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Gabriel (2008) DVD Review
Gabriel (2008) DVD Credits:
Gabriel (2008) Directed by:
Shan Abbess
Gabriel (2008) Written by:
Matt Hylton Todd, Shane Abbess
Gabriel (2008) Cast:
Andy Whitfield, Dwaine Stevenson, Samantha Noble
Gabriel (2008) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Gabriel (2008) DVD Release Date:
19th February 2008
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Gabriel (2008) Synopsis:

Fallen angel Sammael has claimed the midworld in the name of darkness. With the help of his menacing, gun-toting task force, he has smothered the dark, dreary city in vice, violence and cruelty. Sammael's victory is assured--until the arrival of Gabriel, the last of Heaven's seven archangels. Gabriel is young, strong and the mightiest warrior since Michael, his predecessor, disappeared. In no time, Gabriel's bravery and skill threaten to decimate Sammael's evil henchmen and redeem Jade, the lost angel with the heart of gold. But Sammael has one last card to play: the secret of his own past, the knowledge of which could destroy Gabriel forever.

Gabriel (2008) DVD Review:

Gabriel hails from an impressive lineage of films in its genre. The world of Gabriel is a rain-slicked, noirish dystopia filled with gun toting anti-heroes, all of which can be traced back to Ridley Scott’s seminal science fiction classic, Blade Runner. Blade Runner proved to be a trendsetter, as it managed to spawn numerous films in its image during the 90s that have become classics in their own right. Films such as Alex Proyas’ dark vengeance film, The Crow, and the Wachowski Brothers’ neo-punk mind-bender, The Matrix, have taken Blade Runner as inspiration and become noteworthy entries in the genre themselves. During the past decade, films such as Underworld and Equilibrium have proven to be derivative for wearing their inspirations a little too obviously on their sleeves, but still entertaining for their playful use of the genre conventions. And finally, at the bottom of the barrel we come to Gabriel, the film in question for this review.

Gabriel feels like the warmed over left-overs of 2nd tier films like Underworld and Equilibrium. To call it a cousin once removed to those films isn’t paying it the highest of compliments, but it’s true. Gabriel is a perfectly entertaining movie in some ways, but when a film ends up being derivative of films that were already derivative in the first place, it becomes hard to argue for it being a good film.

Despite its flaws, the first thing that Gabriel strikes you with, as most of these films do, is its style. Noir dystopias such as this tend to display beautifully rendered production design in an effort to bring the viewer into their dark worlds. While the world of Gabriel isn’t as fully realized as its ancestors due to budget constraints, it still draws the viewer in to its smoky back-alleys and neon-soaked buildings. Unfortunately, only the most incredibly conceptualized words can wow you with misdirection at the expense of a good story, and while Gabriel’s world may be somewhat fun to look at, it doesn’t pack enough punch to distract you from the film’s glaring problems.

The most omnipresent flaw in the film is one that Underworld suffered from too, which is that it consists of all story and no plot. As with Underworld, which is about an ongoing battle between vampires and werewolves, Gabriel is similarly about an ongoing battle between angels and fallen angels. However, viewers already have a background knowledge of vampires and werewolves thanks to their mythology being engrained in the cultural lexicon. Angels are a bit more esoteric and require more explanation, which is why the filmmakers get too wrapped up in exposition: who are the various angels on each side of the war, what rules must they abide by while walking the earth, and what has gone on during the war up to this point. The big question that the filmmakers forgot to ask themselves is: why do we care? Character development and character exposition are not the same things, and the characters in Gabriel spend so much time talking about each other that they hardly get the chance to interact with each other. When you get right down to it, characters become interesting by doing things, not by talking about doing things. Gabriel suffers the most because its characters tell stories about each other more than they move the plot forward.

Gabriel’s other major problem is that it isn’t just inspired by the films that preceded it, it outright steals from them. As previously mentioned, the plot itself is an Underworld clone, but even the little details take liberally from various other films. Just off the top of my head I can think of a laundry list of recycled moments: gunfight in pitch black darkness (Equilibrium), gunplay mixed with kung-fu (Equilibrium), Romeo and Juliet romantic subplot (Underworld), heroine catharsis (The Crow), slow-motion bullet dodging (The Matrix), climactic fight on a rainy rooftop (Blade Runner), and I could go on and on. Don’t get me wrong, these are all great moments individually, but they’ve all not only been done before, but they’ve been done better too. As I was watching Gabriel, I found myself wanting to turn it off and watch the movies it was stealing from instead.

The worst part about the special features on the DVD is that they make no mention of any of the films I’ve mentioned. If the filmmakers could at least admit to riffing off other films, I might be more inclined to take Gabriel for the unoriginal piece of fluff that it is, but the film and the filmmakers take themselves so seriously. That complaint aside however, the special features are actually quite good. After watching the three expendable deleted scenes you’ll get to the real meat of the behind the scenes material, which consists of three behind the scenes featurettes, each one a half hour in length. This adds up to an hour and a half of behind the scenes material, all of which is substantive and worth watching.

Gabriel isn’t a terrible film by any means. In fact, if no other films in the genre existed before it, it’d be pretty fascinating, if only on a visceral level. However, almost everything in the film has been done before and at a higher quality. Not only that, but the expositional nature of the film makes it rather uninteresting to watch. It might be worth looking in to for the dark universe and sleek cinematography, but I’d first suggest watching any number of the films I’ve previously mentioned. If you’ve exhausted that list and are having a lazy night, then go ahead and give Gabriel a look. Or watch the ones on the list again.

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Gabriel (2008) DVD review written by: Anthony Berk

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