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Mindstorm
Set to Air: 9.22.01 at 9 PM on SCI FI
Encore presentations: 9.23.01 at 1 AM and 6 PM
Directed by Richard Pepin
Produced by Michael Derbas
Written by Paul A. Birkett
Mindstorm is the latest original offering from the SCI FI Channel. While it doesn't quite live up to it's initial promise, it does deliver some interesting twists and ask some intriguing questions.
Things start off well enough in 1985 as we're introduced to Tracy and Malcolm, a pair of telepathic children that are part of a U.S. government experiment -- Project Mindstorm. Before long, however, the compound is attacked and nearly everybody inside is killed. Tracy is saved by a security guard, but loses her memory as a result of the trauma.
Flash-forward to the present day: Tracy (Emmanuelle Vaugier) is a profiler, working with the FBI to solve a case about missing children. Meanwhile, a senator's daughter is missing. This particular senator, "Wild Bill" Armitage (Michael Ironside), has designs on the presidency and doesn't want any bad press. He asks for Tracy's help rather than going to the police. Before long, Tracy's tracked Armitage's daughter to a new age cult, led by David Mendez (Eric Roberts). Mendez also has psychic abilities, and his luring of the senator's daughter was no coincidence -- there is a connection between Mendez, Armitage and Project Mindstorm. As Tracy tries to free the senator's daughter, she also comes closer to unlocking the truth of her past.
Mindstorm is consistently entertaining, if not completely satisfying. The direction is stylish, and the cast is fine. (rounded out by an under-utilized Antonio Sabato, Jr., and an even lesser-used William B. Davis of X-Files fame) The problems with Mindstorm are completely from the script. Logic is thrown out the window on multiple occasions, and some aspects of the plot just defy suspension of disbelief. Even for a science fiction movie. One instance I can complain about without revealing anything substantial is when Tracy realizes that a junkyard custodian is a serial killer. He orders her to leave, but she hangs out for awhile anyway looking for hard evidence, and several hours later, he finally decides to attack her, which is just when the FBI agent (Sabato, Jr.) arrives. What?
The climax is also a bit flat. The last act is only saved by a denouement that is daringly dark and different. And the villains are intriguing because even they seem to have good intentions, despite their flaws. The movie also raises a pair of interesting questions, both of which are simple variants of "does the ends justify the means?"
Mindstorm is a nice little bit of escapist fun, but SCI FI has done, and will do better.
-- Ultra Magnus
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