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When Bonnie (Samantha Jane Polay) is abducted from her home and taken to a remote-looking industrial facility, she is both terrifed and confused as to why ringleader Duncan (Paul Gordon) and his thugs have kidnapped her in the first place. Duncan talks (a lot), but he isn't saying much to alleviate this confusion, speaking in riddles and metaphors. The one thing that's clear to Bonnie, however, is that these people have guns and malicious intent.

But while Duncan is busy monologueing (a time-honored tradition amongst egomaniacal movie villains), help is on the way, as we see a figure clad in SPLINTER CELL gear sneaking his way into the complex. Just when Bonnie's fate is about to be sealed, our unknown protagonist lets the bullets fly - the digitally inserted in post-production bullets, that is. But Bonnie's savior may have his own agenda in carrying out her "rescue"

Perhaps the most impressive thing about BROKEN is the fact that it was realized on a budget of $8000 - which is about the ammount that Robert Rodriguez spent on his freshman action film EL MARIACHI. For such a limited budget, it has an impressive array of visual effects and professional-looking production values. The shootout is exciting and well-choreographed, and the digitally inserted muzzle flashes and blood splatter look surprisingly realistic. (I would have liked to have seen some blood squibs put into the mix, but the bullet-to-the-head blood splatter money shots are pretty damn satisfying).

Ironically enough, however, this short action film felt like it should have been longer. Simply too much back story and character development is sacrificed in order to get to the goods. And although Gordon chews scenery with the best of them and delivers a hammy but entertaining speech, we are never quite given enough information to connect the dots. Who is Bonnie? Who are Duncan and his goons, and why do they seem intent on killing her? What does the blue flash in Bonnie's eyes mean? Is she a mutant, or a robot, or just really REALLY pissed off? The twist ending may or may not shed light on matters, as it offers up a possible explanation but still leaves one with a bit of head-scratching.

I don't know whether there's enough meat on BROKEN's bones to flesh it out into a full feature, but as a short film whose primary purpose is to set up a gun fight, BROKEN is a short-but-sweet action fan's fix.

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originally posted: 04/27/05 17:19:31
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