Writer/ Director Shane Abbess has a very visual eye and can do a lot on a limited budget as a director. His weakness as a director is he needs to write better material or get a great screenwriter to collaborate since many of his ideas seem not be fleshed out enough. His directorial debut GABRIEL still remains his best film while INFINI has a great first hour only to have a weak ending. That brings us to his latest effort, THE OSIRIS CHILD (Science Fiction Volume One), which has great visuals and great ideas only to be undercut by characters and a story that is underdeveloped (and how the movie also needs a better title).

Lt. Kane Sommerville (Daniel McPherson) races against time to save his young daughter (Tegan Croft) before the military decides to eradicate a newly colonized planet to protect the company’s secrets of escaped genetically modified creatures known as the Ragged with part of the cover-up (enacted by a general played by Rachel Griffiths) involving the prison break which caused the Ragged to get loose in the first place. Kane teams up with escaped prisoner Sy (Kellan Lutz) and a couple of crazy druggies to save Kane’s daughter from the capital city Osiris before the planet is razed in a nuclear explosion while fighting the Ragged and evading the Exor military forces looking for Kane.

THE OSIRIS CHILD has lots of world building going for it only to have a weak story and underdeveloped characters in addition to a non-linear storytelling method that undercuts what is actually could about Shane Abbess’s latest effort. The movie could have used more scenes with the various characters like getting to know the various characters such as Kane, his daughter, and the various supporting characters. Sy is the closest we get to seeing any character actually being almost decently developed in this Australian production.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
MAKING THE OSIRIS CHILD: SCIENCE FCITION VOLUME ONE is a series of five featurettes totaling about 28 minutes total-
BEGINNING OF THE END- origins of the movie
LIVING OFF WORLD- cast featurette
THE MONSTER WITHIN- a behind-the-scenes look at the Ragged monster costumes which are a combo of guys in suits and animatronics (with the head)
THE SOUND OF TOMORROW- a featurette on the music of the film
A BIGGER WORLD- cast and crew reflect on the movie

There are also three deleted scenes (with unfinished visual effects), a visual effects featurette (that shows the various components in the vfx shots, a music video for “MAMA I MISS YOU SO”, a photo gallery, and a concept art gallery

FINAL ANALYSIS: THE OSIRIS CHILD has great world building and visuals only to be failed by an undeveloped story (and characters). The extras are great if you want to take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie and see what elements make up the great vfx shots in the movie.

This review is ©12-16-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

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