FinalEnounter

Final Encounter (2000)

Our story begins in the 99th year of a war between Brecca and Obsidian, and Brecca isn’t doing so great. After years of fighting the forces have been dwindled down so much that capable adults are a rare commodity, and the youths of the nation have been drafted to engage in the conflict.

As Brecca’s Honor Youth Squad prepare for a battle, we meet our hero, Sutherland, played by Justin Whalin, whom we might remember as Jimmy Olsen from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman or Andy Barclay from Child’s Play 3. He’s supposedly a youngster in this role, but stands out considerably from the rest of the squad of 9-10 year olds, and has quite a bit to learn, as his character is established through some dialogue with the grizzled veteran who dies in the first ten minutes. This is, of course, after the mission is explained by a giant hologram of Dean Cain, the General.

Intermixed with this opening sequence of combat is the introduction of the Programmers, three hot chicks who stand in a room and fight a giant mutant peacock so that Sutherland and crew don’t get stopped by magical force fields. This is explained away as the defense programs of the enemy need to take a form so the girls can fight it and look good doing so.

Besides establishing the characters we should care about, the entire opening sequence begins the theme of the film, which will be repeated with the subtly of a sledgehammer blow to the back of the head many times over the next 85 minutes, and that is that war is ultimately futile. Now that we have that, and after the battle is a success but not necessarily a victory, we can get into the meat of the movie.

Brecca is dangerously close to losing the war, and in six months the Obsidian forces will run rampant and win unless something is done. The General’s solution? A six-man mission led by him, into the heart of Obsidian territory to deliver the payload of the ultimate weapon, the Warhammer.

The rest of the supporting cast is introduced quickly thereafter in the form of Stoner, Sutherland’s best friend, a crack sniper, and an endless supply of war related quips and one liners. Thomas Ian Griffith (Vampires, XXX, Karate Kid III) also joins our band of heroes as Evans, the new grizzled veteran who is more than happy to pick up where the old grizzled veteran left off informing Sutherland about the horrors of war, and constantly reminding him they aren’t fighting for a real purpose. The movie valiantly pushes forward from here, and you can see the budget getting smaller and smaller as it progresses, all the way to the less than dramatic conclusion.

Overall, this movie isn’t as good as it thinks it is. If the tone wasn’t so serious, and the actors were replaced with the local high school theater class, it could have been fun. Who doesn’t love cheesy sci-fi when taken with a grain of salt? Final Encounter really wants to send a message and I think directors David and Tim Douglas really wanted to entertain the viewer, however they fall short of that mark because of unnecessary plot elements and poor characterization.

There’s a subplot involving Abel, the lead Programmer, and her little sister that goes nowhere. The scenes where Sutherland is supposed to grow fall flat, mostly because of the two expressions Justin Whalin uses, anger and confusion. Dean Cain comes across as Dean Cain playing a guy named ‘The General.’

The only character that is in any way enjoyable as a character and not as eye candy as the Programmers are is Stoner. Writers David Douglas and Christopher Salazar gave him some really good one liners, however judging from the quality of the plot and dialogue, I find myself wondering where they stole those quotes from. Stoner would also just drop them randomly, as if he were part soldier, part fortune cookie.

There are a few bright spots, worthy of pointing and laughing. For example, the jump cut in the opening fight scene where the child-soldier picks up a hand grenade to toss it back and vanishes in a puff of with no gore. Or ‘The Wall,’ the barrier that divides Brecca and Obsidian. Inside said wall appears to be either a decommissioned laser tag arena or purple garbage bags wrapped around cardboard. The same set is also re-used for the final showdown, by the way.

In closing, this movie was suggested to me by my roommate, who claimed the special effects were pretty good for a movie with that low of a budget. I’m questioning now his idea of good special effects, and his taste in movies.

1 ½ out of 4

reviewed by Seth Moore