The Posthuman Project (2014)

THE POSTHUMAN PROJECT is a young adult indie science fiction feature that turns out to be an open rip-off of the Hollywood hit CHRONICLE. The characters are very similar, and the plot - about them unlocking superheroic powers while on a trip together - is virtually identical. The main difference is that this is an indie feature, so hopelessly rough around the edges in terms of technical values, the calibre of the acting, etc. It's confusingly written and the moral dilemma material is plain boring for the most part.

We popped in the Blu-Ray and the menu came up as expected. What wasn't expected was the amount of work that went into the menu alone, and this surprise set the tone for what we'd soon discover was true of the entire movie! If I only had one word to sum up this film, it would have to be this: impressive. It delivered an entertaining and engaging story with a fairly high production quality for a tiny fraction of the budget of a mainstream production.There are some really funny moments of writing in this film. When Gwen says, "Us in charge of the world. What could possibly go wrong?" and then we cut to Denny's teacher writing "Mutually Assured Destruction" on the chalkboard. Tasty. Or when the assassin spits out "Shoot an unarmed man? You don't have the..." (nut shot) "Balls!" I laughed out loud. Or when Archie tries to disappear but belches instead. Too cute. I appreciated the silly moments like these in a film that doesn't take itself too seriously. As for the film's other accomplishments, here is a modest list: the opening credits, chapter titles and transitions, and the special effects were each masterfully executed, and indistinguishable from those of any mainstream blockbuster hit (though the green screen scenes in the car were fairly obvious). The soundtrack was a pleasant surprise, and the car scene with everyone singing along was just too precious and reminded me of that classic "Tiny Dancer" singalong on the tour bus from Almost Famous. The filming locations were varied and interesting--abandoned fairgrounds? Yes, please. The choreographed fighting and accompanying sound effects were fairly convincing to me. The cinematography was reminiscent of J.J. Abrams with his stunning use of light. One of my favorite moments on film was a gorgeous, slow-motion flashback to a bygone Halloween that sucked me right in with a full dose of nostalgia. It melted me.There is one major fault of the film that can't be directly attributed to the low budget: with the exception of the main star, some of the performances from each of the actors felt forced from time to time. Naturally, that pulled us out of the story. I'm not in the industry, so I may be wrong, but I don't think this can be attributed to budget because the rest of their performances would suggest these were fully capable actors. With an extra take or two, I think the poorly-delivered lines could have been re-shot (though I'm sure that would probably have its own costs). In my opinion, the relatively high production quality and the original premise and creative script were enough to overlook those occasional insincerely-delivered lines and missed opportunities for directorial intervention.

Firstly, that guy above me who wrote one review for IMDb - for this movie - and gave it a 10 - that guy just about admits to being on the crew of the film.This is a fairly bad movie and most definitely not worth the time to view. The acting is that of a poor high school drama club, the "special effects" essentially consist of occasional blue glowing eyes and the direction is virtually non-existent.The plot line nothing you haven't seen before, exposure to radiation gives teenagers mutant super-powers. Right.The movie openly adopts a graphic novel approach with occasional cuts to an comic book overlay of the current scene. Nice but I'm pretty sure we've seen that before too.We live in an age where almost anyone can make a film because the tools to do so are so easily accessibly. This film once again proves that not everyone should.

to think that this movie was made by a handful of high school kids in Oklahoma. this movie far exceeds its own hype. I can't wait for this to be released on DVD. I want to see some behind the scenes stuff on this one. and props to Mr. Lucas Ross on his cameo. I saw this movie for the first time on a small TV news program here in Oklahoma City a few months ago. they were talking to some of the stars about how they shot the movie on such a low budget and I thought the story was awesome. I love that they shot some of it in their actual high school and I recognized a lot of the scenery around Ft. Sill and Lake Altus. The scene where Gwenn is getting picked up from her house was my favorite because it was shot in my neighborhood. I almost flipped right there in the theater.