DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Louis Gossett, Jr. as RAYMOND ADDISON Teri Hatcher as JORDAN RIPPS Grayson McCouch as ZACHARY SHEFFORD Michael Massee as ADRIAN GEIGER Nicki Aycox as TRISTEN GEIGER Rated R Studio: Dimension Directed by: James Seale Back to DVD Review Home |
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There was a time when the presence of Lou Gossett, Jr. in a film instantly raised the quality of the production. But that was a long time ago, and he won the Oscar in the early 80s. After some weak roles in movies like “The Principal” with Jim Belushi, it’s been all downhill. Now, he shows up in movies like “The Inspectors” with powerhouse actors like Jonathan Silverman.
Conversely, there was never a time when the presence of Teri Hatcher in a film raised its quality at all. Almost a decade ago, she managed to be one of the most uninspired Bond villains after a rocky end to her “Lois and Clark” career. To some, she’ll always be known as the woman with the possibly fake boobs in “Seinfeld.” Now, after her last gasp grasp at a career as a sex symbol in “Desperate Housewives,” she’s reaching the end of her respectable career.
Let’s face it, Teri Hatcher has never been that great of an actor. I don’t care what the folks who hand out the Emmys think. She’s got a long career of Eric Roberts direct-to-video movies in her future.
Seeing both Teri Hatcher and Lou Gossett, Jr. in the same DVD thriller makes it a safe bet that you’re not getting top-shelf quality. If you go into “Momentum” with this level of expectation, you might find that the movie isn’t all that bad.
This film is about a top-secret government project that went awry in the 1970s. This project attempted to turn random people with telekinetic powers into military weapons. However, some of the agents went awry, and the government has since buried the project.
Today, Ray Addison (Gossett, Jr.) is trying to clean up his mistake. As the former head of the program, Addison is left to track down the remaining rouge telekinetic agents and dispose of them. In order to infiltrate the telekinetic cells, Addison approaches a physics professor named Zach Shefford (Grayson McCough). Soon, Shefford discovers a murky world where no one is the good guy.
“Momentum” is far from great science fiction film. The production value is pretty weak for a feature, and reminds me of the style and form of old television miniseries like “V.” In fact, the filmmaking has about the same sensibilities and quality as weak 80s television sci-fi.
However, as a run-of-the-mill DVD action flick, you could do a lot worse than “Momentum.” The dialogue is hokey, there are plot holes big enough to drive a tank through, and watching Teri Hatcher desperately trying to bring sarcasm across on the screen is painful to watch. However, it’s no worse than some of the action flicks you’ll see on Showtime Extreme.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. French and Spanish subtitles. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
