SOLO
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 3.5 Alternative Scale: *1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 8/23/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:33 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Mario Van Peebles, William Sadler, Abraham J. Verduzco, Barry Corbin, Adrien Brody, Seidy Lopez Director: Norberto Barba Producers: John Flock and Joseph N. Cohen Screenplay: David L. Corley Cinematography: Christopher Walling Music: Christopher Franke U.S. Distributor: Triumph Films
Writing the script for SOLO must have been like putting together a puzzle: a piece of TERMINATOR 2, a piece of ALIENS, a piece of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, a couple pieces of ROBOCOP, and so on. The problem is, these disparate plot elements don't fit together too well, so screenwriter David L. Corley has forced them, sometimes in the most inelegant and illogical manner. Worst of all, not only is SOLO totally devoid of originality, it's a bore.
Derivative movies are nothing new, but director Norberto Barba has chosen to follow the trail blazed by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich (STARGATE, INDEPENDENCE DAY): pilfer early and often. SOLO is a cobbled-together mess that exists in the hope that viewers have such short memories that they won't recognize so many obvious steals. It's a dreadfully dull pastiche of moments that were fun in their original incarnations, but, here, have been stripped of all energy.
The hero is an android soldier designed by the U.S. army to replace the grunt. He's the perfect solution: disposable, replaceable, and stronger than 10 men. In the words of the general in charge of the project, "If he's wounded beyond repair, we throw him away. No one will cry when he's gone." There are a couple of problems, however. Solo (Mario Van Peebles), as he's called, is developing emotions. He also costs a lot of money -- $2 billion has already been spent on the project -- so the big-wigs at the Pentagon are furious when he fails a field test by refusing to endanger non-combatants during a Latin American military operation. When his commanding officer, Col. Madden (William Sadler), orders him to set off explosive charges with women and children in the proximity, Solo refuses. The resulting bureaucratic fallout puts the android's continued existence in danger, so Solo follows his prime directive -- "survive" -- and escapes. Soon, he is organizing the local peasants to fight against the better-armed rebel troops while being hunted by Madden's goon squad.
Mario Van Peebles, who normally radiates charisma and energy, is dead-on-arrival in this role. Supposedly written for Sylvester Stallone, the part of Solo is designed like an action version of Data from STAR TREK. Van Peebles plays his character without much emotion, resulting in a personality that's as dreary as the worn-out script he's working with. In contrast to Van Peebles' underplaying, William Sadler is in his usual, way over-the-top mode. There are other actors in this film besides Van Peebles and Sadler, but they're so unmemorably bland that none is worth a mention.
SOLO spits out all the typical action sequences: foot chases, helicopter chases, explosions, and gun fights. There's also a child-in- danger scenario and a "surprise" second climax (recognizing that the first climax comes at the seventy minute mark, it's expected that there has to be something else). It's all painfully formulaic. There have been a lot of high-adrenaline movies this summer, but SOLO fits in more as a bastard stepchild than a true member of the family. This film seems designed to remind us how lucky we are that the majority of recent action releases have attained an acceptable level of style and entertainment -- qualities lacked by SOLO.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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