Since
the nation was founded as a penal colony, it makes sense Australia would produce
a science fiction yarn about an uprising in a colonial space prison. The part
about using the prison for top secret monster-creating experiments is where the
logic breaks down. However, the unlikely circumstances create a wicked sense of
urgency for Lt. Kane Sommerville, who must rescue his young daughter before the
company that chartered the colony unleashes Armageddon on the planet’s surface
in Shane Abbess’s The Osiris Child (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.
Somerville
made a mistake that led to the death of his soldiers, but the whole incident
was hushed up. The guilt-ridden officer hits the bottle hard, but he is still a
crackerjack pilot. As far as being a parent goes, not so much. Yet, he and his
daughter Indiana (Indi) can still bond by blasting old road signs in the
desert. Unfortunately, the prison riot that frees the mutant monsters happens
while Somerville is posted to the orbiting space station. To save Indi, he will
have to hijack a ship, run the blockade, and make his way to the city of
Osiris.
He
will need a little help once he lands (hard). Fortunately, he immediately
encounters Sy, a former nurse, who masterminded the escape attempt that
precipitated all heck breaking loose. They will need some wheels, preferably armored,
so Somerville bribes Gyp and Bill, a slightly incestuous couple, who could have
stepped out of a Mad Max movie. They need guns too, so they will indulge in a
shopping spree with a couple of arms-dealing hicks, who would be at home in a
dystopian Tremors movie. All the
while, Abbess slowly reveals nuggets of Sy’s backstory through flashbacks.
Strangely
enough, Osiris shares many similar
plot points with Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars, but it has the more cartoony narrative. Plus, there are
long unnecessary flashbacks to Warden Mourdain acting like a sinister jerk,
just to give Temuera Morrison a chance to chew some scenery, which is as good
reason as any. Frankly, the special effects look pretty impressive, but there
is nothing uniquely distinctive to this world we haven’t seen before.
Still,
fans will find Daniel MacPherson’s Kane a refreshingly hardnosed and manly
protagonist. The hard-drinking bad dad is definitely not a vegan Social Justice
Warrior. Kellan Lutz also broods decently as Sy. Frustratingly, the film
completely wastes up-and-coming action star Grace Huang, as Sy’s head nurse.
However, Rachel Griffiths nicely counterbalances the fiery Morrison with the
coolly calculating villainy of General Lynex, a character very much like Sky
Marshal Amy Snapp in Traitor of Mars.
