I could have sworn I had reviewed this film already. But going through my list, I'm not seeing it, despite owning it for quite awhile. It was one of the films I viewed and added to my collection while based in Korea. Ah well, now having seen the duo perform live, let's talk about it all.
I first heard about this as a film from a writeup I read on Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News. Being an indie film fan, especially science fiction and looking for different stories, off the beaten path, a tale describing itself as the first sci-fi, folk, musical, comedy...well really, it is uncategorizable, this film definitely occupies a unique realm by itself. I batted this around in my head a bit myself and came up with "A Mighty Wind" meets "The Day The Earth Stood Still". Not quite there, but close.
But what you have is the tale of the mightiest warrior from the planet Hondo (HONDO!), General Trius (Nils Daulaire), sent to Earth to prep it for colonization via a bio doomsday weapon. But right when he was about to set it off, he experienced something he never had before. Music. See, on Hondo, they don't have music, and when he heard it, it gripped his heart something fierce. He could not go through with it. So he settled on Earth, found a wife, had a kid and pursued a triple life of musician/engineer/groundskeeper. All the while, he attempted to communicate with his world to let them know what he had found. One day, they send an "assassin", (Mighty) Kevin (Jay Klaitz), to apparently kill Trius and finish the job, but Kevin proves a somewhat inept assassin. But a GREAT musician and partner to Trius' act, which is what he needed to take him to the next level. So, the Hondonians come together and attempt to, quoting Dee Schnider's character, "Rock this joint!", while dealing with a series of crises of interstellar threat as well as the heart.
The band came first and the movie was intended to be a way to introduce them to the world, formalizing the Hondonian mythology building itself around the concept art band, kind of like DEVO in that respect.
What you will get? A fun science fiction story with lots of heart and great tunes. It is true indie filmmaking, but makes good use of its budget and shooting location (mostly New York City). Also, the fellas have a Marvel/Zack Schnyder connection, in that their composer for the soundtrack, Tim Williams, lists such cinematic compositions as 300, Watchmen, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Yeah. They ain't playing around here.
Go see the trailer, get a feel of it for yourself...
Plus, these guys have real serious musical chops and do all their own tunes and just put on a show live something amazing.
So check them out when they come to your town.
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