Really Surprised!

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies, that being said, I actually really liked this movie. I think people give it more guff than it deserves. Did there NEED to be a sequel to Donnie Darko? Absolutely not. I don't think this film does the first any justice, but as a stand-alone film, I personally loved it. I liked how they cast the original Samantha Darko to reprise her role. I found it laughable, however, that they cast Ed Westwick from Gossip Girl. He is comically ridiculous. Jackson Rathbone did a good job as the "geek with a dark side". I was also satisfied with Briana Evigan's role of the somewhat bitchy, but ultimately loyal friend. Overall, it's not a perfect movie, but if you look past the wanna-be sequel title it claims, it's NOT as bad as everyone says it is.

A sequel or so called continuation of the original film that should have not been made. Even few of the people that played a part in making this movie was like "why does there need to be a sequel?" and yet they went ahead and made this cheap crappy movie. I just wanted to forget this movie as soon as I finished watching it. This movie is simply unnecessary and doesn't add anything to the "Donnie Darko" film but subtracts it. This one is all over the place but just doesn't seem consistent. It's like the writers wrote down a bunch of scenarios and just decided to mash them all together in a incoherent and in a manner that is not very clever. I think they first tried to get Maggie Gyllenhaal who played Elizabeth Darko to play a part in this movie. But I guess she smartly declined. And now this revolves around Samantha Darko who is Donnie's youngest sister and it takes 7yrs after what happened in the first "Donnie Darko" film. It started out like it might be a watchable flick but as the movie started to progress it got worse and worse. And my gosh the special effects are just freaking awful, even for a straight to DVD movie. Movies like this goes to show that if you don't have a creative or good idea for a sequel, don't go for it! I am just going to forget that this movie ever happened.3/10

Admittedly, I really wasn't expecting this film to be that good. The fact that it went straight to DVD only made me feel more skeptical and the only reason I ended up watching the film was because it was given to me. Thank God I didn't spend money on it. This movie takes all the good bits of Donnie Darko and tries to make a new movie out of them. However, the ending result is not an excellent film but feels more like a fan made feature. This may have something to do with the fact that Chris Fisher, director of the first film, had nothing to do with the sequel but nevertheless, the film does not stand on it's own. Some sequences actually feel like you're watching a deleted scene from the original film. The plot has essentially been copied from its predecessor, complete with the world ending, wormholes, time travel and even Frank, although he's represented by a metal mask. The acting does not redeem the film either. For most of the movie's running time, Daveigh Chase looks like she's struggling to show emotion. and for the most part, her and Brianna Evigan spend most of their time running around in skimpy dresses and shorts and alternately time travelling. They also share a line that is easily the worst in the film; it's only said two or three times but each made me wince. A hint is that it uses the word immaculate. The supporting characters are by far the most interesting, although that isn't really saying anything. Jackson Rathbone, as local science nerd Jeremy, is adorable and plays his role as the awkward geek fairly well, although he goes through a transformation at the end that is more than a little bizarre. So, for those Donnie Darko fans out there who have been contemplating seeing the movie, save yourself the pain. S. Darko is not worthy of bearing the moniker "a Donnie Darko film." This isn't a sequel to Donnie Darko; it's a rip-off, sucking all the parts out of the original movie that made it brilliant and dumbing them down. Save yourself the one and a half hours. Just don't bother.

The original is a cult-favourite that has really grown a fan base, and the independent straight-to-DVD small-scale follow-up "S. Darko" feels more like homage to it than a straight-forward sequel. Although it's not without its problems, but I didn't find it as terrible as it's labelled to be. Still it's disappointing. Where as I found the "Donnie Darko" to feel fresh, snappy and intriguing… "S. Darko" was glum, ponderous and overcooked. It's much darker, but in that case it lost the personality that shined through "Donnie Darko" that made it easier to connect with the characters in mundane suburbia. That's not saying "S. Darko" is all bad, as I found the performances acceptable (even though no one really stood out) and the soundtrack / music score builds up that airy, melodic emotional attachment that also favoured the original film. It's stylishly done by director Chris Fisher with dynamic camera-work, which captured the beautiful Utah locations and the fashionable use of sped-up visuals gives that feeling that time does move fast despite not feeling it. It's visually appealing (namely the unconscious sequences), but during stages the mellow tailoring can leave the pacing to meander.The story continues seven years later with Donnie's younger sister Samantha on the road, trying to leave behind her past but it comes back to haunt her as car trouble causes her and her friend Corey (a spunky Briana Evigan) to be stranded in a small, quiet desert town. There she becomes entangled with the local inhabitants, in which through certain circumstances cause a chain of events that leads to the countdown to the end of the world.The past repeats --- the apocalyptic visions are back. Writer Nathan Atkins spins up some new angles, but also conjures up numerous links between certain story arches --- adding onto or evolving what we learnt from the original but never too much to take away from its mythological and open nature. It's just as knotty, but some sub-plots being a little too convoluted or thinly explained (like the missing children angle). There's even an unpredictable POV change in the story's structure which is jarring, but fits well due to the possibilities and ideologies created from this world of wormholes and time-travel cemented in teenage angst. The communication between the manipulative dead and living receiver is starkly done, but at times quite flat --- even the creepy bunny mask makes an appearance, but it just isn't the same. Daveigh Chase is rather good in the lead as she harbours such a solemn presence for her character Samantha. Someone longing to break away from the past, but she finds it catching up. However while she might be the main protagonist, be it sleepwalking while having trouble figuring out what's real and what's not, she remains clueless ("wake up") to the disruptive flow affecting the universe, as for other characters (like her friend Corey, town lad Randy and especially Iraq Jack) paths are chosen. These people seem to control their own destiny with their choices of making things right (mainly sacrifice) going on to affect Sam, as they see hope in her. Everything must happen for a reason, in what seems like larger forces at work.This all might read interesting on paper, but the execution isn't that compelling as it could have been. Some instances are simply rehashed (repetitive dialogues and actions) and the small town dramatics caught under a magnifying glass never truly engages in its crazy, unusual situation. You seem to be waiting for things to happen, then in natural progression. The lesser characters feel quite hollow and trivial to the actual scheme of things. The neurotic special effects are clunky, but still have that novel touch about them towards their use in the surreal story-telling. The young cast feature the likes of Ed Westwick, James Lafferty, Jackson Rathbone and also appearing is Elizabeth Berkley, Mathew Davis and an enjoyable John Hawkes.Tries hard, but I guess like someone stated "Death comes to us all".