Manifest Destiny Down: Spacetime

Director Bo D does do some cool and not so cool things in this film. There are times in the film where the past is discussed, and when it is, the scene goes into some cool looking animation to get the flashback-feel across. As cool as the animated effects are, the computer graphics in this film are also not so great. When the two main characters are driving in what is a really awesome mustang, it is easy to tell when they are driving in front of a green screen. When it comes to explosions and multi-versed portals opening, they are as campy as can be, which is one of the things that makes the film feel like a spoof rather than an homage to the great films of the 80s.  

“…Lexie Lowell, who plays Kara is by far the funniest…”

While on the subject of deciding whether this film is a spoof and homage, there are quite a few references to 80s films. Right as the film opens, the audience is re-introduced to a very familiar scroll that introduces what is happening in the film’s world. Other heavily referenced films are Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Back to the Future (of course), and an on-going spoof of the Terminator. There are even spoofs of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and the theme song from “Weird Science” where Toby raps in Russian. There are probably other references that I missed along the way, but these are the most obvious.  

As much as I would not want to single out a person, I feel that a person needs to be singled out in this film, but in a very positive way. Lexie Lowell, who plays Kara is by far the funniest part of Spacetime. There are a few times where she has outbursts, and they are hilarious. From her reactions to her emphasizing and pronunciations of cuss words are so entertaining. I feel that Lexie Lowell made this film watchable.   

Despite enjoying the way the film ended, I was still confused just as much as the characters were.