Batgirl Rises (2015) Online

"Batgirl Rises" is a 40-minute short film from half a year ago and it written and directed by Vincent Tran and Riyaana Hartley. For both of them, it is probably the most known work so far. I must say that I am slightly negatively biased towards the character of Batgirl as I always found Catwoman more interesting, but this film is basically about the events that made Batgirl Batgirl, so it is fine. And I believe Lindsay Heath was a good choice for the character. I liked her acting in here. There were a couple scenes that were too absurd or slightly predictable, but it's never so bad that it destroys the film somehow. A pretty solid watch. I am not sure if I would keep watching if they made a series based on this one, but as a one-time movie it is certainly worth checking out. I also really liked the Riddler scenes. Always nice to see some of the familiar characters. Thumbs up.

I love the idea of doing an Batgirl origin story. I even love the passion that comes from doing a DC character as an indie. But this movie was so far beyond unpolished. I really want to say the acting was bad. But the truth is, it wasn't. At least not entirely. All of the actors (except the brother) had moments of brilliance. There was true emotion and true tension in many parts. And then there were moments that reminded me of the last high school play I watched. Most scenes, that were otherwise well played, were ruined by blatantly poor and over the top delivery of multiple lines. And I'll be honest, that lies more with the director and editing. You can't watch a scene from behind the camera and say "well, that's OK, I guess," and then print it. If you don't have talent, sure, maybe. But the the entire cast (again, except the brother who was just awful throughout) all had great deliver at times. In an indie, you don't have the fireworks and cgi... You have to rely on performance and this aspect missed the mark.

The other piece (and I've never seen a movie where this was such a problem) that was so bad as to be distracting was the lighting. It was beyond bad. You should never see lighting (yes, I'm aware that lighting plays a part in mood and feel, but unless you're on Broadway, you shouldn't see a spotlight on somebody's head). The opening scene puts this on full display right off the bat. It was almost as if there was a crack in the scene ceiling and a ray of sun was following each character.

The story itself wasn't terribly well constructed. It was disjointed and made plot leaps that had huge holes (even for a superhero movie) and the written dialogue was mediocre at best (even if the cast had been filled with Oscar winners). Despite that, I found myself enjoying most of Harlene's performance and a few times I saw something really special in Barbara's character.

If you are a fan of the DC Universe and have 40 minutes to kill, it's worth a watch if only because it's unexplored cinematic territory. But don't expect to be wowed.

I really hope something comes from this for these actors writers and director involved. For a short, it has a decent story, the actors deliver committed performances and I feel as a viewer that they are the characters they are portraying. There are some solid moments that make me wonder how it would go for them had they even a bigger budget. Some sharper editing, in my opinion would make it travel with a little more fluidity, but overall, if I were casting a movie or looking for some to make a movie, I'd seek all of them. There's something there, for sure. It is worth the watch.

I managed about 5 minutes ...

I can't be bothered wasting my time when the acting is so bad that it reminds me of a school play.

Storyline? When the cover is so unappealing, one cannot be bothered waiting for a possible story to develop.

I am giving this a rare (for me) rating of 6... which means it's better than poorly done but not excellent. Almost gave it a 7, except it doesn't quite reach the plateau such requires.

First the pros: it is well-acted, reasonably well-directed and interesting throughout. That alone is stand-out among today's plethora of no-script, badly-directed shorts.

With all due respect to the other actors, Constance Brenneman carries this film in her role as Harleen. With the sole flaw that she once in a while lets her accent slip to "less Harley" a bit... she does a very good job in her role, from beginning to end. Good job of casting and acting.

Lindsay Heath as Barbara Gordon is a split-feelings thing. Her acting is up to the role but unfortunately her physical build and the choreography is unconvincing. At only one place in the film does she come near showing the chops to indicate she might one day be capable of taking the role of Batgirl. Otherwise the character comes across as weak and pathetic (indeed, that's somewhat how she's presented most of the film. Think Luke Skywalker). This isn't helped any by the actor's petite build. Face it: to be Batgirl one is going to need a bit of muscle (even if wiry)-- neither of which is indicated in Lindsay's physique.

The poor presentation in concept (neither fierce nor strong enough) coupled with her light build provides a rather unconvincing role overall. Not Linday's fault; the role should have been cast to someone tougher- and stronger-looking... and with sufficient self-defense choreography to indicate that the ONLY way she could be overcome in a fight would be by sheer numbers. The film fails to deliver in this aspect and fails to convince the viewer this is the future Batgirl.

The portrayal of the Riddler is unique and interesting, but could have brought with it a bit more emotion, intensity and insanity. Still, kudos for an original concept and having the courage to go with it. The actor did a good enough job with what he had-- but this is one instance in which a bit more "over the top" would have better served the film.

Poison Ivy was unfortunately one of those characters which could have been left out entirely with no alteration of film course, viewer involvement or resolution. There was no "poison" in the character, no purpose for the role, and her unusual digitized voice wasn't enough to make the role plausible or necessary to the plot. Just another "Batman villain" thrown in to the mix. Further, she was never really shown full-body costume (whatever form that might take)-- making her more or less a head-shot throughout. That will likely be disappointing to Ivy fans. None of this was the fault of the actress; she was just cast into an unnecessary-to-the-film role and not well-presented in that role. They could have given her a lot more reason to be there; she certainly had enough screen time to do so.

Overall the film is well worth a watch. No need to pass on this one, if for nothing other than the "willing to take a chance" attitude of everyone involved. They did a reasonably good job on pretty much everything-- with its areas of "insufficient" offset by aspects of creativity.

So a good solid 6, which raises it into the realm of "worth watching". With a little more oomph, costume design and character presentation development / trimming, these folks could put out a decent full-length film. One thing I will say for it: the end of the film left me wishing there was more. That in itself is a thumbs-up to everyone involved.