(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“In 2063, desperate for a solution to save humanity from a global holy war, the world's governing bodies establish a fierce martial-arts tournament to determine a champion whose faith will govern humanity and restore peace for the future.”
Don’t let your eyes fool you, folks: when everything you see tells you that you’re watching a B-Movie, then you’d better believe it!
Now, that isn’t intended as any insult because – let’s all be perfectly honest with one another – there are a great many B-Movies out there that cultures around the world embrace and embrace mightily. Though the prospects may not seem so promising today, who knows what the next generation or the one after that might think about a feature as – ahem – as bland and uninteresting as Absolute Dominion (2025) is to us today. It hits a lot of cultural buttons, making statements about combat, religion, politics, family, etc., and yet it kinda/sorta fails to really stake out any central message other than always bet on the underdog. That alone might be a sentiment worth saving the picture for our grandchildren or our grandchildren’s grandchildren, so I’ll say what I think and leave this one’s prospects for the future to those yet to come.
Up front, everything about the picture gives it the narrative structure of, say, a lazy man’s Mortal Kombat, a 1995 flick that saw the fate of the world at large resting in the hands of combatants from opposing dimensions facing off in the brackets to end all brackets. Dominion doesn’t span nearly as far – instead of the galaxy being at risk, this one centers chiefly on our Big Blue Marble – and it puts our future squarely in the hands of humans alone. Rather than throwing down against champions with special powers or multiple limbs, Dominion requires that the major and minor religions around the world select one combatant to represent their respective faith; and then – presumably – whoever wins gets to determine what belief system will govern these united nations until the same time next year when it all takes place yet again. I think it’s all meant to be a bit dystopian in tone, but the fact that we’re never really treated to what affect these tournaments have on Planet Earth suggests that maybe not even writer/director Lexi Alexander wanted to put that much thought into it.
Indeed, Dominion tries very hard to muster up the likes of such recent societal spectacles as The Hunger Games (2012), The Maze Runner (2014), or even Allegiant (2016), but when your production budget can only afford – ahem – actor, comedian, and podcaster Patton Oswalt for name and face recognition, the future doesn’t look so bright that you’re likely wear shades. At this price point, you’ll be lucky if you can afford them! Bill & Ted alumnus Alex Winter shows up in a small role (also with producer responsibilities); and while actress Julie Ann Emery isn’t exactly a household name hers was a face I recognized. The two of them do the best they can – Winter as a thoughtful scientist responsible for engineering Sagan Bruno (played by Désiré Mia) to be the lean, mean, and somewhat Christian fighting machine while Emery mostly chews scenery as the resident matriarch/badass trying to save civilization from chaos – but so little of the plotline evolves organically that neither gets the traction required to evoke true emotional possibilities.
As I said above, Sagan is the genetically perfect specimen who has been assembled and psychologically programmed to represent … well … let’s call it ‘Anti-Faith.’ Emerging from a conglomerate run by scientists and big thinkers, he’s meant to be society’s wild card within the tournament, showing that spirituality and religion are no longer needed in order to be considered among the best of the best. Well, the central MacGuffin here is that Sagan privately finds himself plagued by brief periods of catatonic blackout in which – believe it or not – he thinks he’s hearing the voice of God. (This gets a bit confusing in the second half when even he admits it may all be an auditory hallucination.) Naturally, this is meant to give his character the dimension it needs beyond simply serving as a brawler; but Mia’s skills in that respect are – ahem – really sorely lacking. In fact, so many folks alongside the relative screen newcomer wind up mumbling their dialogue through a great deal of the picture, so much so that I’m hoping that producers asked for the salaries of the sound crew to be returned.
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“In 2063, desperate for a solution to save humanity from a global holy war, the world's governing bodies establish a fierce martial-arts tournament to determine a champion whose faith will govern humanity and restore peace for the future.”
Don’t let your eyes fool you, folks: when everything you see tells you that you’re watching a B-Movie, then you’d better believe it!
Now, that isn’t intended as any insult because – let’s all be perfectly honest with one another – there are a great many B-Movies out there that cultures around the world embrace and embrace mightily. Though the prospects may not seem so promising today, who knows what the next generation or the one after that might think about a feature as – ahem – as bland and uninteresting as Absolute Dominion (2025) is to us today. It hits a lot of cultural buttons, making statements about combat, religion, politics, family, etc., and yet it kinda/sorta fails to really stake out any central message other than always bet on the underdog. That alone might be a sentiment worth saving the picture for our grandchildren or our grandchildren’s grandchildren, so I’ll say what I think and leave this one’s prospects for the future to those yet to come.
Up front, everything about the picture gives it the narrative structure of, say, a lazy man’s Mortal Kombat, a 1995 flick that saw the fate of the world at large resting in the hands of combatants from opposing dimensions facing off in the brackets to end all brackets. Dominion doesn’t span nearly as far – instead of the galaxy being at risk, this one centers chiefly on our Big Blue Marble – and it puts our future squarely in the hands of humans alone. Rather than throwing down against champions with special powers or multiple limbs, Dominion requires that the major and minor religions around the world select one combatant to represent their respective faith; and then – presumably – whoever wins gets to determine what belief system will govern these united nations until the same time next year when it all takes place yet again. I think it’s all meant to be a bit dystopian in tone, but the fact that we’re never really treated to what affect these tournaments have on Planet Earth suggests that maybe not even writer/director Lexi Alexander wanted to put that much thought into it.
Indeed, Dominion tries very hard to muster up the likes of such recent societal spectacles as The Hunger Games (2012), The Maze Runner (2014), or even Allegiant (2016), but when your production budget can only afford – ahem – actor, comedian, and podcaster Patton Oswalt for name and face recognition, the future doesn’t look so bright that you’re likely wear shades. At this price point, you’ll be lucky if you can afford them! Bill & Ted alumnus Alex Winter shows up in a small role (also with producer responsibilities); and while actress Julie Ann Emery isn’t exactly a household name hers was a face I recognized. The two of them do the best they can – Winter as a thoughtful scientist responsible for engineering Sagan Bruno (played by Désiré Mia) to be the lean, mean, and somewhat Christian fighting machine while Emery mostly chews scenery as the resident matriarch/badass trying to save civilization from chaos – but so little of the plotline evolves organically that neither gets the traction required to evoke true emotional possibilities.
As I said above, Sagan is the genetically perfect specimen who has been assembled and psychologically programmed to represent … well … let’s call it ‘Anti-Faith.’ Emerging from a conglomerate run by scientists and big thinkers, he’s meant to be society’s wild card within the tournament, showing that spirituality and religion are no longer needed in order to be considered among the best of the best. Well, the central MacGuffin here is that Sagan privately finds himself plagued by brief periods of catatonic blackout in which – believe it or not – he thinks he’s hearing the voice of God. (This gets a bit confusing in the second half when even he admits it may all be an auditory hallucination.) Naturally, this is meant to give his character the dimension it needs beyond simply serving as a brawler; but Mia’s skills in that respect are – ahem – really sorely lacking. In fact, so many folks alongside the relative screen newcomer wind up mumbling their dialogue through a great deal of the picture, so much so that I’m hoping that producers asked for the salaries of the sound crew to be returned.
Furthermore, Dominion remains heavily weighted down by the fact that it’s utterly and patently predictable, probably because it relies so heavily on stealing ideas that have already been done before in the aforementioned theatrical Young Adult novel adaptations. Literally, everything in here has been done before, leaving the end result so strikingly unoriginal and uninspired I would be surprised to see it subject to copyright violations, starting with the gaily-flamboyant broadcasting personnel down to the scheming control booth know-nothings. Aside from the only real unique twist – that being of our leading clone kinda/sorta discovering he might have a soul – the story progresses exactly as anyone expects. One by one, the competitors are dispatched, and Sagan learns that there are a few challengers he can still trust outside the squared circle … or circled square … it’s a little of both here. Yes, eventually, he makes it to the Big Event … and, yes, it ends precisely the way you suspected it would, although Alexander sadly leaves it up to you and me to figure out how much of Sagan’s holiness was real or simply a product of our own hopeful imagination.
Honestly, I kept hoping for some spark to elevate the mundanity of the entire presentation. Effects work – what there is – is nothing to “write home about,” and the performances all tend to be very low key and uninspired. One would think that a script involving, say, the various passions of the Christ, Allah, Bill Gates, and/or whoever else might be High and Mighty would be a bit more enthusiastic, but there’s not an ounce of authentic belief anywhere to be seen in this 100-minute running time. Hell, even the scientists don’t seem all that scienc-y! Alexander’s inability to effectively frame shooting scenes also doesn’t help viewers get inspired by any of the imagery: I lost count of the number of close-ups wherein the actor or actress were staged so far out of center that I wasn’t sure what I was to be looking at. All of this is plagued by so much amateurish cinematography I began to wonder myself if maybe that was an act of God.
Minimally, I show up to a fight movie because of the fisticuffs, but even on that front Dominion underperforms. What looks like some major martial arts match-ups boil down to many wrestling-style moves, pitting this somewhere closer to mixed martial arts than I think many will expect. But when you see the brawlers ducking away well before their opponents’ kicks are in the air? Well, that assures me that it’s all been so choreographed and rehearsed that the adrenaline rush viewers get from a real fight wasn’t important to be preserved. This one falls flat … with a resounding thud … whether that was scripted or not.
Absolute Dominion (2025) was produced by Ajnabi Productions, Blumhouse Television, and Trouper Productions. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Giant Pictures (is my best guess). As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I’ll admit that it’s very difficult to find much position to say about the sights and sounds, given that nothing is handled with any degree of excellence much less competence. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas … there’s nada. But maybe – in this case – that’s not so awful.
Alas … only Mildly (very mildly) Recommended.
Though I held back laughs where none were clearly intended, I still expected to be humbly entertained by Absolute Dominion (2025), and I just wasn’t. Performances are bland – as are pretty much all of the fights – and there’s absolutely no last significance to anything here that’s scripted for the small cast of players. Far too much of the world requires heavy, heavy exposition by the people in it; and I grew tired of waiting for them to fill me in enough so that I could sufficiently care about who they were, what they were doing, and what the real stakes were. A big miss, one that will likely be the answer to no one’s prayer.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Allied Vaughn provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Absolute Dominion (2025) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Honestly, I kept hoping for some spark to elevate the mundanity of the entire presentation. Effects work – what there is – is nothing to “write home about,” and the performances all tend to be very low key and uninspired. One would think that a script involving, say, the various passions of the Christ, Allah, Bill Gates, and/or whoever else might be High and Mighty would be a bit more enthusiastic, but there’s not an ounce of authentic belief anywhere to be seen in this 100-minute running time. Hell, even the scientists don’t seem all that scienc-y! Alexander’s inability to effectively frame shooting scenes also doesn’t help viewers get inspired by any of the imagery: I lost count of the number of close-ups wherein the actor or actress were staged so far out of center that I wasn’t sure what I was to be looking at. All of this is plagued by so much amateurish cinematography I began to wonder myself if maybe that was an act of God.
Minimally, I show up to a fight movie because of the fisticuffs, but even on that front Dominion underperforms. What looks like some major martial arts match-ups boil down to many wrestling-style moves, pitting this somewhere closer to mixed martial arts than I think many will expect. But when you see the brawlers ducking away well before their opponents’ kicks are in the air? Well, that assures me that it’s all been so choreographed and rehearsed that the adrenaline rush viewers get from a real fight wasn’t important to be preserved. This one falls flat … with a resounding thud … whether that was scripted or not.
Absolute Dominion (2025) was produced by Ajnabi Productions, Blumhouse Television, and Trouper Productions. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Giant Pictures (is my best guess). As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I’ll admit that it’s very difficult to find much position to say about the sights and sounds, given that nothing is handled with any degree of excellence much less competence. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas … there’s nada. But maybe – in this case – that’s not so awful.
Alas … only Mildly (very mildly) Recommended.
Though I held back laughs where none were clearly intended, I still expected to be humbly entertained by Absolute Dominion (2025), and I just wasn’t. Performances are bland – as are pretty much all of the fights – and there’s absolutely no last significance to anything here that’s scripted for the small cast of players. Far too much of the world requires heavy, heavy exposition by the people in it; and I grew tired of waiting for them to fill me in enough so that I could sufficiently care about who they were, what they were doing, and what the real stakes were. A big miss, one that will likely be the answer to no one’s prayer.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Allied Vaughn provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Absolute Dominion (2025) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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