I loved it. It also clearly has larges traces of anime influences too.
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What didn't I like? If I had to be critical, I felt like this was 3 movies. The 1st is the ode to 'Breakfast Club' that is the beginning of the film. The 2nd is the complete tonal shift that is the whole Space Ninjas saga. The 3rd? Is whatever film Dirk was in at the beginning and end. Because of this, the film itself feels too long. I think it could have begun at the point were lights were being turned off and the school overrun. It wouldn't have made the most sense, but it would have made as much sense as the film does anyway, and I say that in the best possible way. Because as Stanlei says "Space Ninjas? That sounds like a terrible B-Movie"
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SCOTT McQUAID
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I also think stuff was explained that didn't need explaining, leaving me expecting explanations for stuff that didn't come. Why do they use primal weapons? Where's the ship? If this is a practice run for the planet, how come they are struggling to kill 5 high school kids? The army is pretty tough in comparison. Is it this kind of thinking that is making so many people think they can take Area 51? I feel Scott should have left even more unsaid, and just let the audience fill in the blanks themselves. Now...my biggest issue...the Ninjas.
I just don't find Ninjas scary, threatening or even a menace. I think that's why I love Batman and Daredevil so much, as they have no REAL superpowers and they take out of armies of the things at a time. If a Ninja was to kill me it wouldn't be scary or terrifying because they're Ninjas. I'd be dead before I knew it. Ninjas from space may make some people elate with excitement at the idea of such an assassin, however I'm just not one of them, and I was just left a bit confused about how threatening these were meant to be. Some scenes made them out to be brutal killers not too unlike The Predator, other scenes made them look as threatening as a Stormtrooper getting his ass handed to him by an Ewok. But that's definitely just my opinion.
All in all, fans of B-movie horror comedies will love this. You have some brutal death scenes, plenty of blood and tension, all wrapped up with clever jokes and humour (I particularly liked the books used by Zack in the library scene. If you know, you know). So head over to Amazon Prime now to check out Scott McQuaid's SPACE NINJAS!
- JB
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/280284168
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10613572/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Send your films to be reviewed by JB and Gaz
[email protected]
All in all, fans of B-movie horror comedies will love this. You have some brutal death scenes, plenty of blood and tension, all wrapped up with clever jokes and humour (I particularly liked the books used by Zack in the library scene. If you know, you know). So head over to Amazon Prime now to check out Scott McQuaid's SPACE NINJAS!
- JB
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/280284168
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10613572/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Send your films to be reviewed by JB and Gaz
[email protected]