In a move that seems to hand-select and marry elements of Serenity and TRON: Legacy, Syfy's Red Faction: Origins is a tale of mis-representation, second chances, and redemption. Based on the popular video game franchise, "Red Faction," this made-for-TV movie takes the action and imagery to the next level (and fits in between the third and fourth games in the chronology of the story) but makes it even more approachable by following not the gruff rebel who has been cast out by the new society, Alec Mason (Robert Patrick), but instead his clean cut, boy-next-door, likeable but still a bit damaged son, Jake (Brian J. Smith). By begging the question of how much we base our decisions on what we only think to be truths, Red Faction: Origins sets up an extremely relatable existential struggle set on an unbelievable backdrop.
Jake is plagued by memories of soldiers in white coming for his family when he was just a boy. His mother fought back as hard as she could, but they were stronger and ultimately overpowered and killed her, while he and his sister fled. But his sister wasn't fast enough, and they took her to be killed at another location. Or so Jake and his father assumed. But coming into contact with another soldier in white on a mission reveals that instead of killing her, they simply took her to use her in their own infantry. Now his challenge is not simply to fight in-- and win-- this war but to try to save his sister from their clutches, something he failed at when he was just a boy.
Jake's memories-- his flashbacks-- have an "old home movie" quality to them that greatly contrast the gritty and shadowy present in which he currently lives. They add a richness to the story visually but also emotionally; Syfy knew they were limited when it came to the scope of the action they could showcase using live-action actors compared to the players in a video game, so they focused more on the weight of all Jake carries around with him.
And it truly eats away at him and informs all of his actions and decisions, making the film feel much heavier than one might expect from a franchise known for gunfire and explosions. What's especially commendable about Red Faction: Origins is that it weaves enough backstory that even if you are completely unfamiliar with the video game franchise, you won't get lost in the "whos" or the "whats" of this intricate tale. It manages to ride the thin line of not dumbing down but not being presumptuous either.
In Red Faction: Origins, Jake's own father doesn't believe him about these "phantom" soldiers in white, assuming because he was a child when the bad thing happened, his imagination crafted a story. The fact that these soldiers are just people like them is a problem for those who only understand a more black and white (so to speak) threat. For Jake, this sets up a layered conflict of not only getting over his survivor's guilt by bringing his family back together but also proving to his father that he isn't a screw up and he isn't a flake: that he knew what he was talking about all along. The soldier Jake is now can very much be seen as just trying to live up to his father's expectations-- to what his father himself was once. And Red Faction: Origins is his one solid chance to man up, in just about every sense of the term.
Jake is flanked by two very strong females in their own right-- Tess (Danielle Nicolet), who prides herself on being "the smartest person in the room" even though at times she can put her foot in her mouth, and The Matriarch (Kate Vernon), who rules her own society. They are the surrogate family that Jake lost oh, so many years ago, and his relationship with Tess especially reads as a jovial, somewhat teasing, big brother/little sister dynamic, and Nicolet adds a level of spunk and spontaneity that cuts the seriousness at the times you need the relief most. The Matriarch, on the other hand, is distant and cold, noted best by the blue hues her hologram is bathed in when she appears to the various men. Vernon is strong and stoic as a leader, but we really only get little blips at her-- short bursts of monologue-esque dialogue in its importance that leaves us wanting to know more. But truly, this movie is Smith's vehicle to carry and with which to break out. And he does an unparalleled job in his quiet yet calculated ways.
Red Faction: Origins premieres on Syfy on June 4th at 9pm. The writers shared at NBC-Universal's Summer Press Day in Los Angeles that the two-hour movie was always intended to live as a kind of backdoor pilot, as well (who wouldn't want to keep this cast around television, right?), so tune in and tell us if you would watch it on a weekly basis!
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