Cyberpunk Review » Absolon

March 14, 2006

Absolon

Year: 2003

Directed by: David Barto

Written by: Brad Mirman

IMDB Reference

Degree of Cyberpunk Visuals: Low

Correlation to Cyberpunk Themes: Low

Key Cast Members:

  • Norman Scott: Christopher Lambert
  • Walters: Lou Diamond Phillips
  • Claire: Kelly Brook
  • Murchison: Ron Perlman
  • Rating: 4 out of 10

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    Overview: You know things aren’t going to be great when a movie copies Highlander 2 for its larger plot points. Absolon never had delusions of being good. It’s derivative from the get go. That said, while the plot, story and dialogue suck, at least Absolon has Christopher Lambert, Ron Perlman, Kelly Brook, and Lou Diamond Philips, who gives an especially good performance.

     

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    The Story: In a near-future dystopia, a virus has infected everyone on the planet, and has killed off millions. In saving mankind, a drug named Absolon has been developed which combats the virus. Unfortunately, it must be taken every day. One corporation, headed by Ron Perlman, owns Absolon and now controls the fate of mankind. Everyone must line up daily at distribution centers to receive their “fix,” otherwise they run the risk of developing to phase II of the disease, and are then incurable.

     

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    Finally, a “real” cure for the virus has been developed, but for obvious reasons, the stereotypical evil corporation who owns Absolon doesn’t want their market share challenged, so the inventor is murdered and they attempt to bury the cure. Lou Diamond Phillips, who turns in by FAR the best performance here, is Perlman’s “tough guy” responsible for “taking care” of the problem. Lambert plays a grizzled cop who inadvertently stumbles on the cover-up, and subsequently becomes emeshed in the “resistence.” Along with Kelly Brook, who worked on the cure, Lambert tries to rescue the cure so that humanity can escape the inhumanity that Absolon engenders.

     

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    The Bottom Line: Other than Lou Diamond Phillips’ performance, there’s nothing quality about Absolon. The story, the cheapy matrix FX, the set pieces, the dialogue and the pacing all pretty much suck. I must say though, I’m a real sucker for Christopher Lambert, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen Phillips put in a decent performance. For this reason, I’ll raise Absolon from 3 stars (where it probably belongs) to a 4 star review.

     

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    Tags: Movie Review

    Comments

    March 14, 2006

    ETM said:

    I never got to LDP in Absolon… couldn’t get past Lambert’s typecasting in a role he shouldn’t have been typecast in the first place. :D He was painful to watch in this… I wanted to scream “Just give him the paycheck so we can go home already” at the screen.

    March 15, 2006

    SFAM said:

    Hi Budo, yeah, Lambert really did look like he was walking through the part, except for maybe a few of his scenes with Kelly Broock. Lou Diamond Phillips on the other hand was really giving it his all. He really did the tough guy thing wonderfully.

    January 26, 2007

    Hugo said:

    In the Land of Oz this film was released (direct-to-video, of course) along with another film called ‘Do or Die’ (also direct-to-video). The funny thing is, ‘Do or Die’ has this ageing virus that effects a large amount of the population, and a majority of people have to get injections daily to prevent premature death. Some people have small sacks implanted in them that periodically release the drug so that they can live normal lives while there’s a conspiracy that the ‘evil corporation’ is holding out on the cure. Why would ANYONE want to rip off this movie???

    I’ve seen ‘Do or Die’, by the way and it’s pretty terrible. Not as terrible though as the Aussie sci-fi film ‘Subterano’. There are some that feverishly defend it by try as I might I just can’t like it. Though it does have some pretty cool cyberpunk stuff. And yes, I’m ranting…:P

    SFAM said:

    Hugo, are you saying that both Absolon and Do or Die are produced by the same direct-to-video house? If so, its rather funny that they decided to make two movies out of essentially the same script!

    May 21, 2008

    Laura said:

    is one of my favourite films…..and my favourite actor is lou diamond phillips


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