Nemesis 5: The New Model (2017) Movie Review

Nemesis 5: The New Model is a 2017 action/sci-fi VOD movie directed by Z-Movie director Dustin Ferguson and written by Mike Reeb. It's the fifth and final feature film in the Nemesis film series created by Albert Pyun. It stars the usual cast from some other films by Ferguson like Schuylar Craig, Joelle Reeb, Mel Novak, Edwin Garcia, Daniel Joseph Stier and Dawna Lee Heising. However it does feature series regular Sue Price in a rather small role, a bodybuilder who played Alex Sinclair from part 2 onwards. This movie was probably made because Ferguson got the rights to the name of the series after watching the movies during the nineties and being a fan of them.

The Red Army Hammerheads have taken over Earth in the year 2077 and it's up to Ari Frost, who trained with Alex Rain, to rise up against the cyborgs and resist their conquest.

First thing you gotta realize is that this is a microbudget and very short Z-movie made strictly out of a fan's love for the original movies rather than a giant corporation trying to get a few bucks out of the few people who still remember the Nemesis movies, so you have to put up with some low production values, unpolished acting, rushed shooting and staging and some very rudimentary special effects but if you enjoy no-budget cinema this might be for you, particularly if you have some sort of nostalgia for the other Nemesis films. These conditions create a similar feel to the abstraction and surrealness of the original sequels this one takes a lot from but on a much meager budget.

Sue Price comes back for her role and you can tell it's been almost 20 years since the last flick but she still looks very good and has some fun (funny) moments that you can have a good time with. Other characters also come back or are added to continue the storyline of part 2 and 3 specifically, mostly ignoring the unrelated storyline from part four. I forgot to mention that Sue Price is about five feet, so she looks way shorter than the rest of the cast. In the other movies they played this off well enough that some people couldn't notice but as the series went on they stopped using lower angles or tricks to make her look bigger in front of the camera.

Visually there are some inspiring touches like the monochromatic color filters that give some flair and a distinguishable quality to the image, it's quite varied and well done so it never gets tiresome. The rest of the style is typical static camera and very few, if any, movements or flashy techniques. A lot of the movie doesn't really go anywhere and the plot meanders a bit too much from the central characters but I cant say I was bored while watching it even if not much impactful usually happens on Ferguson's films, this one is different in the sense that it has some conventional plot points and development for instance. Like most of his other movies Nemesis 5 is also about an hour and ten minutes long, so it never overstays its welcome.

Only recommended for those who are already familiar with the director and who know what they are getting into. Even if you are a Nemesis completist you might be bewildered by this one.

AD Police Files (1990) Anime OVA Review

AD Police Files is a three-episode OVA series from 1990 that takes place in the same universe seen in Bubblegum Crisis, it’s actually a prequel, something evident since it revolves around Boomers, and produced by the same company but done by a different creative team to keep the franchise alive. It's hard to say that it fits our blog because it doesn't have the main group of girls as protagonists, it really only features a few characters from the original show, like Leon, but it's quality makes it worthwhile as it is mostly an anthology series focusing on a different case involving the fictional police force, the ADvanced Police, from the franchise.

In the first episode, The Phantom Woman, some officers encounter a horny prostitute boomer who get her biochemical balance all screwed up because of her sexual desire, setting her loose and going into killing sprees. In the second episode, The Ripper, a serial killer stabs and mutilates girls, a young policewoman is on the case as she believes the culprit is human due to the sensation that there are feelings involved. The third episode, The Man Who Bites His Tongue, is basically the animated cliffnotes of Robocop, but evil, showing an officer named Billy being turned into a Boomer and losing his humanity and self-control. This last one is probably the weakest because it's kind of derivative but it's still very well done.

Ultra-gory, deranged and grotesque, this untamed OVA series is kind of a very strange concentration of the things that were presented in Bubblegum Crisis but condensed in a shorter running time and increasing the filth, devoid of any established main character and nearly completely undomesticated. Right out of the gate we are presented with violent and bloody images that add to its grisly tone, mixing in some sleazy eroticism and sexual references or allusions throughout.

The fact that it's a very short anthology series, completely episodic, means that you won't get to really relate or know the protagonists to a deeper degree but in 20 minutes you understand them because of the very on point and well-crafted storyline and characterizations that allow the characters to breathe and live in such a short span of time. The length isn't an issue when it comes to simply being entertained by the show but I do wish they delved deeper into the potentially interesting characters, like the police lady with a robotic arm or the sweet officer from the second one. They have what it takes for a complete series or at least to carry a movie or longer OVA but here they are essentially just minor compared to the plot, which is the focus.

While not entirely successful, this attempt at expanding the world of Bubblegum Crisis will probably deliver the treats as the animation and subject matter are both juicy but you won't get to invest much in the storylines as they go by pretty fast. Recommended if that's what you are looking for.

Bubblegum Crisis (1987-1991) OVA Review and Retrospective - Episode 5: Moonlight Rambler

Moonlight Rambler is the fifth episode of the original Bubblegum Crisis series. It's directed by Katsuhito Akiyama, Hiroaki Gôda, Hiroki Hayashi, Masami Ôbari and Fumihiko Takayama; and written by Toshimichi Suzuki, Katsuhito Akiyama, Shinji Aramaki, Emu Arii, Hideki Kakinuma and Ken'ichi Matsuzaki; with the voices of Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kinuko Ômori, Michie Tomizawa and Akiko Hiramatsu.

In the futuristic 2033 A.D. setting, two women (Sylvie and Anri), escape from the artificial space island named Genaros above Mega Tokyo. With their partners dead, the girls flee in a ship but are attacked by a boomer designed for space combat known as Doberman. In Mega Tokyo, victims of the Doberman are found with their blood drained out of their bodies, the AD Police investigates these seemingly vampiric murders. GENOM's head and Largo are behind an operation that involves building high-tech weapons they plan to sell, using the space island to this means. Priss and the Knight Sabers team meet with Sylvie as she is a friend of hers and they get to like her a lot. However, Sylvie hides a deadly secret that is revealed as the conspiracy unfolds.

A strong episode confident in it's prominence of action and explosive mechanical combat and shootouts. Starting with a bang, the story develops with it's reveals and the investigation work done by the characters. Priss gets sidelined a bit as a lot of the runtime is devoted to the GENOM bad guys hatching their scheme and having important meetings. Special focus is also primarily put on Sylvie as she escapes and hides alongside Anri. However, she has a few sweet moments with Priss that help to set the stakes and to present their relationship through casual interactions.

As usual, the animation is splendid and outstandingly executed. Presentation-wise this is among the most flashy and impressive when it comes to action set-pieces, especially with the very good first impression the opening delivers. I can't really find much fault except for a few odd frames here and there, but I will say that its disappointing that so far into the show the main characters aren't the sole focus, to the point where there are incidental characters in this episode that have more lines of dialogue than some of the main girls.

The ending is quite affecting and moving as a sacrifice has to be made in order for others to be protected but at a very high cost. The magic of a series with such economic characterizations and plots is that they do pull off effective dramatic and sentimental points without devoting much time to the characters involved, only the amount of time and actions that are needed, and they also let us infer the outcome and their reactions by not showing the aftermath.

Highly enjoyable episode but it could have used more of the leading team.