Any New Ideas Please?

There’s nothing really wrong with S. Darko: A Donnie Darko tale.

It’s well directed and the performances are very good in it. The story is fair to be honest. And there’s even a number of passing references to the predecessor. However, there’s a feeling that it’s all been done before. Nothing new has been added here.

It’s unfortunate because the story whithers to a typical end of the world story. And you couldn’t help feel a lot of déjà vu leaking into the story itself. You keep thinking, “Haven’t I seen all of this before?”

This is the exact same thing that happened to the remake version of “Life on Mars” that came to our audiences in a short lived stint that tried to capture the original British broadcast. Without much success. It’s better to have left the whole thing alone. And let audiences try to discover the wonderful concept of the original “Life on Mars” without messing with the American treatment.

And I wanted to shoot the guy who came up with the ending for the American "Life on Mars"... with everyone waking up from their dream to be on a passenger ship to the red planet.

Again, same scenario with the film “Donnie Darko.” Why mess with the original film? It’s very good as it is. And there has never been a real hint of a sequel when the first cult classic came out. You could feel the proper teenager alienation in the original film and the cutting off of an individual from the rest of society… feeling the curtains of night falling over the young boy who felt his destiny was somewhere else. Not even in this world. And you even like the evil bunny.

The original film was a great psychological mindset that makes you try to piece together a puzzle, the constant rattling of confusion comes only from the complexities of physics in the film. And even when the film was resolved, you are still left with a mystery you must fend for yourself. You try to understand what has happened to Donnie Darko. Was it caught between words? Did he fall into some limbo place between dimensions? Was he reliving his moments of life during his dying breath? Those issues are never met with any solidity of answers. The original film is merely a masterpiece in loneliness. And we are all alone when he die… that our deaths will be our own personal refuge.

But you don’t find any of it in “S. Darko.” There’s just a redundancy of ideas. You see the representations of the cosmic bunny appearing here in some form or another. That’s been done. You see the end of the world structure going on in the storyline. That’s also been done in the first film. You see future versions of people coming back to haunt you in your sleep. That’s all been done before in the first film.

So why bother?

I’m not saying it’s a terrible film. It’s well made. And I do give much credit to the delightful and vigorous performance of Daveigh Chase who reprises her role as Sam. You can see her in the original film playing the younger sister of the ill-fated Donnie Darko. Chase is very good in her scenes like a soul trapped in wounded pain, her calm exterior hides a boiling anger that nags her. She lives a dull existence so she ends up going on a road trip with her best friend outside the native state of Virginia.

They end up in the middle of Utah territory when there is car trouble. And they find a small town that is rattled by the possibility of strange encounters such as people disappearing, a church being burned down, and some weirdo named Iraq Jack who claims in his biblical fashion that the end of the world is coming soon. You begin to wonder if they have reached a twilight existence that is split between possible time zones.

Richard Kelly, original director of Donnie Darko, has absolutely no involvement with this sequel. He never bothered to read the script. He did the right thing of leaving the first film alone. And others should have followed his example. There’s no real need for another movie to link up with the founding concept of black holes and strange encounters masquerading as teenager in the act of loneliness. There is a world of blurred images and fantasies mixing with reality. Donnie Darko made cult status by being thoroughly original. And bizarre slice of filmmaking.

Leave it up to Chris Fisher to try to come up with a movie that would somehow be an echo of the original. There is only a passing resemblance. Nothing more. And the familiarity of the subject matter is its own worst enemy. And we find ourselves scratching our heads, saying, “Why did they even make the film?”

It’s probably an attempt to build a franchise series. But that’s just simply nuts. There’s nothing about Donnie Darko that could be a great summer splash of blockbuster action. This is an introspective film about people making connections. There are no action heroes in it. Only victims of strange circumstances coming to terms with themselves. Why make a franchise movie when the main character of the series is dead in the first film? And other major characters are dead because of the strange turns of the story that persists in a psychedelic measure. You can’t simply make a franchise out of this kind of movie. It’s just too bizarre.

However, the use of music is beautifully done with songs like "Alive Alone" by The Chemical Brothers and "Black Metallic" by Catherine Wheel.. with a nice use of calm lyrics used against the blinding storm of meteors washing over the skies before crashing to the battered grounds of the earth. The music is nicely placed with gives an almost soothing feeling to the story involved.

However, if someone wanted to do a movie, they should go for the one thing that is missed here: originality.

And this film “S. Darko” might make a good example as to why people shouldn’t try to screw around good ideas. Try something else. I haven’t seen a movie about a transvestite ninja… an idea provided by a creative friend of mine. That might make for something different. But most audiences probably wouldn’t go for that.