The Dresden Sun is currently available on Digital from VMI Worldwide.
Director Michael Ryan’s new sci-fi thriller, The Dresden Sun, is set in a futuristic world and follows Ethan (Richard Blackmon), a coprorate insider caught in the crosshairs of a techwar between two megacorporations vying for control. At the center of the conflict is a spherical alien artifact that winds up in the wind when it’s stolen from a secure facility, and its theft is pinned on two highly-skilled mercenaries, Crilenger (Steven Ogg), and Z (Samantha Win), with whom Ethan must join in order to secure both the sphere, as well as his own survival.
The Dresden Sun is as ambitious as independent sci-fi gets. The scope in which this story is told, and the volume at which Ryan fleshes out his concept for its duration, is immense, and so it’s no stretch to say that the janky visual effects and green screen shots laden throughout this feature thriller don’t do it justice. It helps that you get some noteworthy performances and interesting characters to pull you in, as well as some backstories to contribute some development. One such aspect sees actor Linus Roache partake in some of the shared origins here as Malik, a former soldier-turned-gun for hire currently lending his services in search of the sphere until he reunites in the heat of battle with Crilenger, a former comrade-at-arms who has since turned a new leaf with a monastic and non-lethal approach to his work.
There’s a deeper layer in the sci-fi that only gets tangential focus as the rest of the story progresses. Much of it is ado with the tech that gets explained in some of the film’s overexposition from which the film more often suffers, at times; at least a few moments of respite farcical laughs tend to add to the excess depending on where your head is in the drama. One of the more substantive areas of the story here pertain to the role of Corliss (Christina Ricci), a scientist whose experimentation is being funded by a cabal of powerful people known as the “Collective 8,” and whose motivations don’t begin to surface until well into the film’s halfway mark. This aspect also introduces the role of Asha (Mina Suvari) whose arc also proves crucial to at least one character outro that deserved something less pretentitious.
Undoubtedly, actors Ogg, Win, and Roache are the bigger takeaways as far as acting goes, in addition to the film’s purposive aesthetics and visuals. Fans of sci-fi cinema of the last half-century will see a ton of genre nods that speak to the inspiration, from the film’s futuristic cityscape to the costumes and set pieces and make-up, and even a little gratuitous nudity for the added touch, but only a little. Action scenes are relegated to road chases, gun battles and a few close quarters scrimmages to pepper things up between thickening plot points.
When it comes to independently-produced sci-fi action, The Dresden Sun is no exception when it comes to meeting the challenges of such a production head-on. It builds on a potent concept with a poignant and palatable message, albeit communicated through a film weakened by its plentiful shortfalls. The Dresden Sun isn’t the most laborious flick you’ll see this year if you’re malleable enough. It has its positives, but it’s a hard watch and suffers from doing more than it needs to by the end credits.
