Movie Review: InZerO by ME

At first glance, InZerO is a story about a group of couriers in a desolate future where an as yet unknown event has taken two thirds of the population. Those that are left are unable to have children. Alien refugees have come to Earth and with them they bring a blend of magic and science. But what InZerO is really about is one man bringing hope to a world that really needs it. Many will try to stop him and his friends including street gangs, corrupt governments, and even aliens! Will they succeed? I don't know yet dammit, there is one more episode to go! See, InZerO isn't a movie, it's a series of twelve twenty minute episodes. With eleven finished episodes and one more to be released next month AND a full length feature film in the works, InZerO has left quite a few unanswered questions.



InZerO is an extremely independent project started just over a year ago by Thought Collide Productions as an ongoing learning experience for local filmmakers here in Detroit. And you can definitely see the quality improve with each progressive episode. Jamie Sonderman and Thought Collide has created a series that, while it takes a few episodes to grab you, you will want to know how it turns out. Some episodes are hit and miss, while some are intriguing and can keep you on the edge of your seat, especially episodes 9-11. That's when the story finally starts to gain cohesion and the threads start to come together as a whole.



Casting – There are way too many players in this series to mention them all, so I will comment on the standouts, both good and bad. The good is, of course, the lead Jonny Victor as Thames. Carrying the weight of an ongoing series is no easy task, and you can literally see him and most of the cast learn to carry that burden. Thames's rapport with his navigator Erol provides some of the most entertaining scenes. Some other standouts to my untrained eye are Vincent Rasnick as Maddox, Thames's brother and leader of the street gang known as the Wolves, impressed me when the chance for him to do the right thing comes in later episodes. Other honorable mentions include the rest of the couriers – Mare Costello (Marilee, Thames's closest friend), Caleb Gilbert (Cal, the trustworthy old hat of the group), Sonja Ribicki, (Raimi, the militaristic bad ass), P.J. Jacokes (Chapman, the asshole of the bunch who lightens up eventually) and their Master Courier Quint (Scott Norman), who is way underused in my opinion. Some of the actors seem very wooden, two come to mind but I'll be nice and not say anything. The one I do want to mention is more of a "what the?" type of thing. And that is Jack, played by Art Greenia. In early episodes he was great, tossing lines with feeling and a cadence that eerily reminded me of Alley Hallet from the series Angel. In a later episode there is a pivotal scene where it seems like he is reading lines straight from queue cards, in a monotone and with less feeling than a brick. I know, these independent endeavors must be taken with a grain of salt, but it was really strange to see an actor who had nailed it earlier perform so differently later on.



Even with it's flaws, InZerO is an entertaining and educational series. The only other thing I can really say, which should say it all, is that I will be at the Royal Oak Main Art Theater on May first to see the final episode before the full length feature InZerO: Fragile Wings goes into production. Although it is great to see Detroit used in a series, it saddens me to say that there isn't much set dressing that needs to be done to make Detroit look like a post-apocalyptic city. Utilizing the abundance of dilapidated industrial complexes as sets, InZerO is drawing attention to a side of Detroit that doesn't help the reputation of our city very much. Sure there are a few nice locations used such as the Spirit of Hope Church, a few beautiful private homes, and the closed down Belle Isle Aquarium. But not enough to balance the not-so-pretty locations. Hopefully with Fragile Wings, we get to see a brighter side of the city as the movie is going to deal with events before the current series's timeline.

For more info visit www.myspace.com/inzero or www.thebrokenfuture.com.

Until Detroit is used as Paradise,
keep reading.
Mitch E.
mitchemerson@hotmail.com