Pulse 3
(2008/Dimension Extreme 2008)
Picture:
B- Sound: C- Extras: C- Feature: C-
The third
movie in the Pulse series picks up
very much where the last one left off. Despite the fact that seven years are
supposed to have passed, it all feels very continuous. The main character, who was a whiny little
girl in the last film, has now grown into an angsty teenager. And like any teenage kid who’s more focused on
her own problems than the crumbling world around her, she finds her solace on
the internet. Except in the Pulse series, the internet and any form
of electronic device has become a medium for the dead to return to the world of
the living. Right away this story takes
on a strong internet predation vibe with Rider Strong (Boy Meets World, Cabin Fever)
at the center.
Like Pulse 2, this film was shot primarily
in front of greenscreens. While in the
last film, I felt it gave a distinct, almost otherworldly look to the movie,
many people apparently weren’t happy with it. So it seems the filmmakers hedged their bets
and shot many of the seminal scenes in real sets. At times they did use the technology to
greater, more stylized effect, but overall their lack of emphasis on the visual
effects is apparent. Periodically
throughout the film shots can clearly be seen where the greenscreens were
poorly executed. This is a classic
example of “go big or go home” where the supposed compromise just doesn’t work.
Overall,
the picture quality is good, with just a few gaffs in the visual effects here
and there. It is in a 1.78:1 matted
widescreen. The sound is decent, until
you really listen to it when it becomes apparent that is almost entirely done
in foley. The sound is presented in 5.1
Dolby Digital.
There are
only two extra features on the disc, a making-of and a commentary track. The making-of is about five minutes long and
fairly informative while the commentary track is exactly like every other
commentary track you’ve ever listened to. Although it is a step up from the last film in
that writer-director Joel Soisson is actually on it.
In
general I would say that this film is a step down from Pulse 2. The filmmakers took
fewer risks, and therefore ended up with fewer payoffs, and while the story is
marginally less irritating than the last, that can’t make up for the visual
deficiencies. One of the things that
struck my fancy about the last film was that it had guts – both literally and
figuratively – which is exactly what this latest installment is lacking.
- Matthew Carrick
