Prototype X29A

Stars: Lane Lenhart, Robert Tossberg, Brenda Swanson. Muddled sci-fi actioner, written and directed by Philip Roth (not Philip Roth, the novelist), draws heavily on Blade Runner and The Terminator, but unlike these films doesn't have the style or compelling action necessary to hide otherwise fatal plot flaws. In a nutshell: the year is 2057, a terminator-like guy in a robot suit is tracking down and killing Omegas (cybernetically-altered humans originally meant to be teachers, until a repressive government decided to cancel them). One baby girl, a modern day Moses-ette named Chandra escapes the genocide. Flash forward twenty years, Chandra has grown up to become a) a fairly poor actress who b) turns tricks for a living, and c) smokes like a proverbial chimney--not the best foundation on which to build a cultural revolution. Hawkins Coselow, a wheelchair-bound computer hacker, who secretly loves Chandra, is unknowingly lured into becoming the new "Prototype" (i.e. Omega-killer), and thus is programmed to kill the woman he loves. One of the biggest problems is that Prototype X29A consistently breaks a simple law of physics that even your basic 4th-grader understands: matter can't be in two places at one time. Throughout, Hawkins is shown in his wheelchair and in a body tube at an experimental laboratory at the same time. Needless to say, this is very confusing to the viewer. The producers have tossed in some limited computer animation and virtual reality sex in an effort to try and jazz up the film, but it still looks like the low-budget Terminator clone that it is. Audience: Brainiacs might enjoy this, primarily for the metaphysical arguments it will inspire after the credits role, but regular movie watchers looking for a good film won't find it here.