Touches You

Overrated and overhyped

A Brilliant Conflict

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is SO formulaic... nasty happenings, big storm ... there's the smart woman with the stressed face, the bad guy who snarls all the time and reaches for his gun, the smart-arse kids ... Oh come on, you guys, think up some other scenario PLEASE!Mind you, of course, it's standard day-time telly and that's when I'm watching it so .... my fault, I guess!

When a UFO is shot down by the U.S., Seattle suffers the devastating consequences in this exciting science fiction film from gifted director Jason Bourque. The script, by David Rae and Jeff Renfroe, not only provides an intelligent sci-fi story for Bourque to work with, it emphasizes character development and the nature of human relationships during times of crisis. The performances are superb and we find ourselves caring deeply for these people as they fight for their own survival and for that of those they love. Esai Morales is a particular standout in his inspired role and gives one of does some of his finest work in years. Spectacular special effects are never allowed to diminish the humanity of this film and serves to amplify the powerful message of the screenplay. This is not simply about destroying what we don't understand and therefore fear. It's also about the value of the individual and each one's importance to the other. An extraordinary film of other worldly encounters, high crisis, and the essential nature of love.

This is your typical Sci-Fi Channel disaster flick except it's even worse than the average for this unfortunate sub-genre. It offers a family-focused narrative which sees a scientist and his extended relations getting to grips with some kind of supernatural storm which envelops Seattle after the army shoots down a UFO. Unfortunately this outer space menace has the power to cause tornadoes and earthquakes and the like so the humans have their work cut out to combat it.Sadly it's a complete mess of a film, full of insipid dialogue, lame characters you instantly hate, and special effects that are bad even by Sci-Fi Channel standards. The characters are dull beyond belief even with various familiar actors playing the roles. Headlining this thing is LA BAMBA's Esai Morales, but he's the most famous the film can offer.The ludicrous aspect of having high school students figuring out ways to combat the threat when experienced scientists and top academics are unable to do so is particularly noticeable here, and a handful of not-bad disaster sequences fail to lift this one from the mess in which it's mired.

As I've said many times before, I have made no secret of disliking a vast majority of SyFy's output. A couple are tolerable without ever being great, but a lot of them are either lame or bottom-of-the-barrel. As bad as they are, there's something about their awfulness that not only is compulsive but at times can amuse me. From reading the premise, which is the sort of nothing-new, silly sort of premise, I wasn't expecting much, but Seattle Superstorm actually was worse than I expected. It, even for a low budget TV movie, is a poorly made movie, with editing so slapdash it made my head hurt and special effects that are among the most cheap-looking and cheesily used of any effects in a SyFy movie since Titanic II. The dialogue is incredibly insipid, especially about when they are talking about who is going into the tank to release the water, and the story is dull and predictable with the positioning of the manual valve in a position where anybody about to open it would die was beyond stupid. I got a good laugh with the lightning obliteration scene, but that was it. The characters are among SyFy's most irritating and stereotypical, and the acting is very poor, Esai Morales is okay, but everybody else is just bad especially the 16 year old girl who not just once but twice comes up with a save the world solution and the grandfather who acts like he is in a different film altogether.All in all, SyFy have done worse than Seattle Superstorm, but it is still a train wreck. 1/10 Bethany Cox