Gabriel (2007) Reviews

• $150,000 Aussie dollars.

  scott_paisley2007-11-18

  I enjoyed this movie. If you have any interest in film making, I would rate it higher than 7 out of 10. It's worth while seeing what can be made for $150,000 Aussie dollars. The movie may have some flaws, and I think the biggest one was budget. I would have loved to see this movie remade with a better budget. My biggest problem though was the quality of the film on the big screen. Considering it was filmed with a JVC HD101 camera, it's understandable that the film's not going to be as crisp as what people are used to. I hope someone gives the people who made this a chance at another film with a decent budget. At the very least give them a new camera to shoot with. Acting was not one of the flaws in this film. I have seen many a bad movie with dodgy acting and this was no where near as bad as I was led to believe from people's comments. Plot wise, it's an interesting tale. Understanding the concept of Purgatory goes along to help people get a grasp of what's going on. I can't believe how people claim this movie has no plot. I found this movie to be more a thinker with some action rather than a straight action film. Their is action in this film, but it is depicted a lot more realistically than most people probably would have liked. At the end of the day, this is not the horrible movie that the first reviewer is making it out to be. It has plot, solid acting and the sound was fine. The quality of the picture though is probably the hardest thing to forgive. I think it's sad that a lot of people will read the first person's review and not see this film based on someones ability to write 10 lines of text. 10 lines being the magic minimum before they allow people to submit a review. If you really think this film was awful go and watch "Ultraviolet" and you will truly understand what kind of films deserve to be given 1/10.

• Don't judge the film too quickly

  arwen-g2007-11-18

  I had my doubts about this film when I first saw the trailer - to me it looked like a ripoff of the Nightwatch premise. However, when I saw it I learned that the story itself was very different. Oh sure, it has a Jesus-like story arc much like the Matrix and a good vs bad that pretty much every fantasy film has. What I liked about this one was that the story didn't follow the usual formulaic storyline that you can almost time down to the minute. At first I wasn't sure where the story was headed, but as it unfolded I became drawn into it. I enjoyed the story, and it's exploration of the concept of freedom. I found it to be a story of great substance, and bears watching a second time in order to fully appreciate it, much like films such as Donnie Darko. I liked that the cast was filled with people I didn't know, it gave it a freshness and allowed one to view it without the context of the actors cluttering the story. I liked the gritty visuals and sound - it pulled this off without the need to provide motion-sick tablets with your ticket, unlike movies like the Bourne Ultimatum which took wobbly camera shots a bit too far. It is a look typical of many Australian films, such as Wolf Creek, but the comic-book look of the film gives it a sense of fantasy which suits the story perfectly. One thing I particularly liked was the way the fight scenes were realised - a fresh approach to supernatural battles which, I think, works well. I found the effects a little over-done at times, and some of the visuals could have used a bit more polish, but considering the film's budget (or lack thereof), I think it's very impressive. Sure, it's no Hollywood blockbuster, but that's kind of the point.

• Excellent Surprise

  Bloomer2007-11-20

  Aussie self-consciousness, whether it figures in support of this film or against it, ain't relevant. Gabriel is a great existential-goth-action piece about archangels and their nemeses warring in human form and grappling with their newfound human frailties. For budgetary reasons the film favours the goth and the existential elements over the action one, and it's definitely all the better for it, because what it ultimately develops which is sorely lacking from a lot of films whose stylings it's adopted (the Underworlds, the Crows, etc.) is a ton of genuine involvement. The unknown actors give universally fine performances, and in the case of bad guy Sammael (Dwaine Stevenson) a deeply charismatic and disturbing one. I was a bit worried by the wordlessness and flat grey look of the earliest scenes, but as soon as we hit the first dialogue two-hander, I got pulled into the characters' situation. Also, the film never looks as grey again as it does right at the start, even if the digital video footage doesn't give much depth of field in this dark world. The fights are spaced out, but they're very cool. The choreography is of The Matrix almost ESP-martial arts kind, yet filmed in nice clear wide shots with minimal editing (or editing that's well-disguised by passing obstacles) so you can see what's going on. Sometimes it's guns, sometimes hand-to-hand, sometimes both, with bullet time, slow-mo, folks zipping around bullets, all the nifty stuff that's been developed in this genre. There's also an exciting shootout in strobing darkness that reminded me of Equilibrium's gun cabal scenes. The film Gabriel reminds me of most strongly, however, isn't something super recent. It's Blade Runner. In that film, replicant robots unsure of their identity and nascent emotions variously went into hiding, went insane or fought for their survival in a world that wasn't really theirs when push came to shove. Replace 'robots' with 'angels' and you've got the basic premise of Gabriel. The angels are sent to purgatory to get in amongst the humans and steer them in the right direction, or in the case of bad guys The Fallen, keep them corrupt. But to adopt the mortal form is to become vulnerable to human weakness, and that's what Gabriel has to struggle with as he tries to rally his angel pals who've failed before him for one last battle. Freakin' good film!

• I wanted to hate it

  lopesche2008-02-09

  Well, after reading some of the reviews here, I was expecting this movie to be awful. I wanted to watch it as the storyline sounded intriguing. From the moment I starting watching this movie, I wanted to hate it. Most of the time, films with these kind of story lines, always seem to mess up, and was expecting the same here. But, it wasn't the case. The time seemed to fly by, usually a good sign when watching a movie. Now yes, if you 're the "critic" type, or work for the Oscars, you might have lots of negative things to say about this film, but then again that would be the case with any movie. It doesn't have the Hollywood glare, nor did it have the budget, but if you're not so concerned about the "aesthetics", you will enjoy this movie. If you enjoyed the movie Constantine, you will enjoy this.

• Pretty decent if you like fantasy with Angels and Demons.

  bapman_20992008-10-31

  First of, don't expect a blockbuster like UNDERWORLD. This movie was shot with a budget of Au$ 200,000, that's Australian, by a guy who never wrote or made a movie before. Consider all these when you watch the movie and you might forgive its short comings. Sure a lot of idiots complain that there are better movies with lower budget, yes, well ask how many of them are effects driven action movies with such a large scope like GABRIEL. Clerks !?... um no. Frankly, Gabriel is a the indie action film. These being said, the movie moves at a pretty typical style and pace until the ending when it really pays off. The fights are quite cleverly choreographed and the editing is pretty tight. Its the dialogs that needed improvement and the story needed to explain itself a more. Half the time you'll be left wondering the rules of the world. In the end, watch it for yourself and discover. As an independent effects driven action film with a style of SIN CITY, it is definitely the 1st.