America 3000 (1986)

Follow the president! 

Director

David Engelbach

Cast

Chuck Wagner - Korvis

Laurene Landon - Vena

William Wallace - Gruss

Sue Giosa - Morha

Steve Malovic - Aargh the Awful

I first laid eyes on the "glorious and most epic" video cover for the 1986 movie America 3000 on Cinemassacre's Rental Review of "Crazy VHS Cover Art." Actually, I never heard of it until then. 

Just looking at the poster for America 3000 calls to mind many often deservedly overlooked shelf-warming VHS tapes from the old days of video rental stores. All those obscure, low-budget, z-grade films like Ricky, My Pet Monster, Rad, Up the Academy, and those Dorf movies with Tim Conway made me wonder "when did this come out?" and "was this ever in theaters?"

Incidentally, I've come up with a list of movies to watch and review based solely on the video covers I remember seeing at California Video at the Lincoln Square Shopping Center - the video rental store in my old Bay Area neighborhood. These are movies I wasn't able to rent because I was either too young or just not interested. The cover images still somehow remain in my memory. 

The titles I came up with include Eating Raoul, One Crazy Summer, Can't Buy Me Love, House [aka Ding Dong Your Dead], April Fool's Day, The Company of Wolves, Teen Wolf 2, Opportunity Knocks, D.A.R.Y.L., The Dirt Bike Kid, and Explorers among others. 

America 3000 takes place in Colorado, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland once called the United States. It's 900 years after a nuclear war, referred to as "The Great Nuke." Humanity, or what's left of it, lives in stone age conditions among a few tidbits of the past such as stereo systems, fireworks, verbiage, and a children's alphabet book. And men and women are separated into camps based on their gender. 

The women, referred to as "fraus" (I think that's spelled correctly) are determined, organized, skilled, and have a hierarchy within their camps. They remind themselves through recitations that the men, called "plugots," are their enemies who have brought darkness over the realm. They keep some men enslaved, and divide their male slaves, "seeders," into functional groups - laborers, servants, and those whose function is to father children. 

Some men are used for pleasure, and they're referred to as "toys."

There are various clans made up of fraus who seem relatively friendly with other clans. 

Meanwhile, the men have their own camp called "Camp Reagan" which they continuously build upon. Some men live outside the camps. These are more brutish and blindly follow their appetites like animals, and are no match against the women's camp. The fraus call them "machos." 

Aargh the Awful (Steve Malovic)

Other men are determined to seek out knowledge, and defend themselves against the women. They also develop plans to free those who have been enslaved. 

In the movie's central women's camp, their leader dies and a new leader is chosen. One of the fraus grows jealous of the newly appointed leader and...that jealousy doesn't really go anywhere. 

While that's going on, two men called Korvis and Gruss search the outer areas of their camp for items. By the way, the fraus have a rule never to go near the plugot's camp.
Anyways, Korvis and Gruss find a child's alphabet book and Korvis realizes when reading it that he's actually called a man, and not a "plugot." This creates a spark of self-realization inside him that'll drive Korvis to one-up the fraus. 

Later, following an attack on the women's camp to free the slaves, Korvis is chased and shot by one of the women with a makeshift pistol that shoots small spears. He falls several feet through a cave and inadvertently discovers an old bunker that belonged to the President of the United States. Inside, he finds military weapons, including laser guns, the likes of which he's never seen before. It's a small look into life before "the great nuke." 

With his new discoveries, Korvis makes a plan to free all enslaved men, scare the women's camp, and eventually teach men and women how to love each other. He uses the items he finds in the bunker to pull this off. 

The characters use a lot of slang in the movie, which they give some explanation to through narration. The narration is spoken in a way that doesn't match the dialogue of the characters. While their dialogue is post-apocalyptic, the narration is sounds like they found a random off the street who got excited to be a part of something outside his normal life. The slang, too, was confusing but I caught on to it by the end. 

The term "hot" refers to intense situations. And "cold" means dead. "Woggos" means something is crazy. And "plastic" means something is incredible and awesome. The characters go out of their way to say these words too often.

There are "old" terms used among their slang, which is a little creative, but that's not saying much. Words like "president" and "solemn swear" and a ton of Cold War references are used.  

The storyline is imaginative and a bit intrepid in a way. It seems like pointing out the differences in men and women is bound to irritate someone, but whatever.
Somewhere in the story line is commentary about the differences of the sexes, the role men and women play in society, ending on a moral high note not too far from the line "can't we all just get along." America 3000 is very much a period film, while trying to be hip (because 80s) and sexy enough to try gaining the audience's attention. 

There's a lot of battles, and fighting, and explosions, and robust women fighting muscular sweaty men, and more fighting. 

Susan Giosa as Mohra.

There's also a monstrous malformed creature called "Aargh the Awful" who's some kind of byproduct of the nuclear war fallout. 

I wish I saw more of him. He was so out of place and odd, and really served no purpose. Still, he was entertaining in that typical 80s mascot buddy - ugly on the outside but all heart on the inside like Chunk from The Goonies. Only, Aargh serves far less purpose in the actual story. 

While this is Director David Engelbach's only movie, he was a writer for other movies such as Over the Top and Death Wish II. He also wrote for the show MacGyver. 

It seems this movie tried to be ambitious, but fell very short on seriousness and acting. Nothing impressed me except for the effort to tell an intriguing and extremely imaginative interpretation of what America would look like after a Nuclear war. 

For fans of obscure flicks, America 3000 could very easily appease. Otherwise, it's just another victim left in the heap of forgotten 80s shlock that will likely die with its generation of 80s movie aficionados. 

Don't Fast Forward This One: Ten Movies I'd Like to See Remade, Rebooted, or Sequeled

I believe there's a current misconception that movie remakes and reboots are a somewhat new concept Hollywood implemented because they're out of ideas. 

The truth is remakes are as old as movie making itself. 

If I mention The Wizard of Oz, surely the first thing that comes to anyone's mind is the 1939 movie with Judy Garland. Of course it would be. It's a great movie. It's known around the world. It's one of those movies that's almost mandatory viewing.  

But what about the 1910 silent movie The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? How many people know that exists? 

There's also the 1925 silent movie The Wizard of Oz starring none other than Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy. By the way, it also stars actress Mary Carr who later acted with Laurel and Hardy in their 1931 movie One Good Turn as well as their 1932 movie Pack Up Your Troubles - the latter was my first review for this blog. So, technically the famous version of The Wizard of Oz is a remake.

Incidentally, 1910 also saw the release of a horror movie called Frankenstein. That was just a little over 20 years before Boris Karloff made his iconic version of the monster in 1931's Frankenstein.

And speaking of the 1931 movie Frankenstein, a series of sequels followed that movie - Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, House of Frankenstein, and Frankenstein Saves Christmas. 

(O.k., I made that last title up.) 

But House of Frankenstein spawned a sequel of its own called House of Dracula. And there was also the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which starred Boris Karloff. 

So, sequels (or money makers, or cash grabs...call them what you will) are as old as the industry.   

A remake or reboot doesn't necessarily mean the original is lacking. I doubt that's always, if not often, the reason movies get the remake/ reboot treatment. Rather, it's merely a retelling of a story. Remakes and reboots take nothing away from original movies. They're still there, and they're still loved and watched. Plus, there's enough movie fans out there curious enough to see new versions of old classics to make reboots profitably worth it. 

There are some rare instances were remakes are better than the original movies, and leave the originals in a pile of forgotten films. Audiences remember the 1980 comedy Airplane! more than the 1957 movie Zero Hour! which it's based on.   

So, there's a few titles I'd like to see rebooted, or remade, or just given a sequel.  

And I'll start with that Laurel and Hardy movie I just mentioned.

Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) - I recently watched the movie Diary of a Wimpy: The Long Haul. 

Anyways, it dawned on me it's loosely based on Laurel and Hardy's 1933 movie Sons of the Desert. 

My hunch was confirmed when a clip from that movie appeared in Diary. Otherwise, the movie was terrible, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. 

As I said, Pack Up Your Troubles was my first entry on this blog. I included it because, aside from being Laurel and Hardy's second feature length film, it also includes subject matter that's rather dramatic for a typical slapstick Laurel and Hardy movie. 

I don't think a straight up comedy remake of this movie would sit well with modern audiences as it involves an orphan girl whose father is killed during World War I, and whose mother has abandoned her prior to her father's death. 

Rather, I think a movie such as this could easily inspire similar stories if it hasn't already. In the movie, Stan and Ollie take it upon themselves to search for the girl's grandparents by asking every person they can find with the last name "Smith" (one of the most common names in the history of last names) to inquire if the girl's father "Eddie Smith" is their son. 

I think the story line is very unique and something worth exploring for a modern drama, especially with the dawn of the internet. Maybe a comedy would work. I mean, it worked back then. I leave that up for producers to decide.

The NeverEnding Story (1984) - Anyone who read the book The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende is aware the 1984 movie only tells half of the story, and leaves out a considerable amount of adventures and circumstances. 

That doesn't make the movie bad. There's just so much more material to re-imagine. 

Ende, who published the book in 1979, hated the movie. He had some harsh words to say about it. For instance, regarding the Sphinx gates Atreyu must pass through in the film, Ende commented that, "The Sphinxes are quite one of the biggest embarrassments of the film. They are full-bosomed strippers who sit there in the desert."

He also said The NeverEnding Story was "disgusting," and accused producers of ruining his story just for the money. 

Ende said they didn't understand the central themes of his book. 

Meanwhile, the film's director, Wolfgang Peterson, said the rights to the story are in some sort of litigation limbo, the end of which isn't on the horizon. 

So, based on that, I doubt a remake will happen anytime in the foreseeable future...if ever. 

As Peterson told Entertainment Weekly, "It is my understanding that some films you should just leave alone, and that's how I feel about this film." 

I respect that mentality. 

Of course I have a "but," otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about this.

Where the movie leaves off with Atreyu finding the Childlike Empress is actually the middle of the book. 

Though it's a great, entertaining and enjoyable film, a remake which includes more elements and characters from the book has a lot of potential for success. 

For instance, in the book, Atreyu first meets Falcor the Luck Dragon after rescuing him from the web of a giant spider named Ygramul the Many. 

Also in the book, Bastion fails to give the Childlike Empress her new name. So, she has to search for "the Old Man of Wandering Mountain" to choose her new name. Well, on second thought, maybe that part wouldn't sit well with audiences.

Anyways, a remake could certainly be made in two or three parts similar to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I think a remake could be fantastic, and introduce audiences and fans to a lot of new characters and story elements offered in the book.  

I know there's a NeverEnding Story II and, as I just learned only few years ago, a NeverEnding Story III. Let's just pretend those don't exist - especially part 3. 

In the meantime, I suppose the best way to be introduced to everything The NeverEnding Story has to offer is to read the book in some cozy corner.

Firestarter (1984) - Based on Stephen King's 1980 novel, Firestarter, this movie already spawned a 2002 sequel in miniseries form called Firestarter: Rekindled. I've seen the movie but not the sequel.

The 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott and even Art Carney is a movie about a young girl who can ignite fires with the power of her mind. It's kind of like King's story Carrie but in Firestarter, all the girl, Charlie McGhee (Drew Barrymore), can do is start fires.

It's a decent but underrated film. It didn't initially perform particularly well either. 

I particularly like George C. Scott who makes a great antagonist in this story. 

But in the wake of a Stephen King renaissance with many of his book to movie adaptations, and remakes of previous King films, Firestarter could be a great modern showcase of special effects. There's plenty of room to recreate and popularize a not-so-well known King character like Charlie McGhee. 

A retelling could make a very compelling and intense movie for modern audiences. And with special effects more special now, there's promise for a great and memorable film. As long as there's good writers on-board, of course. 

  

The Haunted Mansion (2003) - When I went to see The Haunted Mansion in theaters back in 2003, I ignored the possibility that Eddie Murphy's presence in the movie could be a terrible casting decision. 

Based on the attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, I had a lot of expectation that The Haunted Mansion would be a great movie, especially after the success of The Pirates of the Caribbean, also based on a Disney attraction. 

The visuals from the Haunted Mansion ride, and the on-screen possibilities surrounding what the ride features is immense. 

There has been a lot of talk about director Guillermo del Toro making a new Haunted Mansion movie completely separate from the 2003 film. With his love and appreciation for the ride, and for Disney, along with his masterful talent, a reboot possibility has "fantastic" written all over it. 

The 2003 movie was an absolute showcase of terrible movie making. 

As talented and funny as Eddie Murphy is, casting him was completely out of place. And the entire experience really cheapened the historic Disney ride, turning the ever popular scenes from the attraction into laughable gimmicks on the screen. 

The writing was bad. The casting was poor. The movie was a disgrace to the classic ride developed by Walt Disney himself. It deserves treatment from someone who can and will show it the appreciation and respect it deserves - Guillermo del Toro!

Gremlins (1984) - There are some movies I love to write fan fiction novels for. I mean, I just jot down notes and paragraphs, and conjure up what-if scenarios in my head. One of those movies I've had ideas about is Gremlins. 

I'd love to explore the story before the story - the origin of Mogwais and if there's any Chinese lore behind them. 

As they multiply in water, are there any liquids or substances that would make them do something else? Or if they ate specific things after midnight, would they morph into something different than a gremlin? What about Mr. Wing's grandson who surreptitiously sold the Mogwai to Billy's dad in the beginning of part one? Let's bring him back.

In Gremlins 2, Gizmo gets wet after a malfunctioning water fountain shoots water far into the air, landing on Billy Peltzer's drawing on his work desk. 

The water, looking like it mixed with paint from the picture, runs off the easel and splatters on Gizmo's head. The Mogwai's that pop out of Gizmo are rather unique and "colorful" in personality. 

So, how would other substances effect the offspring of a wet Mogwai? 

There's a lot of possibilities to make a prequel film. 

There is an upcoming animated program called Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai scheduled to debut on HBO Max. According to various sources online, it's supposed to be set in 1920s Shanghai, China. I'm game! 

Escape From Alcatraz (1979) - I'm surprised a remake to Clint Eastwood's 1979 movie Escape From Alcatraz, based on the true event surrounding the penitentiary's most famous escape attempt of 1962, hasn't been done yet. 

While the movie is classic and entertaining, it's also a bit slow in its pacing. I'll add it's also pretty accurate.

Escape From Alcatraz is a movie that really deserves a remake. The true story is very captivating and amazing. 

The question of whether former Alcatraz inmates Frank Morris (played by Eastwood in the original movie), and brothers John and Clarence Anglin actually made it through the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay on their makeshift rafts is one the most compelling mysteries in prison break history. And it's a unique part of San Francisco's history.

I believe new evidence has surfaced (no pun intended)  since the movie's release that the escapees very possibly survived. These stories could certainly be included in a remake, making a new movie much more fascinating and engaging. 

As of 2009, the case remains open as the FBI handed over the case to the U.S. Marshall's Service. 

I certainly believe a modern adaptation of Escape From Alcatraz would work well with modern audiences. 

Creepshow (1982) - The 1990 movie Tales From the Darkside (based on the anthology TV series by George Romero) was, I hear, supposed to be a third Creepshow movie. As it's an anthology movie, it does have a Creepshow feel to it. That's probably due to writers being George Ramero and Stephen King.

The new series Creepshow on Shudder starts off well with its first story Gray Matter, based on a short story by Stephen King in his book Night Shift. The segment starred Adrienne Barbeau who also starred in the story The Crate in the original movie.

The second story in the show, By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain was written by Stephen King's son, Joe Hill. 

Hill, by the way, played Billy in the opening and closing parts of the original 1982 movie. Otherwise, there's not much else I remember from watching the Shudder series.

I found the series more dull than scary. And often segments would start off captivating and end like a deflated balloon.

New cringy Creepshow stories for the big screen, from the masters of macabre storytelling, is something horror fans have wanted for a long time. 

The Black Cauldron (1985) - In this cinematic era of Disney's live-action remakes to their classic animated movies, The Black Cauldron should be among that list. A live-action treatment could be spectacular in special effects. Though the original animated movie fell flat on its face and seems like its been forgotten by most, the animation and imagery in the movie is very memorable.

With its $44 million budget, The Black Cauldron was the most expensive animated movie ever made at the time. But it grossed $21.3 million domestically, and was a big financial loss for Disney. 

The Black Cauldron earned the nickname, "the film that almost  killed Disney." Even The Care Bears Movie did better financially at the box office the same year. So, I can see why Disney executives might be apprehensive to make a live-action version of this movie, if its has ever even been considered. 

Maybe their initial mistake was making it animated. After all, their other animated movies are so different in style and tone. It is no doubt the darkest animated Disney movie to date. A live action platform, and better writing of course, may help redeem Disney for their mistake that is The Black Cauldron. It's a story that deserves a second chance as a reboot.

 

The Blob (1958, 1988) - The 1958 SciFi Horror movie The Blob (one of my personal favorite 50s movies) was Steve McQueens fourth movie, and his second credited movie. The 1988 remake was bloodier, scarier, and pretty good for a remake. 

But I'm interested in a new story that shows where these blobs come from. How would they fair attacking a modern society. What does their planet look like? Is it just covered in blob families? 

The 1958 movie ended *spoiler* with the U.S. Air Force carrying the blob to the frozen wasteland of the artic, where they drop it down so it'll remain there indefinitely. Freezing renders them immobile. The words "the end" appear and morph into a question mark. That's sequel material right there.

Should a modern version of The Blob be made, it could certainly draw audience's attention by making it a direct sequel to the 1958 movie. I think that might make it more appealing than just having another remake like the 1998 movie.

Since it's never establish what the blob is or where it came from, other than falling from the sky in a meteor, there's plenty of room for exploration. 

 

Clue (1985) - When I first saw the trailer to the 2019 movie Knives Out, I initially thought it was a remake of Clue before the title reveal. 

Clue is based on the board game of the same name, which was developed in 1944,and launched in 1949.

While the movie Clue is enjoyable overall, and has a great cast including Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, and Martin Mull, it still could use a writing uplift. 

As a teenager, I found this movie hilarious. As an adult, for some reason, it's just not as funny. I don't know why. I mean, it still has moments that make me laugh. Otherwise, it just seems to lack a little something. To me, the multiple endings make Clue come across as disjointed.

Whatever the case might be, I think a remake or reboot would suite the movie nicely. 

And while recent murder mystery movies such as Knives Out which did really well upon its release, and 2017's Murder on the Orient Express didn't do so badly, this may be a good time to see a remake of Clue. Murder mysteries never seem to go out of style. 

  

The Phantom (1996) - Comic to Movie #8

Many of us have killed him over the years. But he keeps coming back.

Director

Simon Wincer

Cast

Billy Zane - Kit Walker/ The Phantom

Kristy Swanson - Diana Palmer

Treat Williams - Xander Drax

Catherine Zeta-Jones - Sala

James Remar - Quill

A couple friends recommended 1996's The Phantom to me. Though I've heard of it, I have never seen it before now. 

In my mind, it fell into a jumbled mix of 90s hero movies such as Steel, The Shadow, Darkman, Mystery Men, The Meteor Man, and even that God-awful thing with Eddie Murphy from 2002.

The film style is rather film-noir. Given that Tim Burton's Batman and Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, both very stylized movies, came out shortly before The Phantom, I see a bit of both in this movie - the dark and grittiness of Batman and the colorful comic strip style of Dick Tracy. On top of all that, there's a little Indiana Jones mixed in as far as the adventurous story goes.

The movie starts with the briefest introduction for the sake of those who missed whatever hyped once surrounded the phantom as told in the comic strip by artist Lee Falk. Falk, by the way, is also known for his comic Mandrake the Magician. 

Just like Falk's comic strip, which debuted in 1936, the story begins in the fictional African island nation of Bengalla.

It's the 16th Century, and a small boy witnesses his father's death after pirates calling themselves the Sengh Brotherhood attack the ship the boy and his father are aboard on. 

The kid jumps overboard and finds his way to Bengalla where a tribe rescue him and take him back to their village.

They bestow a skull ring on him. And the boy vows to dedicate his life towards the destruction of piracy and injustice. He grows up and takes the identity of "the Phantom" - a masked avenger carrying out his promise from before. 

The movie then shifts to the 1930s were a man named Kit Walker (Billy Zane) has become the 21st person to take on the heroship of the Phantom. 

As a mercenary named Quill (James Remar) is leading a small band of ruffians, and one kidnapped native boy, through the jungle of Bengalla in order to steal the Skull of Touganda which contains a powerful magic of some kind, the Phantom is on to the scheme and attempts to stop them.

He captures one of these villains, saves the boy, but fails to save the skull. 

It turns out Quill is part of the Sengh Brotherhood, and was also previously responsible for killing Walker's dad. 

Incidentally, his dad occasionally appears to Walker as a ghost or as a mental delusion, I don't know which, in order to give his son advice. 

So, Walker researchers the skulls and finds there are three other skulls that have been separated from each other. He then follows Quill to New York City. 

Meanwhile, in New York, Walker's old college girlfriend, Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) - the niece of the World Tribune newspaper owner, Dave Palmer - is kidnapped by female air pirates working for wealthy businessman and villian, Xander Drax (Treat Williams). 

It turns out the World Tribune is investigating Xander who has a suspicious history of dealing with other less-than-savory businessmen. Among these female air pirates is femme fatale, Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones). 

Diana is taken to an island where she's questioned by Sala as well as by Quill himself.

The Phantom hears about this after visiting with Dave, and rescues her. 

Billy Zane as the Phantom

Back in New York, Kit meets with Dave and Diana, who isn't so sure about Kit as he disappeared from her life years before. Her current boyfriend tells Kit that one of the skulls is located inside the Museum of World History.

When they go to retrieve it, Xander shows up right after, takes the second skull from them, and joins it with the one stolen from Bengalla. 

The skulls merge and, through a show of magical skull magic, reveals the location of the third skull on an unchartered island in the Andaman Sea. 

Xander's race is on to obtain that third skull to obtain some serious powers. The Phantom and his old fling need to stop him before it's too late.

Billy Zane reminds me of a classic style Bruce Wayne if Bruce Wayne/ Batman started off in a fictional African country. 

Anyways, unlike movies such as Batman and Dick Tracy mentioned above, The Phantom lacks emotion all around. Not too many actors emote in this movie. They just do what they do. The Phantom saves people, and "phantoms," and everyone else does whatever it is their characters need to do. 

We do see some turnaround in Sala, but all Catherine Zeta-Jones has to do is look at the camera. Then we know she must be having a change of heart. Spoiler, by the way. 

We really don't know our hero, Kit Walker/ The Phantom. The audience has a very quick back story introduced as an "in case you missed it the first time." And that's really about it. It's not even his back story, to be honest. It belongs to the first Phantom back in the 16th century. 

We know Kit lost his father and sees his ghost, or his mental projection of his father. But there's no emotion in that. He doesn't seem upset by it. There's nothing here to connect the audience with the hero. 

Since I mentioned Batman earlier, in Tim Burton's film we see the damaged side of Bruce Wayne - his traumatic experience as a child witnessing the murder of his own parents. We know what drives him. There's a profound sadness and scarring that audiences can relate to in someway or another. The audience understands Bruce in a rather intimate way.

With Kit Walker, well...he just inherited his role. That's fine. But what has this inheritance done to him? What is he struggling with internally? Why does he "phantom?" Does he want to be the Phantom? All we get is a "super" hero. He saves people because that's what audiences expect heroes to do. And then the world is safe again...for now. Why should I care about this particular hero? Even Superman struggles with his role in our world. And Dick Tracy (in the 1990 movie) struggles with what should take precedence in his own life - his duties as a police detective, or his personal relationship with his girlfriend whom he wants to marry. I think the audience needs more than just a quick "in case you missed it the first time" snippet in the beginning. The audience needs to know their hero. Give them a reason to watch and become invested. 

For an epic adventure, the movie certainly delivers even with a mix of both real and computer animated explosions. The animated ones are easy to tell when compared to the real explosions. I mean, both kinds are in the same damn movie. 

The Phantom has that classic 1930s-1940s serial feel to it in its story, its delivery and pace, and its atmosphere. The characters are taken right out of those classic on-screen comic cliffhangers. This is especially true in the Xander Drax. He's the quintessential power-hungry, greedy businessman with awesome hair, a perfect smile, a tailored suit, and a rogues gallery of goons.

The character Diana Palmer brought some down-to-earth mannerisms into the story. One scene in particular depicts Palmer being taken to the island with Sala to retrieve the third skull. Sala, in the front passenger seat, turns around and says something menacing as villains often do. Palmer unexpectedly replies "What's wrong with you? Don't you care about anything?" 

"Like what?" Sala says.

"I don't know? You figure it out."

It made me laugh. 

Overall, the movie is lackluster despite its adventurous and close-call storyline. I was interested enough to wait for the resolve at the end. Still, I anticipate myself forgetting what happens in this movie as time goes by.