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This 2009 disaster film, titled Mega Fault, has made its mark mostly due to its offbeat reputation. Primarily it is known as the last performance of a talented actress before her premature death. With all due respect to the actress’s legacy, this film is certainly not a fine cinematic jewel. To my surprise, it was entertaining for the entire 86 minutes.
A blast master intent on blowing up mountains does in fact manage to rupture a new fault line across America, resulting in the land breaking into pieces.
The movie is laced with dramatic elements like earthquakes, giant cracks, tons of pyrotechnic explosions, helicopter madness, and Vermeer meets Bruegel Man melting.
It is clear that the film was made with a limited budget on Mega Fault, but it could not be classified as a budget chit-chat film due to its rough style and action-packed spirit. Yes, the plot is horrid, but the runtime is mercifully short. When paired with the average standard of acting and minimal overacting, it makes it much more forgiving. This allows us to appreciate Mega Fault for what it is.
As far as strengths go, the pacing is its best attribute. It begins with the start of a catastrophe, and as the fissures begin spreading, there are mini-set pieces that keep the action bopping along while the main characters maneuver through the myriad of chaos. The characters themselves are cardboard cutouts, which is nothing new, but then again, they are not fleshed out, and there is little to no inner conflict. This creates a neo-disaster movie that is lacking in finesse, wherein the plot is solely driven by the disaster and not a contrived love story.
Explosions happen left right and center (although always far away from the main action), and there is plenty of CGI there, but it is always obscured or almost painted on in a blur so it doesn’t look garish at all. The exception to this is The Cracking of the Earth, which I must say looks incredibly stunning for a non-blockbuster film. The actual cinematography is well done too, always constructing the feeling that the movie is on a much bigger production scale than it really is.
I found my choosing Justin Hartley for the role of Dan, Murphy’s husband. I know it is clear from the start that the duo have very minor character arcs, but I was indifferent to them neither caring nor rooting for them. He does a great job of getting cast aside by his wife and simply accepting it while the earthquake occurs. What’s more disgusting, he somehow manages to let his daughter scream ‘I wanna go home’ a million times without tossing her out of the window. Talk about courage!
By one-upping Murphy’s love for Dan, she assumes the role of the protagonist. Now, I know for a fact that the last one hundred and twenty minutes of the show are not worth watching, but the Earth’s crust replacing itself is definitely something to see. You can’t possibly run out of cringe doomsday scenarios as the Earth is shallowly melting, causing people to grudge into flames only for the floor to sink underneath them.
Mega Fault is one of the best low budget disaster movies. Period. It is a long time since I have seen one. The plot doesn’t write itself into the center of love triangles, so Mega Fault cuts out all the white noise in one cleaning swoosh. Instead, spares no expense while investing 90 minutes of pure action while still not putting its claim for the big screen like its competitors put on flashy frames. Now that’s what I call decently spending my time.
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