Fate (2016) Reviews

• Timeless Story with Poor Ending

  boz-583012017-11-07

  As one reviewer already commented, this story has been told before, but there was still something attractive about watching this one unfold. The main characters were generally well developed and the 3 or so main actors did a decent job. The cinematography is OK, though the special effects are minimal, as one would expect in a low budget film. I kept watching to the very end, which happened rather abruptly. I'm always ready to accept an unhappy ending, but this one seemed to occur as a result of running out of film (or time, perhaps). It was unsatisfying and seemed out of sync with the development of the story line. I really wish they had an alternative ending, in which case I probably would have given the movie a 5 or 6. In short, a promising movie was spoiled by a poor ending.

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• Same old, same old

  Leofwine_draca2017-08-29

  FATE is another indie science fiction film, this time about a guy who invents a time machine and who then goes back in time in order to prevent his girlfriend being killed. It's a hackneyed, age-old storyline, dragged out again for the umpteenth time and on a budget that precludes the use of special effects of any significance. For an indie, it's well filmed and acted, at least to a degree, but the unfolding of the plot is very slow and you spend an age waiting for something exciting to happen when it never does.

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• I Tried...I Really Tried

  seriouscritic-425692018-05-13

  I understand the limitations of low budget filmmaking, and I search actively for those efforts that rise above their constrictions, so - though difficult - I tried to get past the flat digital photography (where half the time you can't tell if it's supposed to be day or night) and the poor sound, poor sound effects and even worse sound mixing; let alone an amateurish score that works way too hard - sometimes the cues are almost painful (did the composer think this was a parody?). But with the addition of one dimensional, villainous government agents who repeatedly espouse exposition among themselves while all but twirling their mustaches (as the music dramatically screams "BAD GUYS!"); the uninspired, mediocre acting and the clichéd, clunky or overtly obvious dialogue where things are said because they were written, not because a human would say them in that situation (case in point; after a breakthrough in the creation of time travel a character exclaims with little enthusiasm "that's amazing" and then they go about their business as if there are no real ramifications to creating time travel) but all these negatives made it impossible to continue subjecting myself to the film. I'm sure the filmmakers meant well but they started with a script that reeks of having been written based on a screenwriting course as opposed to an understanding of complex human beings in complex situations. Note: If you are depicting highly intelligent people you can't just have them spew random info copied from a textbook and then have them behave as if they have no idea of the import of their own actions or their situations. I tried, I really tried, but I expect at least believable characters behaving in a believable manner to compensate for the deficiencies in cinematography, sound, and the particularly horrid production design. Maybe there was a good plot waiting to eventually show up, but I honestly couldn't suffer through more than forty minutes, so I couldn't tell you. And I have no faith that, even if there was, these filmmakers could have depicted it in a fashion worth watching.

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• Good idea, bad execution.

  buckybowen040968-12018-01-25

  Really amateur looking all the way around, bad sets, bad acting, bad story, bad directing ...wish it had something I could point to as positive. Honestly, it looks like the really poor student movies I would watch twenty years ago.

• Don't waste your time

  consultjb2019-01-02

  This movie is dead almost as soon as it starts. Bad music, bad writing, bad editing, bad acting. Old late-night and drive-in "B" rated movies were good compared to this stinker.