There's really only one attraction in this movie: Sasha Mitchell's incredibly cheesy performance as the villain. Whenever he's on screen, the movie gets a sudden jolt of electricity. He's basically McBain here, just killing people in ridiculous ways and adding equally ridiculous action one-liners. Some have criticised his performance as 'wooden', but I think that's par for the course when you're playing a robot. This weird version of Sasha Mitchell is entertaining as hell!
The main downside however is that the central plot is barely about his character, so you don't see him that much. For most of the movie, we follow a school teacher that wants to testify against a student after a shooting. The principal and her own husband are against it for... reasons, but she works up the courage to you know what, who really cares? None of these characters are interesting in the slightest and some scenes feel straight out of a mediocre Lifetime movie. It doesn't help that every student at the school appears to be 37 years old, giving the whole thing a "Wet Hot American Summer" feel. Seriously, how many times have these 'kids' been held back?
Obviously, this was made for a much lower budget than the previous entries and director Mark L. Lester was not involved this time. Usually, that's a sign to go for broke and amp up the action. Instead, the movie is quite talky and the attempts at social commentary seem like an afterthought. With that said, I do enjoy the twist ending to this movie. I don't think any knock-off of "The Terminator" (which is name-dropped in this movie, by the way) ever went for this type of ending, so kudos on that. Combine that with some classic moments from Mitchell and the movie is actually worth checking out.
The main downside however is that the central plot is barely about his character, so you don't see him that much. For most of the movie, we follow a school teacher that wants to testify against a student after a shooting. The principal and her own husband are against it for... reasons, but she works up the courage to you know what, who really cares? None of these characters are interesting in the slightest and some scenes feel straight out of a mediocre Lifetime movie. It doesn't help that every student at the school appears to be 37 years old, giving the whole thing a "Wet Hot American Summer" feel. Seriously, how many times have these 'kids' been held back?
Obviously, this was made for a much lower budget than the previous entries and director Mark L. Lester was not involved this time. Usually, that's a sign to go for broke and amp up the action. Instead, the movie is quite talky and the attempts at social commentary seem like an afterthought. With that said, I do enjoy the twist ending to this movie. I don't think any knock-off of "The Terminator" (which is name-dropped in this movie, by the way) ever went for this type of ending, so kudos on that. Combine that with some classic moments from Mitchell and the movie is actually worth checking out.