Garm Wars: The Last Druid (2014)

The film starts off with a battle and we don't know anything about what is going on. 6 minutes into the film we get an explanation for what appears to be an RPG fantasy game. There was once 8 tribes living on Annon (sp?) created by the god Denown (sp?). When the God left, the tribes who all spoke a different language went to war. (They all speak English now, truly it is a universal language.) There are 3 tribes left. The Briga are the most powerful. They are assisted by the Kumbak who control the information technology. Together they fight the Columba who control the air.Wydd (Lance Henriksen becasue David Carradine is dead) is a Kumbak who is traveling with the last Druid, a tree talker, who can tie into the ancient knowledge of the gods or something. The tribes fight as clones. When they die, their memory gets downloaded and they are cloned. Our female Columba was a Kiakra 22/23 Khara (Mélanie St-Pierre). Oh yes there is a Basset Hound known as a Gula. If a Gula likes you, you are blessed and it is a sin to kill someone who is blessed by a Gula.The film uses a 3D CGI background. I imagine all the stiff acting took place in front of a blue screen. The film ends where an equally confusing sequel would commence.The film asks basic questions about God, life and death. It utilizes philosophy and language from Genesis, but not exclusively. The people collectively who live on the planet are called Garm, hence the title.This is for the younger generation.Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. War violence. Minor blood.

Plot: 7/10 The beginning of the movie shoves you right into the action and you get a crash course in who the players are in the movie. So you're not really sure who the good or bad guy is. I think this was deliberate. The end is unsatisfying which is the perfect set up for a sequel.Cast: 8/10 The movie is well cast, Kevin Durand and Melanie St. Pierre are exactly who you want to see in these roles. Lance Henriksen anchors the group well and Holly the dog is an unexpected treat. Visuals: 9/10 Well it's beautiful to look at. The uniforms, the hair, the machines, the back drop, the ships and oh yeah the guns. The action scenes are very satisfying and it's a total fantasy land for your inner nerd. This movie reveals itself over time, so you have to watch it a few times before things start to make more sense.

Masterful piece from Mamoru Oshii. Production design is tops. Everything says "Ghost in the Shell" without the title, the DNA essence of cyberpunk ultraviolence genre of Japanese anime. The plot does have a beginning, middle and end. Listen to the narrator's voice. She begins with the history of the Garm Wars, setting the backdrop for the players. The narrator ends the movie setting up the conflict of man against the alien army of mechanized giants. The sound design is exquisite. You can turn off the video and just listen to all the elements. The movie did not have a hundred million dollar budget, but production delivered some amazing eye candy CGI. The bulk of the static camera work did not call too much to itself and the editing was solid. The music orchestration is hypnotic, grounded to GIS yet having that other worldly effect. I would love to see a sequel.

It hurts so much that I didn't like this film. It was disappointing from start to finish, but from distinct reasons.First of all there was the visual effect applied everywhere, something like a glow with an extra color saturation. It made everything feel cheap and fake. Then there was the script, which started getting more and more holes, with the characters doing what they needed to do to further the script, regardless of continuity. And then, after all this, the ending is revealed to be no ending at all, just an abrupt cliffhanger that hopes to lead to a continuation. Add to it the pseudo-religious parables and you get a cheap looking film that makes less sense than The Matrix.I so wanted to see Oshii making it out there in the live action area. I so wanted Durand to finally show his potential as a main character in a powerful film. Yet, besides the nice world design and the always fascinating music of Kenji Kawai, this film was a failure.