ZebraspotsGabriel (2007)
March 25th 2008 05:49
Uh oh, back to All Saints for me
Some praise Gabriel (2007), an Australian gothic-style action film, for having such a low budget but I say if you have a low budget, do not make an effects based action film. The reason is that without money filmmakers will rely on bad CGI and cheap editing tricks. Good special effects cost money. If you don’t have money make a film about a group of students who get lost in the forest and film everything on a camcorder while being terroized by a witch, or a black and white comedy about two clerks. Do not make a movie based in purgatory about good and bad angels fighting over the control of the souls that reside there. Especially if you have nothing new to add to the old take on heaven and hell battling it out for souls story. What you end up with is a film that looks like a music clip for a Christian metal band.
For an action movie, the fight scenes aren’t that good. Protagonist, Gabriel, seems to be able to handle himself a little too easily, and thus, boringly. I think exploring the characters a bit more would have been interesting since many are angels who have turned their back on their mission to save souls out of fear, however, the characters are boring.
I understand where these Australian film makers are coming from, I really do. The Australian film industry sucks. Every now and then Australians make a classic film, but only every now and then. Australia doesn't churn them out. Australians need an expensive stupid action thriller to get them out of the slump. But this isn't it. This is the film that, despite the fact the makers took a whole bunch of shitty jobs to finance it, will end up being sold for $2 in a bin somewhere- which, don't get me wrong, still makes my heart cry a little.
You need a good story or a hell of a lot of money to make a decent film, and this had neither.
2 out of 5.
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Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
Ever wonder why these guys didn't have the money for a CG extravanganza? Because Australia doesn't make this kind of film (forget the Matrixes and whatever, which are American films made here, I mean Aussie movies by Aussies). And why do they not get made? Because no one forks out the money for them.
Gabriel fell short of the epic it could have been, but with any luck, it might open the eyes of those that control the purse-strings - they might just raise an eyebrow and think: "If this is what they pulled off with no money, imagine what Aussies could do if they had money backing their ideas."
The Aussie Independent Film scene is where the next wave of Aussie cinema is coming from. It's guys like the Gabriel crew that are doing their small part to pave the way for a revival of a truly creative and passionate Australian Film Industry.
I also think that this movie was marketed wrong by Sony - it's not a blockbuster, and shouldn't have been put forward as one.
My two cents.
But you gotta admit - this movie had some moments
Did you watch the Behind The Scenes doco?