RRR #2: Trancers

(mini-review)

My second Random Review Request is dedicated to a little boy named Ike. He also asked me to hit a homerun for him, but hey, I'm only one man. Ike is a Full Moon freak. His obsession with Charles Band has his family worried. It's destroying his relationship with his stepmother Jayme, and his brother Dylan killed himself because of the stress. Okay, enough in-jokes. Trancers is quite entertaining. Usually, I'm not into straight sci-fi, but this flick turned me on with its Scanners-esque storyline. Band also borrows liberally from The Terminator. At least there aren't any killer dolls gallivanting about.

A cop is sent back in time to save the ancestors of higher-ups from a rogue body-hopper named Whistler. Tim Thomerson plays our hero, and believe it or not, a fresh-faced Helen Hunt plays the love interest. I've never found Hunt to be an appealing actress, but she's adorable here. Thomerson is badass as Jack Deth. He's so badass, that he doesn't even need clever dialogue to be a debonair daredevil. Everyone else is forgettable. The pace itches with transience. Things happen quickly and it feels like the script is bringing itself to a boil. However, the ending sputters out, leaving the viewer a bit disenchanted.

The villain is phenomenally boring. He doesn't put up much of a fight, which makes the "explosive climax" seem like a mere scuffle, a minor altercation. I did enjoy Trancers. I have a habit of pointing out all of the drawbacks to movies I like, but only because I try to avoid writing one-sided reviews. In the end, I consider this film to be one of the better Full Moon features. It's a gas. I own Trancers III, so I might cover it in the near future. I can't be bothered to buy/rent all of the other sequels, though. For the record, my favorite Full Moon outings are Castle Freak and Subspecies II: Bloodstone.