Gabriel

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Archangel

source: Gabriel

Australia now has its own version of Ed Wood's classic, Plan 9 from outer space. Plan 9' tops many movie goers lists for worst movie ever made, Gabriel shares many similarities. They both have the amateur sets, poor acting and weak dialogu. My main issue with Gabriel however is its poor fight scenes. I don't need a Kill Bill style fight scene in all my action movies(but that would be my dream)I can safely go as far as saying Gabriel possesses the worst fight scene of all time. With its climactic battle involving some of the slowest kicks ever thrown(without being in slow motion)as well as a backhanded steel bar strike that stops short of its target, clearly by a couple of feet. As we well know, a huge budget doesn't make for a good movie(10 000BC,Waterworld), nor does a small budget mean a poor movie(Nepoleon Dynamite,Juno). Australia is full of fantastic small budget movies(Chopper, Two hands, Get'n square,Jammed etc) Gabriel is definitely not one of them. Unfortunately Gabriel doesn't posses the "it's so bad it's fun to watch" charm Plan nine from outer space has. It's just plain bad.

B grade acting, slow moving, seen it all before genre/storyline/effects/bad guys/good guy/good guy gets girl/good guy saves the day. Something I probably would have enjoyed when I was 12. That's what you get when you let friends, who still haven't quite matured with their movie tastes, choose movies for you. The movie tries hard but it fails miserably on all levels. The bad guys (these are the ones who frown continually so you know they are baddies) predictably get wasted one by one by the good guy( he's the one that frowns really hard at the end so you know he is very angry but in the interim has bouts of compassion, tenderness and not so angry frowning). I am filling in here to get the necessary 10 lines for the review.

Firstly, I was actually surprised that this film was Australian considering the virtually unknown cast bar one recognisable name. The film itself is spectacular to watch in terms of effects and visuals that could stand up to any Hollywood blockbuster, and on only needs to compare that budget aspect of this film to Night Watch to know that it stands some chance at success overseas. Just seeing the trailer, one assumes a film in the manner of The Matrix meets Underworld. However, even though you may get a glimpse of this, you are more likely to relate the film closer to The Crow than anything else. The major thing that will probably hurt the film internationally is the strong Australian accent from Samantha Noble (Jade)

I'm clawing for the zero, but will settle for 1/10 because the opening scene made sense (rest didn't). Watching this movie was similar to being in purgatory yourself, it never seems to end, and you REALLY REALLY want it to. Alright, the start of this movie seemed like it might be alright, but it failed to progress anywhere from a slow, depressing talk-fest. This would have been alright, except the dialogue made barely any sense. The action scenes were sporadic and very scarce, and for such a poorly thought out movie perhaps they could have covered up with some more action scenes to detract from the painfully terrible everything else. The actors seem to change accents from Australian, to American, then to something I never want to hear again - all in the same sentence, which I suppose isn't too bad thing, but its hard to concentrate. The cover of the movie is an exact replica of that of underworld, and most of the action scenes are ripped directly from "the matrix" and one from "the transporter", but they are most definitely the best part of the movie. The ending.... well frankly I'm proud of myself for not walking out... the good guy fights the bad guy, bad guy turns out to be his brother (wha...?) they fight almost to death, at which point the bad guy suddenly changes his mind and uses his last energy to heal gabriel.. gabriel then commits suicide for, as far as i can tell, no reason - in fact I would say they included this twist solely to have a scene where he is falling from a roof, so they could say something clever about a fallen angel. Worst sex scene ever thrown in for absolutely no reason, I was neither entralled or aroused. In summary, I don't understand how this story was ever approved for mainstream, or how it could get positive reviews. I felt like I was having a terrifying acid trip and it wouldn't end, the only thing that stopped me from beating my head against the wall until I passed out was the fact I was laughing so hard at this mess I couldn't get up. Run for your lives! There may be a sequel.....

I went and saw Gabriel on Wednsday, I found it to be amazing. Certainly there was some shaky camera work, but this is't the first time we've seen that. Remember the Blair Witch? I found the acting to be sensational, the philosophical idea of the battle between good and evil over the souls of the undecided a fantastic idea. To those who have said the movie was bad, or terrible, shame on you. It is a mainstream Ausse movie, with an Aussie cast, that was filmed in NSW. Low-budget does not mean low quality. There have been a few big-budget films that just tanked. Support our movie industry. Further more, it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours. The pacing was great. I like that it wasn't so fast you couldn't keep up. No car chases only one explosion. Fighting scenes were well done. Yay for Australia.