Reading the premise ahead of time made me skeptical. The opening credits gave me a small measure of hope - a screenplay by Peter David is nothing to sneeze at, and a change of music, now from composer Gary Fry, was refreshing. But then the film began, and my hopes were dashed: 'Trancers 4' is a mess.
The change of scenery is welcome, but the thrust of the story that accompanies it is dubious. It feels like David wrote the best narrative that he could under the circumstances, but a teen comedy written by the world's best screenwriter is still just a teen comedy. Just as much to the point, I get the impression that some less than credible moments were included for no reason other than that someone - presumably director David Nutter - told the scribe to do rewrites according to their vision. The fact that 'Jack of swords' is essentially just an alternative take on vampire movies doesn't help, either.
I like the filming locations, and set design and decoration. I appreciate the costume design, props, and smaller considerations like hair and makeup. Again, I do appreciate Fry's score, though if a movie itself is less than stellar, the music can only do so much. These are the nearest I can come to praise, unfortunately: I made a point to look at the digital timer to clock the first time that 'Jack of swords' made me laugh. It was 48 minutes in. This was also the last time.
We're supposed to believe that this film is a sci-fi adventure flick with a strong element of comedy, and a measure of horror. All these aspects are not just reduced but rendered almost wholly inert by the astoundingly slow pacing. From this picture alone it's impossible to tell whether or not anyone in the cast has any acting skills, because they've all been forced into the most unnaturally stuttered, sluggish, and leaden of performances. When jokes and one-liners are dropped, they float to the ground like a speck of dust. The delivery of every line, the choreography of all action, and even the most perfunctory of movement is unbearably lethargic and plodding. I had to check that the video settings on my device weren't somehow altered to a lesser speed, but they weren't - 'Trancers 4' is just that consciously lackadaisical. As a result, there's scarcely any excitement to be gleaned from it.
What's frustrating is that despite the ridiculousness of the story concept, there are some good ideas here. 'Jack of swords' could have been a genuinely entertaining movie. But somewhere along the line, someone decided that the whole production should feel as drowsy and dawdling as possible. Well, mission accomplished - the feature was very effectively hamstrung.
I've seen worse movies, yes. But very rarely have I seen bad movies that worked so hard to undermine themselves. No matter how much someone enjoys the first three 'Trancer' films, or B-movies as a whole, 'Jack of swords' is simply not a picture I can recommend.
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