Earlier this week I was sent an announcement pertaining to the forthcoming fifth installment of the Nemesis franchise – a film that probably nobody really asked for. It’s a reasonable conclusion considering that out a handful, not even the most involved fan of 90s action cinema heard of the sequels that followed Oliver Grunner’s stellar 1992 original. Poor marketing perhaps.
Another reason could be due to just how much of a dodgy, less than impressive mess the production knew this was going to be. Nevertheless, we now get to sample that very mess in the most recent trailer – and not that it’s any better from the initial trailer that went live last December.
Horror director Dustin Ferguson makes his segue into cyberpunk sci-fi territory with actress Schuylar Craig starring as a new model trained under franchise protagonist Alex Rain to defend the remnants of humanity from a terrorist organization known as the Red Army Hammerheads. Also starring are Dawna Lee Arising and actor Mel Novak with Sue Price reprising the female incarnation of the heroine role she inherited from Grunner for the three sequels through 1996.
Albert Pyun who helmed the franchise and recently retired from directing takes a backseat here as one of its executive producers, which doesn’t really change anything at this point. No, the sequels weren’t perfect, but they had all the makings of great, low-budget dystopian sci-fi and cheese with explosive action sequences and alpha-level protagonists. They were good for precisely what they were 25 years ago and still are today for fans who can appreciate them.
I don’t know if there’s really an audience out there who would take this film seriously and if there is, hats off to Ferguson. Me? I expect better out of an independently-produced action thriller and one that stems from a pedigree of cinema that action fans know and love, and if this trailer is the result of all the work put into making it (as hard as it is to make an action movie these days, period), then there’s no way I’m walking away from this one with a straight face or any sense of fulfillment.
If you dare, see the Nemesis 5 trailer below and have your say. I’ve about had mine and anything else would result in having me flip tables.
