The Gratuitous B-Movie Column 02.23.09: Issue #48
Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 02.23.2009
"Momentum" (2003)
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #48: "Momentum" (2003)
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that thinks pancakes are cool, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number forty-eight, I take a look at the 2003 sci-fi action flick "Momentum."
Momentum
"Momentum," directed by James Seale, is a fairly decent low budget sci-fi action flick that, in the end, acts more like a made-for-TV movie serving as a kind of back door pilot to a TV series that never materialized. Or perhaps just the first in a series of low budget sci-fi action movies, a kind of direct-to-video franchise featuring decent actors, effects, and action sequences. But since this flick isn't from the early 1990's and not produced and distributed by Charles "Trancers" Band's Full Moon Entertainment, not to mention the fact that one of the flick's stars, Teri Hatcher, probably wouldn't set foot on the set of a sequel unless she was paid about ten million dollars (she is on "Desperate Housewives," which premiered a year after "Momentum" debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel, so she's an artist and artists don't do sequel unless they're well paid), the chance of a proper sequel, now six years since the first, is oh so very slim.
The flick stars Grayson McCouch as Zachary Shefford, a mild mannered teacher recruited by a shady government operative named Raymond Addison (Louis Gossett, Jr.) to infiltrate a group of potential domestic terrorists. Why Shefford? Shefford shares certain specific abilities with the domestic terrorists (actually, it's just one ability), the ability to move things with his mind, also known as telekinesis (or psychokinesis, which is just bullshit but it's a movie so whether or not it's bullshit doesn't really matter), and because he shares such an ability, the terrorists will more easily accept him into their group (or so Addison claims).
Wait a second. Domestic terrorists with telekinetic abilities? What the heck is that about?
See, back in the late 1970's, the U.S. government conducted a series of experiments involving people with telekinetic abilities in the hope that those people could be turned into weapons. The government called the series of experiments "Project Momentum." Raymond Addison was the lead government hanlder for the project, and when the project went south (basically, the government decided that the test subjects were becoming too powerful and needed to be eliminated, the standard practice for when super secret government projects go awry, which is almost always what happens with super secret government projects, which makes you wonder why the government even initiates these kinds of projects in the first place), Addison was the lone entity charged with doing the eliminating. So that is what Addison did. A few of the test subjects escaped. One of those escapees, Adrian Geiger (Michael Massee), eventually went underground, eluding Addison for close to two decades. While underground, Geiger searched for other telekinetics, hoping to recruit them for his long range plan on confronting the world and making it known that he and his fellow telekinetics actually exist (well, that and exposing just what Addison and Project Momentum have been up to since the beginning). For all intents and purposes, Geiger had essentially disappeared, and Addison, the trail gone cold, had gone into forced semi-retirement. But then Geiger inadvertently resurfaced after a botched armored car robbery where he was identified, which caught the attention of Addison, who was then brought back into full on service to "finish" the job he started.
Which then brings us to Teri Hatcher's involvement in the story. Hatcher plays Jordan Ripps, an FBI agent with a reputation for butt kicking and whatnot (she's a bit of a minor celebrity among law enforcement because of some heroic thing she did that got her on the cover of national news magazines). She catches the attempted armored car robbery case and, with her wise cracking partner Frank McIntyre (Carmen Argenziano), slowly finds out about the telekinetic bullstuff and Addison and Project Momentum. As you'd expect, Ripps eventually teams up with Shefford as he tries to stop Geiger, that whole race against time thing.
What's great about "Momentum" is that it really doesn't waste any time getting to where it wants to go. The flick establishes Addison and Geiger very quickly and sets up their decades long relationship. However, instead of using that relationship as the main thrust of the story, the flick brings in the Shefford character, a character that only really has a tangential relationship at best with either Addison or Geiger. That wouldn't be a problem if the Shefford character was interesting, but it isn't. Grayson McCouch tries very hard to make Shefford interesting and he almost succeeds, but in the end the character just isn't good enough to be the main character. Now, had Shefford been something akin to Addison's secret telekinetic protoge activated to track down Geiger once Geiger's whereabouts are revealed, then Shefford would matter more because he'd actually have something to do with the story. Of course, if this flick actually was a pilot for a TV series or the first in a series of movies, then these issues wouldn't be that big of a deal because later movies could deal with them. As far as I can tell, "Momentum" is meant to be a one off movie, so those issues are real and apparently have no chance of being resolved.
Then there's the whole Teri Hatcher thing. Why is she even in this movie? I don't mean because she's a serious actor who shouldn't have to slum it in a B-movie like this, I mean her character really doesn't have anything to do with anything. She's superfluous to the story. It probably wouldn't have been a bad idea to make an actual movie based on the Jordan Ripps character (you kind of get a sense that she could be Bruce Willis/John McClane in the "Die Hard" sequels, where her reputation precedes her) or to make her the focal point of a TV show because, as we've seen with "Desperate Housewives" (not to mention "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman") she can carry one. I also would have liked to see more of Hatcher engaging in actual action stuff. There's a scene where she grabs a shotgun and then does nothing with it. How cool would it have been if she had actually used that shotgun on something? You're dang right it would have been cool. But that didn't happen. A missed opportunity for sure.
Louis Gossett, Jr. does a great job as the shady government operative Raymond Addison. There's a scene in an ambulance where Addison tortures a telekinetic by shooting him in the leg. At that very moment, if you didn't know what kind of character Addison was meant to be, you found out damn quick. He's a mean, rotten bastard killer and "patriot." His job is to protect the country no matter what. He will do whatever it takes to do so. He'll even take orders from Zach Galligan. If you're willing to take orders from Billy Peltzer and not rip his head off then you're very serious about your job. Michael Massee is excellent as the fugitive telekinetic Adrian Geiger. He has that dark and mysterious yet charismatic leader thing down pat, which is what the part calls for. I just don't understand why the flick doesn't focus on him and make him the actual lead character. What we get is good, though.
The actor who comes out of this flick is bad shape, though, is Nicki Aycox, who plays Tristen, the female telekinetic that falls for Shefford, ends up being more important to the story than initially thought, and then gets screwed because there is no sequel. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but I will say that if there had been a sequel she would have made out like a bandit. It's like she worked in a supporting capacity the whole movie, hoping there'd be something more at the end for her to do only to have the rug pulled out from under her. It's kind of sad, actually, when you think about it.
Yeah, yeah, I'm bitching quite a bit here about this movie. It's got issues. However, even with those issues and unfulfilled promise, it's really not that bad. It works for what it is. It's a B-movie with aspirations it will never be able to fulfill. It's the start of an unfinished franchise.
You should probably check out "Momentum." Again, even with its issues, it's not a bad flick at all. It's a decent enough way to waste time.
So what do we have here? Gratuitous crash site with flaming debris and bodies everywhere, a bent fork, gratuitous weird homeless guy with dreadlocks, gratuitous phone booth, gratuitous guy taking over an armored car with his mind, steering wheel attack, flipping armored car with massive front end damage, exploding wheels, gratuiutous Zach Galligan, gratuitous Lou Gossett, Jr., gratuitous sweaty fat kid, gratuitous sexual tension, gratuitous guy walking into a convenience story robbery, robbery foiling via telekinesis, gratuitous Teri Hatcher, gratuitous talking about "Frogger," autograph hounds, ambulance torture, bullet to the leg, gratuitous Asian torture specialist, gratuitous slow motion hip and edgy rave dance party, a skinny blond chick, a mugging, swablades to the wall, gratuitous weird furniture stacking, gratuitous telekinesis school, a massive telekinetic punch, car moving, gratuitous moving a file folder through the air, gratuitous explanation of "Project Momentum," gratuitous guy unbuttoning his shirt with his mind, dress removal via telekinesis, a "sex" scene, a bank robbery, innocent teacher killing, gratuitous SWAT team attack, a flash bang grenade, stealing a gun via telekinesis, breaking a guy's finger via telekinesis, neck breaking via telekinesis, lead pipe to the back of the head, exploding light bulb, electrocution, a telekinetic SWAT team massacre, gratuitous Teri Hatcher with a shotgun, gate crushing, gratuitous mulitple guns with laser sights, using telekinesis through a video monitor, guy attacked by the strap of his M-16 rifle, killing a guy with a car, a guy falls off a building, and an ending that implies a sequel.
Best lines: "Over here, Mr. Addison," "This is a physics class, right?," "Hey, why don't you run over to my place and teach me about friction?," "Are you guys FBI?," "A truck with a mind of its own? That's a new one," "You're creeping me out, Frank," "Anybody can move something when it's that close. How about something more distant?," "Don't think you can move it, know you can move it," "Don't mean shit!," "Look, no hands!," "These were ripped open from the inside," "Have you ever seen anyone move something without touching it?," "Gravity is a bitch," "If you're wrong, this could be the end of everything. It's just the beginning," "Start the damn car, Frank," "Yeah, supersize it," "That is one fucking bright light. Is that a halogen bulb in there?," "Lights out, asshole," "Never underestimate the government," "You're a threat to the security of this nation!," and "Self preservation is not an excuse for murder."
Rating: 7.0/10.0
***
Okay, that'll be about it for this issue. As always, B-movies rule. Never forget that. And if there's anything you want to see reviewed here in this column, feel free to offer a comment below or send me an e-mail. I'm always on the lookout for new stuff to watch.
"Momentum"
Lou Gossett, Jr.- Raymond Addison
Teri Hatcher- Jordan Ripps
Grayson McCouch- Zachary Shefford
Nicki Aycox- Tristen Geiger
Carmen Argenziano- Frank McIntyre
Morocco Omari- Lincoln
Daniel Dae Kim- Agent Frears
Alexondra Lee- Brooke
Brad Greenquist- Martin Elias
Zach Galligan- Director Hammond
Directed by James Seale
Screenplay by Deverin Karol
Distributed by Dimension Home Video
Rated R for violence and language
Runtime- 88 minutes
Buy it here
