Darklight (2004)

From the beginning of the world, the evil first woman, Lilith, was expelled from Paradise, becoming an immortal powerful being. A secret society, The Faith, was created to chase and destroy Lilith, who loses her memory after a battle.There is some good thinking behind this film. I really like mixing Biblical (or quasi-biblical) concepts into horror and science fiction. When done right, they are incredible. Look at "Stigmata" or "The Prophecy", just off the top of my head.But the problem here is that such a complicated idea was put into such a small amount of time. A season 9and it would only have to be one) could flesh out the story, explain the characters... as is, it is just sort of disposable.

The story behind this movie is very interesting, and in general the plot is not so bad... but the details: writing, directing, continuity, pacing, action sequences, stunts, and use of CG all cheapen and spoil the film.First off, action sequences. They are all quite unexciting. Most consist of someone standing up and getting shot, making no attempt to run, fight, dodge, or whatever, even though they have all the time in the world. The sequences just seem bland for something made in 2004.The CG features very nicely rendered and animated effects, but they come off looking cheap because of how they are used.Pacing: everything happens too quickly. For example, "Elle" is trained to fight in a couple of hours, and from the start can do back-flips, etc. Why is she so acrobatic? None of this is explained in the movie. As Lilith, she wouldn't have needed to be able to do back flips - maybe she couldn't, since she had wings.Also, we have sequences like a woman getting run over by a car, and getting up and just wandering off into a deserted room with a sink and mirror, and then stabbing herself in the throat, all for no apparent reason, and without any of the spectators really caring that she just got hit by a car (and then felt the secondary effects of another, exploding car)... "Are you okay?" asks the driver "yes, I'm fine" she says, bloodied and disheveled.I watched it all, though, because the introduction promised me that it would be interesting... but in the end, the poor execution made me wish for anything else: Blade, Vampire Hunter D, even that movie with vampires where Jackie Chan was comic relief, because they managed to suspend my disbelief, but this just made me want to shake the director awake, and give the writer a good talking to.

Although I agree with the earlier posting about Darklight not having much direction, I think it was initially a pilot for a series that never got greenlighted. It was like the producers had several episodes that they had to piece together to salvage what was funded in startup. The effects were good for TV -- we can't expect CGI in everything. I thought the initial storyline of Adam's first wife, Lilith, seeking to be absolved from her initial sins was a good premise. I would like to see the movie developed into a mini-series, if not a series. It could be something like 'Angel' with a flawed key figure trying to pay for the sins of the past.

I love good, idea-driven sci-fi. Where there's actually a fresh concept. Not just another alien or killer android story. Darklight has an interesting hook, a she-devil who comes from the garden of eden and needs to reform herself to become a champion for man and woman kind. This movie asks for a little patience. I don't recommend it for people with A.D.D. But I believe the audience's investment is rewarded, as mine was. There's a lot going on. The story is filled with concepts, many we've seen, but they're presented in a refreshing way: a secret religious group, a mystical energy force, genetic experiments, a biblical plague, ancient curses, and more. I appreciate that the movie-makers took a novelistic approach to a TV movie. It's certainly dense. But that's a good thing IMO. I found myself discovering things on my own and not being force-fed a simplistic idea. The nicest part for me was the partnership between Lillith and William, Richard B's character. It was pretty evenly matched. I cared as much for him as I did for her and when he was struck with the plague, I wanted to see him pull through. I like David Hewlett on SGA and always liked John Delancy. Darklight was like a puzzle, when the pieces came together, it was more than the sum of its parts.