Path of Destruction (2005)

With one exception (the movie "Lost Voyage"), the Unified Film Organization film company has not exactly been churning out quality B films. Neither has the film division of the Sci-Fi network. "Path Of Destruction" was made both by UFO and the Sci-Fi network! So my expectations weren't exactly high when I sat down to watch it.Actually, it was a bit better than I expected. The special effects were above average, for one thing. True, there are some shoddy CGI shots, but there are also some that are pretty impressive for a low budget. Some non-CGI effects are also pretty good, such as depiciting the bad weather and the destruction it causes.The movie also starts off in an intriguing way... but soon things collapse due to a poorly written script. Among other implausible things, the heroine never goes to the press with the information she has on CD, nor gives it to the military later on. The script has clichéd characters like hard-to-convince authority figures, sneaky corporate types. It also has a character who is killed but miraculously turns up alive later.Nothing new here, either script-wise or film company quality.

Okay, okay...I know my summary says it all. Another Sci Fi Channel "original." Well, wait just a minute folks; this one actually seems to have a grain of originality.I'm afraid the nanotechnology concept is where it ends, though. Bad acting. Horrible CGI. Ridiculous plot twists. Starring Winnie and directed by Flounder.But this one is so horribly bad, folks, that it's entertaining. We're not talking PLAN 9 bad, but pretty close. Another reviewer indicated that this may have been intentional, but I'm not buying it. For those of you that enjoy this kind of thing, buy some beer, turn off your mind, relax and float down stream.

Some weird things that look like a swarm of black CGI marks try to take over the world. An accident releases them at some off-shore drilling place which they wreck, and then they wander off to destroy more things.Beautiful Danika McKellar is the most memorable part of the movie. Not only is she incredibly cute, but her acting is top notch in spite of the plot-hole ridden script. She's a journalist who happened to be at the site of the first accident, and apparently there's some icky evil government plot behind the creatures, so a bunch of thugs everywhere are after her. There are numerous clichés of this kind thrown around, but there are a few spots of action that almost make sense in this thing. The science is whack. The things destroy stuff in ways that are bizarre and inconsistent. The way the heroes try to combat the things is almost comical. If you watch this as a joke in an MST3K sort of way, it can be entertaining on that basis. I just hope Danika gets some better roles in the future.

She has a few good scenes in the opening and in the train station escaping from the baddies and that's just about it. Everyone else comes off as someone from writing characters 101. The cloud's special effect is ho-hum. There's blatant inconsistencies here that I can't excuse. Her weatherman love interest's skirt chasing co-worker is appears atttacked by the nanites ergo I presume he's dead for most of the film, but no he's not even bruised. Another one is the vicious nanites only eat half of Seattle's buildings. But the most galling of all is the ending where Danica's inexpirenced civilian character is serving as airforce co-pilot to the base chief who's just as inexperienced manning a dangerous mission. 11,000,000 people in California are in danger HELLO?? Hello?? I give it a worth see due to Danica's upbeat performance.