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| Do or Die (2003) |
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Written and Directed by David S. Jackson |
| Review by Alex Mestas 2/24/2003 |
| More info: SciFi.com |
I have a problem with bad movies, not low budget ones, although they often go hand in hand. And we all know that's there's such thing as a bad, high-budget movie - in fact most of them are. Do or Die exist somewhere in that nebulous world between good and low budget; between good and bad film. It's never so bad that you'll openly mock it, but it's not good enough to recommend to any one but the hardcore science fiction or B-movie fan. "Sometime in the near future" a terrible hyper-aging virus has been unleashed on the world. Some were naturally immune (the "Cleans") , most were immediately infected (the, uh..."Infecteds"). 20 years later a genius businessman, Dr. Grant, has developed a cure allowing people to live as long as they inject themselves with the drug Anzanol. Of course, he holds the cure so he's all powerful. But no everybody's happy with that, so they seek to find the truth behind this bald, mysterious man. Of course, this being a science fiction movie, there's a lot more to the story than this. There's Ruth (Polly Shannon), who accidentally stumbles onto the truth. Ruth becomes pregnant with an infected child and goes on the run to avoid sterilization. Thanks to the help of Sergeant Horny Pants, she's able to escape. That's when she meets up the a marauding band of "rat-punks" and learns the truth. Of course, the truth also involves things like implants that require cream refills, brain stem taps and torture devices. The usual sci-fi fare really. From the moment it started, I could tell that the movie was filmed in Canada. To paraphrase Mystery Science Theater 3000, it had the foul, bacon-y stench of Canada all over it. Unlike most movies, it worked here though. The nondescript and unimaginative Canadian landscape is a suitable substitute for a world racked by disease and riots.
The film is comparatively slick-shot compared to most other movies in its budget range. That's not to say that you'll see any visuals you might confuse with David Fincher, but it's a nice change from the disturbingly incompetent works I've seen in this price range before. Polly Shannon is good but has a tendency to moan quite strangely and unerotically during times of distress. Her button cuteness doesn't really play well as anything other than that. Her acting is like her figure, very slight and almost forgettable. Nonetheless the movie is entertaining. There's some nice suspense and a few action scenes, but nothing that will surprise or astound you. Frankly, there are much better TV movies to watch on any given day, but then again there are a lot worse too. Jack Scalia and Raquel Welch in an adaptation of Danielle Steele novel? Yeah, that's a lot worse. Movie Grade: C
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