Today's Review is on The Rapture by Johnny K. Wu, of our very own Cleveland, OH. This is a feature film that is sci-fi action and holds the viewer's attention. While most indie feature films typically have tons of flaws, this one actually holds itself above most. Remember, this is independent film we are talking about, not something that cost $100MM to make. I can see this title at Hollywood Video, in all honesty. Other Cleveland indie films have succeeded, and this is everybit as good.
The Rapture is a mix of science fiction, fantasy, martial arts, family, and evil doers. You have a mysterious scientist woman, Dr. Gutierrez (Annie Kitral), who turns people into cool super-powered experiments for a greater cause, but under the funding of a badguy. She adopts 2 of the experiments and raises them, gives them martial arts training to defend themselves, and hides them from other experiments hell bent on finding her. Mind you, time has passed between the intro and to where the two sons, experiments by the names Midael (George Tutie) and Job (Brian Richeson), are fully grown young adults. The experiments are all to make Chimaera, or rather people who are advanced and don't need to eat food to grow and survive. The side effect is superpowers and metal appendages. Job is emotionally damaged from betrayal and has no problem killing people with his powers and metal scorpionlike tail. Midael has metal wings and tries to stop him. After some altercations with a small military force, Job disappears on a manhunt of sorts and Midael needs a way to track and stop him. The scientist mother convinces the son of her former boss, Jonathan (Kyle Znamenak), to help out and shows him he has another true potential other than what he thought. It's a little more complicated than all this, but I can't just ruin it for you.
The other experiments that are hunting Dr.G. are lead by "E" (E Ray Goodwin Jr.), and Mia Myros (Donna Williams). I won't name all the people acting or in production of this movie within this article, as that's too much and not what this review is about. These experimental Chimaera cause a lot of heartache and leads to a climactic fight scene, which I enjoyed very much. One of my favorite scenes, however, is when Job (renaming himself Abaddon) attacks Mr. Big's yacht while docked. Energy balls throwing people into the water and the scene with Mr. Big was just plain fun. I think that along with all the action, women viewing this film will get a lot out of it too, emotionally, as family is a large part of The Rapture.
Acting wise, I have to say I enjoyed "E" character best during the end fight scene. While at first, E Ray's acting of that character was a little overdramatic for my tastes earlier in the movie, when it came down to that battle scene, it screamed Hollywood martial arts action. "E" was badass in look and acting style and helped make everything cinematic. Another Cleveland actor I am growing more fond of and think has lots of potential is Kyle Znamenak. I've seen a few of his roles now and he reminds me a bit of Rob Schnieder, but more fresh and honing in on some solid acting skills. I wouldn't doubt that he goes on to become something bigger. Finally, Tom Fulton, aka Mr. Big was a lot of fun. It wasn't a big role, but was lightheardedly evil and a fun character. Don't get me wrong, the cast did very well on all their parts, and it couldn't be easy, but these 3 stood out to me the most. All the main characters were far better than many network scifi TV shows have had, so kudos to everyone and Johnny Wu for keeping it together. Let's be honest, have you seen much science fiction programming of lately, with real budgets gone to waste? Kudos again to low-budget feature indie filmmaking.
Productionwise, everyone involved did a good job. Again my favorite scene for production is the final fight scene. Lighting, shooting, even special effectswise.....it looked pretty high-end for an indie film. Despite video camera technicalities, all production elements were pretty solid on the indie front and make for good storytelling. Practical effects were pretty solid, considering indie films are known for tin foil and elmer's glue, but these are modern times. Tom L. does really good practical effects work locally from productions I've seen. While practical wings for Midael didn't seem to be warranted for this film (I peeked at behind the scenes) and they ended up doing digital ones, you can see that if there was a more solid HD workflow and more of a budget/ time to work with, the wings would have been really perfect.....but here's the best part....these were pretty sweet, especially for indie. What production can say they had flapping and folding 3D wings, let alone in combination with wire work on the actor? Yeah, I said it...wire work! People were whipped around on wires, doing stunts! For those who saw A Joker's Card, Johnny's previous short, this movie is nothing like that. The wire work is far more extensive and serve the action well. A lot of people worked hard to maintain quality. Maybe I'm hyping this up more than it deserves, but since Hollywood didn't back this production, the sheer will and determination that made this level of quality has to be commended. Plus, it's enjoyable in and of itself.
Digital effects were around basic network television budget level. Already mentioned, the wings were a step above the norm. With a few exceptions of a few particle-based electricity shots that were slid around to match hand motion the visual effects were powerful, enhanced the story, and were pretty organic to the characters and environments they were designed for. It's good to see a fair amount of vfx within a true indie production. Yay for visual effects!
Martial arts of this film were very well done and obviously took a lot of work. In my debut, Blood Donors, I spoof martial arts with some basic moves from cast who trained, but that is completely opposite of what is done in this movie. Any choreographical look gets overshadowed by the sheer volume of moves and vfx shots that captivate the screen. If you are a fan of martial arts fight scenes, this is a good movie for your collection.
Pacing and flow of the story was very well done. While past discussion about pacing in Asian films has led me to believe this might have been more drawn out for story and emotion through cast, it simply wasn't! It kept a pretty standard flow and scenes went into each other pretty solidly. I was quite impressed! Usually, whenever a flashback or jump to point in time presents itself within most indie films, I get ready to cringe because of potential pitfalls of executing such an artform. No problems here. I was relieved to see that the execution of such scenes was done to where the audience could easily follow it and the storytellers could do what they wanted. Yay, a step forward for indies.
This was overall, a very pleasant sci-fi movie that has more surprises than one would expect. When you pick up the DVD and have read the synopsis, you think it will probably be something it's not, because the synopsis doesn't spoil the true movie for you. It's so much more. This movie was made to be both fun, emotional, and stylized towards quality martial arts, from what I can tell. There are serious moments, funny little gags thrown in, and enough to please different types of viewers. Although a Sony Cinealta or Red One camera could have made this movie jump up a grade even higher, it's the movie itself that makes it well worthwhile.
Below is a few links to Johnny Wu's events and web links. For those who are big into film or are filmmakers, I recommend attending or checking these out. Next, I review his Jean Claude the Gumming Zombie, which is the funniest short I've seen in a while. No, Johnny hasn't paid me, nor have I ever worked with him, for those wondering. Best, Kenny
There's the Ingenuity Festival where Jean Claude the
Gumming Zombie and The Rapture will be played, and then in August, there's
the IndieGathering Film Festival (www.theindiegathering.com) check out their
free lectures http://www.theindiegathering.com/freeLectures.htm
Johnny Wu
Producer/Director/Editor
President
OCA-Cleveland Chapter
“Embracing the Hopes and Aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans”
Administrator
Cleveland IndieClub
Comments
so how much do I owe you now? lol thanks for such a great review! If you ever in town, let me know so I'll make sure the studio is available for you to tour in and see how we did stuff (pending if studio owners were available) :)
Thanks again!
I am an independent film maker in Cleveland and I have seen "The Rapture" and I wonder - how much did Johnny pay you for this review? Honestly, this was a horrible, horrible production on all levels. The story and editing were uninspired. There was nothing redeemable about this movie. And the blame for everything, the acting, the story, the production, all falls on the M. Night Shamalamadingdong of Cleveland, Johnny Wu. Why he is still making movies is beyond me. Don't believe me? Check out Jean-Claude the Gumming Zombie. Makes the Rapture look like Gone with the Wind. Johnny, you're one hell of a promoter, stick with that. Leave the movie-making to others.
Hey thanks B. for your comment. glad you didn't like the film, every movie made, there will be people either loving it or hating it. Everyone has their own preferences what is good and what is bad, for you, my films sucks, which is fine, at least I get paid doing what I love doing. :) And through every film I've made, I learn and grow, hope you grow as well.
As stated, I didn't see money out of this review. While the one comment on here borders on web flaming, I won't delete it for the moment. If anyone wants to attack indie film and their makers, they should really consider making a feature production themselves. It's a hard enough climb to do what we do in the arts, so why must anybody try to ruin that? Are we adults? If you want to attack film, go after the ones with real budgets that should know better what they are doing! Johnny being a good promoter shouldn't have to be his job...but that's what being indie sometimes entails, so if he's that good at promoting, think of the work he's done to make the productions and pull things together as both director and editor. I don't see how he has the time, let alone helping others realize their visions through group leadership. Does Johnny have a twin? To those who flame other's works, see the end scene of "Fan Boys" and then look in the mirror. Get your DVD's autographed and be humble.
Hi Kenny,
Just wanna say, I liked the review. This was my first feature film and I'm glad most of the reviews are so positive. It does get to me, sometimes, when comments are posted like the one below. Anyways, glad you liked The Rapture. Take care!
Tidbit: did you know The Rapture was shot in 11 days using 2 units working at the same time? Yet it took over 12 months to do all the editing and over 2 years total from pre-production to the finished project?
To have a feature film done with more than 100+ people involved, it requires a lot of planning and rehearsal, which made this film what it is.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!