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The Gene Generation
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
The Gene Generation
Sci-Fi / English / 2007
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
A forgotten cyberpunk movie from 2007 starring a badass punky Action Girl? Why have I not heard of this!?
WHAT'D I THINK? *SPOILERS*Okay, first off: This is not cyberpunk. This is biopunk. Biopunk is not a form of cyberpunk. Even Wikipedia will tell you it's a "related genre".
Second off: It sucks that this movie started off as strong as it did, but just couldn't seem to help making mistakes along the way.
Instantly I can tell you it's a more coherent story than Natural City and just as quickly I can tell you the characters are way more interesting than Cherry 2000.
You can also tell right away that this movie had a pretty decent budget and blew a lot of it on fairly gratuitous CG. We get CG blood, CG backgrounds, some pretty neat tentacle effects, and a little bit of visual flair with the action which at first made me wish the action cropped up sooner than the 20+ minute mark, but I soon realized that this is that variety of action where the camera chops up shots from different angles and spits 'em out rapidfire so it's generally disorienting.
Kinda sucks, and definitely cheapens the moments where Action Girl, Mitch (hey! I remembered her name!), manages to disarm 4 guys with guns to her head, unarmed. When you cut away from the specifics of each action like that, this is the kind of thing I'm thinking of and I've lost that suspension of disbelief.
But let's be real: I can forgive crappy CG and slightly crappy editing if the rest of the movie's interesting.
And it is... but it ****s up quite a few times by the end.
I'm not going to get into entire plot since I really don't care that much, but suffice it to say it's engaging and doesn't falter under surface scrutiny. That is until you get to characters acting like characters and not like human ****ing beings.
Case #1: Gamble Guy, is the name I'm gonna call him. I like him in the sense that he's tends to steal whatever scene he's in, but his mere existence bothers me because of the total lack of genre-savviness of the other characters. Could have a more obvious Recurring Villain? Could he be any more cheesy yelling, "I want HIM~ ALIIIVE!!!"
Case #2: Mitch, our main protagonist. She apparently hunts down "DNA hackers" (yeah, they're called that) and my issue with her is one you can see coming within the first several minutes of the movie. You see her sitting at her desk looking longingly at her family photos.
Then you see a totally unrelated guy also looking longingly at family photos.
You see her.
You see him.
Her.
Him.
If it wasn't obvious enough we get a totally out-of-place shot of her sitting at home watching a romantic movie. IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN YET, SHOOT YOURSELF, YOU ARE TOO DUMB TO LIVE.
Eventually she runs into him sneaking up on her since her brother, Jackie stole something from him and she kicks him in the neck knocking him. She estimates on the spot that he'll be out "for about 36 hours". HOLY ****, that's specific! From now on I shall call that the 36 HOUR KICK, that move you use when you want to remove pesky characters from the plot until you need them.
After most of the movie rolls by the guy wakes up, freaks out, since, duh, his stuff got stolen and he knows they have it, and she kicks him in the neck again and I'm like, "WHPBFFT Another 36 HOUR KICK!?", but no that was just a 3 Minute Kick.
He wakes up, they talk, she's got orders to kill him, he convinces her that he's not a "DNA hacker". Then they get closer and closer and she touches his shoulder and Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't DoOh good, he went back to his apartment.
Alright, we cut to what Jackie's up to and we're back with Mitch knocking on the other guy's door looking longingly at him and they silently move closer and Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!! DAMMIT!!!!
Case #3: Jackie, Mitch's brother provokes most of the events of the movie. Apparently he drinks and gambles away their money and his sister doesn't like it, but he doesn't like her assassin job, so there's some familial hostility and it's all well and good UNTIL ONE SCENE.
So he stole this "transcoder" device which was stolen from him by Gamble Guy who doesn't know the value of it, but took it in revenge for his sister killing 3 of his guys. She paid off more than what Jackie was indebted to Gamble Guy for, but he's still a righteous butthead and insists on more to cover the loss of his men.
ACTUAL VILLAIN shows up and offers Jackie a massive amount of money in exchange for the transcoder and here's how this ideally plays out in my head, right?:
Of course that doesn't happen, but what DOES happen is Jackie gets all up in his own ass, throws caution and his sister's advice out the window and BUSTS INTO THEIR HIDEOUT WITH A GUN TO THREATEN AND HUMILIATE THEM INTO HANDING OVER THE TRANSCODER.
Let me remind you that this is the obvious Recurring Villain he's ****ing with.
The rest of the movie is pretty meh by this point. We get some stupid injuries (Mitch lies in a massive pool of blood that drips down her face immediately following getting shot in the LEG) and it's tough to forgive everything that's happened on top of the giant cliches the movie drops such as that totally non-specific fire that we'll only briefly mention as part of our backstory but significantly factors into the plot AS WELL AS...
Final Verdict: [Meh...]
Second off: It sucks that this movie started off as strong as it did, but just couldn't seem to help making mistakes along the way.
Instantly I can tell you it's a more coherent story than Natural City and just as quickly I can tell you the characters are way more interesting than Cherry 2000.
You can also tell right away that this movie had a pretty decent budget and blew a lot of it on fairly gratuitous CG. We get CG blood, CG backgrounds, some pretty neat tentacle effects, and a little bit of visual flair with the action which at first made me wish the action cropped up sooner than the 20+ minute mark, but I soon realized that this is that variety of action where the camera chops up shots from different angles and spits 'em out rapidfire so it's generally disorienting.
Kinda sucks, and definitely cheapens the moments where Action Girl, Mitch (hey! I remembered her name!), manages to disarm 4 guys with guns to her head, unarmed. When you cut away from the specifics of each action like that, this is the kind of thing I'm thinking of and I've lost that suspension of disbelief.
But let's be real: I can forgive crappy CG and slightly crappy editing if the rest of the movie's interesting.
And it is... but it ****s up quite a few times by the end.
I'm not going to get into entire plot since I really don't care that much, but suffice it to say it's engaging and doesn't falter under surface scrutiny. That is until you get to characters acting like characters and not like human ****ing beings.
Case #1: Gamble Guy, is the name I'm gonna call him. I like him in the sense that he's tends to steal whatever scene he's in, but his mere existence bothers me because of the total lack of genre-savviness of the other characters. Could have a more obvious Recurring Villain? Could he be any more cheesy yelling, "I want HIM~ ALIIIVE!!!"
Case #2: Mitch, our main protagonist. She apparently hunts down "DNA hackers" (yeah, they're called that) and my issue with her is one you can see coming within the first several minutes of the movie. You see her sitting at her desk looking longingly at her family photos.
Then you see a totally unrelated guy also looking longingly at family photos.
You see her.
You see him.
Her.
Him.
If it wasn't obvious enough we get a totally out-of-place shot of her sitting at home watching a romantic movie. IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN YET, SHOOT YOURSELF, YOU ARE TOO DUMB TO LIVE.
Eventually she runs into him sneaking up on her since her brother, Jackie stole something from him and she kicks him in the neck knocking him. She estimates on the spot that he'll be out "for about 36 hours". HOLY ****, that's specific! From now on I shall call that the 36 HOUR KICK, that move you use when you want to remove pesky characters from the plot until you need them.
After most of the movie rolls by the guy wakes up, freaks out, since, duh, his stuff got stolen and he knows they have it, and she kicks him in the neck again and I'm like, "WHPBFFT Another 36 HOUR KICK!?", but no that was just a 3 Minute Kick.
He wakes up, they talk, she's got orders to kill him, he convinces her that he's not a "DNA hacker". Then they get closer and closer and she touches his shoulder and Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't DoOh good, he went back to his apartment.
Alright, we cut to what Jackie's up to and we're back with Mitch knocking on the other guy's door looking longingly at him and they silently move closer and Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't Don't
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!! DAMMIT!!!!
Case #3: Jackie, Mitch's brother provokes most of the events of the movie. Apparently he drinks and gambles away their money and his sister doesn't like it, but he doesn't like her assassin job, so there's some familial hostility and it's all well and good UNTIL ONE SCENE.
So he stole this "transcoder" device which was stolen from him by Gamble Guy who doesn't know the value of it, but took it in revenge for his sister killing 3 of his guys. She paid off more than what Jackie was indebted to Gamble Guy for, but he's still a righteous butthead and insists on more to cover the loss of his men.
ACTUAL VILLAIN shows up and offers Jackie a massive amount of money in exchange for the transcoder and here's how this ideally plays out in my head, right?:
Originally Posted by Jackie
Hey, Gamble Guy, I'm really sorry for the trouble I caused and I know I owe you a lot, but look, that device you took from me was what I was working on getting your money back with. I can give you 5000 RIGHT NOW, up front for it and after I get it to my buyer I can get you another 5000. That should make us square, right?
Originally Posted by Gamble Guy
Yes, I will agree to that deal because it is entirely within my best interest.
Let me remind you that this is the obvious Recurring Villain he's ****ing with.
The rest of the movie is pretty meh by this point. We get some stupid injuries (Mitch lies in a massive pool of blood that drips down her face immediately following getting shot in the LEG) and it's tough to forgive everything that's happened on top of the giant cliches the movie drops such as that totally non-specific fire that we'll only briefly mention as part of our backstory but significantly factors into the plot AS WELL AS...
Originally Posted by Love Interest
What if he's dead?
Originally Posted by Mitch
He's not. I can feel it.
Altogether? Dumb movie. We need more like this.
With better writing.
With better writing.
Final Verdict: [Meh...]