Badly Executed Low Budget Sci-Fi Romp…
Writer/director Thomas Dixon has only one other movie besides Nomad the Beginning, and it would be fair to say, that wasn’t known as a classic — or this. The premise is good — very good in fact, and had I even known (I went in completely blind), my expectations would most likely have been higher. As the saying goes, “ignorance is bliss,” (The Matrix anyone?), but, no matter.
Nomad, kicks off by showing us a man running through some woods. He appears to be trying to escape something unseen by us. A noise starts up, then lights. Dockins has just woken up, so goes to get himself a drink when he hears a cellphone ring. He hunts all over, then finds it well concealed under his bed — but with the phone is a gun. He answers the phone to a man, who speaks a few words that ‘trigger’ him. He’s an ex Navy Seal, who is now under the control of someone else, ready to kill, but never remembering what he has done. John wakes in the desert, with writing on his body and no memory of anything (Memento?). While he’s trying to figure out who he is, and why he’s half naked, Marianna stops her car and approaches John. She has been told to go there, and pick up a package. John is the package.
A man is in a small office with a high-tech helmet over his head, where the visor acts as his screen. He is controlling Dockins, but he’s also a remote viewer, and can look anywhere he wants, but who is he working for? John has no memory of anything he’s done, but it is coming back slowly. He meets a mysterious woman in a vision, who tells (and shows) him she isn’t human. Marianna has been searching for a missing brother — John is searching for missing memory, and together, they must try to unravel the mystery, and find out who is really behind it all, and which planet they’re from.
The idea of a remote viewer controlling a killer, and this all mixed in with alien abduction, does indeed sound like my idea of a good movie, but the dialogue and acting (the women were fine) killed this one for me. It wasn’t all bad, but there were two scenes that were noticeably bad, with ultra wooden deliveries by John and Dockins. This was a directorial thing, in my very humble opinion, because the actors were good at other times, so as far as I’m concerned, they are in the clear. This would have been an idea to hold onto, and wait for real funding, but I suppose, if you have an itch that needs to be scratched, then scratch it you must. Nomad the Beginning, was obviously Thomas Dixon’s itch. If you’re looking for something interesting, and enjoy Sci-Fi, then this really is worth a gander, just don’t take it too seriously, and you may find it more entertaining than I.
Review by E. Blackadder, special to Influx Magazine
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