Truly Dreadful Film

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I knew I was in trouble when the DVD opened up with previews for "Space Camp." This is the story of a family of Indian Jones types who hunt artifacts from fairy tales, legends, and history. In this story they introduce the characters as they search for the shards to the broken mirror from "Snow White." The film had promise in the beginning with exotic scenery, but then quickly switches to exotic places like Boston. The plot was a bit confusing as the shards were hidden so they couldn't be found, so they go find them before the bad guys can find them...making it easier for the "Krugen."There is one scene where we see a bathtub Porsche filled with blue Walmart reusable bags which had me shaking my head. Does Walmart really need the product placement? The film was an "Eh-Okay" production, most likely a company composed of Amazon reviewers. Who gives themselves a title of mediocrity? Oh, they're Canadians. My bad.I haven't figured out why no one used a real gun. They used single shot arrow-guns instead, which are bulkier. The acting was so-so. Alexa Vega, the eye candy wasn't convincing as the best lines were written for Tripp (Keenan Tracey) something parents name their kids when they conceive on acid.Kids might like it. This is similar to "The Librarian" series which I thought was infinitely better.

From the very opening, this had TV written all over it.The locations imply that production values were good, but the actors, outfits, make-up, etc., all said that there was a second-rate production team behind it (nobody seemed to sweat or get dirty hiking through jungles, for instance, and these little details really take a viewer out of a tale on a subconscious level).As for the plot: well, it's a very TV-series-pilot affair, with villains who shoot their own henchmen in the backs for no apparent reason (and with crossbows(!) that I imagine were hidden away inside a bra) and action that is neither gritty nor pops off the screen as impressive - actually, think of the kind of bland fights from Xena and just know that they were better...I suppose that really, this film was aimed at children/young teenagers, so I wasn't the target audience, but from an adult's point of view, there's nothing new and what there is has been done better a hundred+ times already.

Brothers Paxton (Robbie Amell) and Tripp Flynn (Keenan Tracey) find their parents (Michelle Forbes, Dan Payne) have gone missing, and they're in a secret society of Hunters who track down legendary artifacts for safe keeping. The brothers and friend Dylan (Alexa Vega) have to track down a secret artifact and save the Flynn parents.There are some good actors working here including the great Victor Garber. But I'm not sure the material is up to it. While the premise of a secret society is interesting, it's been done better elsewhere. This feels like a TV movie pilot hoping for a series pickup.I get that they're trying to be a different looking thriller. People with crossbows look silly unless they can explain they're some kind of magical crossbows. The production isn't big enough to get the look right. The action isn't strong enough to be exciting. The CGI is lesser TV level. Everything is just slightly not quite enough.

All I can say is after commercials I had to watch the thrilling scene of the two young beautiful people trying on tuxedos and evening gowns. Not since Predator have I been so tense. PS. Should not be called The Hunters, but rather The Hikers as they spend most of their time doing that. Blond chick is hot, that's about it. Even Asylum could do this better. Let's see, a few more lines are required about this blockbuster, I would suggest not actually watching it or they might make a sequel called The Hunters II, The Quickening. Then it will equal the worst sequel of all time (you figure that one out). The hiking scenes do have some awesome hiking though, the director certainly watched Peter Jackson's extended 15 hour LOTR to see how the master of hiking movies does it.