On this edition of Direct to DVD Dissection, it’s time to look at the genre of family films. This time, in an adventure story straight from the heart of Michigan. As a great man once said, “Michigan needs heroes”. Can this film fill that need for a hero? Let’s take a look and find out!
The Story
When a mythical device from ancient times is rebuilt by a group of Confederates who feel the civil war never ended, Mickey Matson and his newfound friend, Sully, must follow a series of clues left by his dead grandfather to keep the evil men away from the three mystical objects that power the device. If he fails, it could mean not only the loss of his family’s home, but maybe the demise of our country as we know it.
The Cast
Derek Brandon as Mickey Matson. He’s work on films like THE CHRISTMAS BUNNY and THE GENESIS CODE.
Francesca Derosa as Sully. She is best known for working on the game show ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? for 16 episodes, and working on the Ted McGinley Christmas Christian film CHRISTMAS WITH A CAPITAL C.
Lee Arenberg as Billy Lee. Most recognizable in the role of Pintel in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN film series, he’s also worked in TV shows and movies like ONCE UPON A TIME, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, and WATERWORLD .
Ernie Hudson as Ivan Stumpwater. Best known for films like THE CROW, GHOSTBUSTERS 1 & 2, AIRHEADS, CONGO, and the HBO series OZ.
The Dissection
This film is a bit of an oddity. At first glance, it looks like one of those post-Harry Potter book movies, like PERCY JACKSON or something. It may share similar tones and themes, it’s more an adventure film than any of those, and a bit more down to Earth with the fantastical elements.
Mickey (Derek Brandon) and Sully (Francesca Derosa) at the start of their journey.
First off, anyone looking at the film because of Christopher Lloyd on the cover will be disappointed. While his character of Grandpa Jack is the big catalyst of the movie and mentioned all through it, he only shows up for about 3 minutes worth of scenes. Granted, he does great in them, and one of the scenes is one of the best of the film, but it’s mostly a cameo. Ernie Hudson could have used better billing, as he is in a good chunk of the film and goes a pretty good job. Same with Lee Arenberg in the secondary villain role, with some both funny and creepy moments. A lot of the more established actors do very good work here.
Other characters are a bit hit or miss. The main character is actually pretty good. you’re invested in his journey from the beginning to the end, and keeps you invested. However, then you have Sully in the partner role. Aside from the many other issues with her, the main one is that her character feels like someone threw two together. Have her be the tough city girl who can handle herself “cause she’s from CHICAGO!” or be the bumbling comedic sidekick who runs into trouble and is scared of small things like cemeteries, but not both. It’s almost as if there were suppose to be a three man band, with Mickey, Sully, and some nerdy guy named Speckled Jim or something, but something went wrong, and they just had to put them together to make the best of it. It’s odd.
Ivan (Ernie Hudson) eulogizing Mickey's deceased Grandpa Jack (Christopher Lloyd)
Another odd element is from some of the supporting cast. A good number of the good guys have the crazy old kook gimmick, and the baddies have the Southern accent. In Michigan. It’s sometimes taken to an odd extreme, and it ends up losing a lot of seriousness from both the heroes and the villains, and loses tension during some of the more serious moments. While it is a PG movie, it plays it too safe to the point where it affects the film.
The thing is, the movie itself is still good, in spite of these issues. The premise of the film, of this secret society from the era of Abraham Lincoln (Of course it was Lincoln) and how it affected these people and ends up affecting the life of Mickey is interesting. The film is very well shot and the locations and places the film goes work well to build this world, and the special effects are few and far between, and work cause of it. Plus, aside from the goofy elements, the actors work well to develop the characters more once the story kicks in and, with the exception of Sully, make it work. And it’s still fun. Most of the issues feel like it was trying too hard to push to the family film label. The main villain doesn’t seem all that threatening and his two goons are mostly played for laughs, and the kids, for most of the movie, don’t feel like they’re in danger. This doesn’t need to go dark at all, but a bit of a challenge adds more to the film’s enjoyment, and gives an audience a reason to care about our characters and the perils they’re facing.
With the movie, it has some trailers for other films from the production company on start up, and some simple extras. It includes a trailer, an interview with the writer/director, and a teaser for a sequel. There’s nothing for audio selection or closed captions, so be warned over it.
The Verdict
Despite some issues, it’s a good adventure film. It has some goofy writing at points (the names of some of the characters reaches General Grievous levels of blatant) and some strange choices and it would have been nice to see more of Christopher Lloyd’s character, but it is enjoyable and Derek Brandon does a great job in the title role. If the film does well, and it ends up warranting the sequel the disc teases with, then it could improve on those issues and set itself up as an interesting franchise in DVD movies.