There sure were an awful lot of action heroes trying to hunt down unstoppable androids during the Nineties. It’s a wonder any of us survived.
It is mildly surprising to see Gregory Hines as the usual “The one man who can stop it.” He was a tap dander and stage performer who starred in a number of films around the time. While he’s no bulked up Ah-nold or Stallone, he was a competent actor who is physically plausible in his role as our best anti-terrorist commando. I’m not sure I buy him as a crack marksman, but that’s an old story. Few actors know how to handle a gun convincingly, particularly not these days.
Turns out we’ve been running this secret program for a long time to create a robot which can pass for human. Unfortunately, while running a secret test of their latest version, Eve, in downtown L.A., it gets shot up in a bank robbery, switches itself into battle mode and goes off on a rampage.
But the real problem is that she contains a nuclear weapon, which for some inexplicable reason they had on board when they were conducting the first public test of an untried weapon.
Although it would have helped even more if they’d installed an “off” switch in the thing.
There is really only one thing that distinguishes this one from an army of similar films: the robot is a physical copy of its creator, Dr. Eve Simmons (giving Renée Soutendijk two major roles) but they also copied her memories and experiences — and psychological hang-ups. Now, it is living out her most dangerous fantasies without any inhibitions.
It is an intriguing twist and is used reasonably well. They have to dig into her most painful memories to guess what the robot Eve might do next. However, the final resolution does prove somewhat of a letdown, as it movies from deadly desires and revenge to a far more common emotion.
I will confess that I did like the glimpses we get of the robot’s inner workings, with what looks like layers of abdominal muscles, organs and a human skeleton beneath it all. It isn’t what we were expecting (which is always a plus) and the prosthetic makeup effects are quite good.
But not as good as those in either of James Cameron’s Terminator films.
So, if you are in the mood for lots of action and killer robot with only minimal plot to get in the way, Eve of Destruction will do until one of the many better films comes along.
Just don’t call her “Bitch.”
rivets on the poster 