Review of Invincible

Introduction

The object at the centre of attention here is a page from the Book of Life. Once translated the keeper could open the vortex and escape from this planet, destroying all that remains. Of course, world destruction on this level can`t go unchallenged. Slate from the Shadowmen has stolen this page and is in the process of decyphering the script. There is only one man who can stop him and his maniacal plans.

To retrieve this from the Shadowmen, Os (Billy Zane) recruits a disparate team of four `elements` representing Water, Air, Fire and Metal. Our team consists of The Soldier, The Cop, The Bodyguard and The Thief and all have one thing in common, in their normal day job they`re `protectors`.

It`s a battle of light against dark. Time to go kick some supernatural butt so we can sleep at night...

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, the film looks very clean with rich use of colour throughout. Blacks are suitably black and detail is sufficiently high. A lot of care has been taken to compose these nicely balanced shots. The contrast seems a little high however resulting in some very slight edge enhancement which is noticeable in some scenes more than others. Otherwise it looks very good with no evidence of compression at all.

Audio

A loud and well mixed soundtrack, Invincible only manages Dolby Digital 2.0. What`s here works okay with a wide soundstage and clear dialogue coming from the centre. Not very effective use of the surrounds which is a shame considering the kind of film that this is. There was plenty of opportunity with the fighting to really push the sound design.

Features

Invincible has nicely presented, clean and easy to navigate menus, but the big "Must See Movie" icon revolving onscreen cheapens the film before we`ve even started. I could have mistaken this film for Channel Five`s Movie Of The Week.

• Trailers - Anamorphic trailers for other Momentum releases: Just Visiting, Crossroads, Novacaine and Made.

• Feature Trailer (1:55) - Proudly proclaiming "From Executive Producers Mel Gibson and Jet Li..." and with that you kind of know where it`s heading with voiceover man...into trouble.

• Production Notes - 13 pages of static information. It`s interesting and I`m glad it`s included as it covers the casting, the martial arts training and some info on Jet Li. It`s more interesting than the film itsself.

Invincible has English subtitles.

Conclusion

Having not heard a peep about this film before I saw it, I was very intrigued when the names, Mel Gibson and Jet Li popped up as Executive Producers. Alas my interest soon waned and after about five minutes I found myself incredibly bored. 88 minutes left...to...go...must...finish...argh!

Here we go with a good against evil story with the future of the world entrusted to four wooden acted superheroes. Billy Zane, with shaven head, dishes out his zen like sage advice on how to use telekinetic powers, how to survive and harness the power of light and love to unite the strengths of our heroes to save humanity. Darkness must be fought! And on that perfunctory note, do I need to tell you which side prevails?

The film has interesting elements but alas isn`t convincing. The story had the potential to be something very intelligent but with just a 90 minute runtime it fails to build on the basic premise in the right manner. As a result, a lot of the dialogue is somewhat trite and tiring with just the odd nugget of intelligence. Having to be reminded of what is happening with Zane`s voiceover is both patronising and lazy. Trying to integrate some basic buddhist philosophy too on love, compassion and kindness was surprising though I felt it didn`t fit in. If this were a TV series then of course the storylines could take more time to evolve and that could have been so much better.

You can certainly see the influence of such films as The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the fighting choreography and unfortunately there`s nothing really new in there at all. It`s been done and seen before so all that`s left is the average technique on show. Going by the Production Notes on the disc, the cast had two weeks of martial arts training and it shows. Editing of the fights could perhaps have made it more interesting, but it fails to capture any of the intensity you`d expect in a fight plus it becomes too obvious that these are stunt players. More money and time may have resulted in better combat.

With the film looking as stylised as it does the audience will have certain high expectations and I`m sure would yearn for something more than what amounts to a television series pilot. If you insist on seeing it, rent it.