Humanity's End   Starring: Jay Laisne, Rochelle Vallese and Cynthia Ickes Koch Media RRP: £17.99 KSM004UKDR Certificate: 15 Available 21 May 2012

The late 25th Century and in the closing days of humanities existence, the human race has split into two distinct species, Homo sapiens and The Konstructs. Homo sapiens have been in decline for centuries which makes them finally vulnerable to an attack by another hybrid race, the Nephilim. With their last colonies and outposts destroyed the last fertile woman is spirited away from the destruction. Rescued by the last surviving man, the two must find a safe haven if humanity is to have a future...

Humanity’s End (2009 - 1 hr, 19 min, 27 sec) is a low budget, science fiction film, directed by Neil Johnson from a screenplay by Johnson and Michael Jonathan Smith.

Now, here is a film which will divide opinion. If you're male, then the idea of the only surviving females, in the universe - be they machine, robot or human - all competing for your, shall we be delicate and say affection, is likely to be appealing. However, I can envision a number of females who will look at the central character of Derasi Vorde (Jay Laisne) as a foul mouthed redneck with all the sensitivity of a brick and possibly not the sort of person that young women would find remotely attractive.

The film is a low budget affair, but it does have a number of things in its favour. Of course, there are the usual borrowings from other genre fare, but this isn’t so obvious as to make the film feel like a cheap rip off of someone else’s movie. The CGI ranges from convincing to ok. At worst its comparable to Babylon 5, although those CGI sequences are now looking a little dated. They have thrown a bit of money at the action sequences, using the massed CGI fleets to give the film greater scope.

The film stands or falls on Laisne’s performance. Derasi is an ex-military operative, very ex if one were to consider his paunch, who spends his days hiding out on a remote planet, eking out a living repairing space craft and fishing. His own craft, The Blue Whale, is old, but powerful - with an AI based on one of his old girlfriend's, Sheetak Declan (Peta Johnson).

It is Sheetak who contacts him when she escapes with Alicia (Cynthia Ickes), the last surviving human breeder. Aboard The Blue Whale, Derasi’s crew consist of Contessa (Rochelle Vallese), who acts as the ship's engineer and clone pilot Sorgon 387 (William David Tulin). The acting although, for the most part, naturalistic, can be a little variable, especially the female actors. Although, in their defence, they are given little to do except lust after our hero.

Overall, the film is a romp, with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. I probably should have been turned off by the sexist portrayal of the females, but it’s less misogynistic, than it is Carry On. Laisne makes for an amusingly foul mouthed lead, who turns out to be quite an actor, injecting his portrayal of Derasi with just the right amount of knowing self-depreciation.

Apparently the finished disc will contain extras, a Making Of, The Forbidden Saga of Humanity, Deleted Scenes, Trailer, Photo Gallery and a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Unfortunately, only a screener was provided for review, so none of this was provided. The disc as it stands has a very reasonable picture with a stereo soundtrack.

If nothing else, Humanity’s End proved that a small budget should not mean a poor product as Neil Johnson has created a superior ‘B’ movie, although if you are a woman you’ll either laugh yourself silly at the premise or end up throwing stuff at the television.

6

Charles Packer