For the Cause Reviews

Mankind's future looks bleak in the outer space territory of Brecca, and viewers of this doomsday adventure may feel equally depressed about the future of galactic action movies. In the future, two of Earth's space colonies have been waging war for nearly 100 years. Brecca's General Murran (Dean Cain) sees himself as rightful ruler of this neck of the universe, and stirs his populace to defeat their rival settlement. In addition to traditional warfare, Murran relies on virtual reality combat in which his warriors can inflict damage from cyber space. To dominate both colonies, Murran enlists an elite squad to steal the war hammer — a device capable of debilitating a city's electrical system, making it vulnerable to sneak attack — from rival Obsidian City. Murran heads out with a small band that includes his old fighting buddy, Evans (Thomas Ian Griffith); starry-eyed ground soldier Sutherland (Justin Whalin) and cyber-amazon Abel (Jodi Bianca Wise). While Evans caustically questions their chances of winning, Murran becomes increasingly tight-lipped about his plans and motives. At great peril, Murran's platoon scales the Wall of Glass and passes through a booby-trapped cavern. Casualties mount, an ambush suggests that there's a traitor in their midst and, to Sutherland's shock, Murran starts hobnobbing with Obsidian City rebels. Whatever Murran is up to, one thing is certain: He regards his valiant followers as expendable. Sutherland and Abel must try to save their own necks while figuring out whether Murran is a profiteer, a mad messiah or merely an incompetent leader. This jaded slab of STAR WARS-style shenanigans is lethargically presented and undermined by routine special effects. Although the anti-fascist debate is often intelligent, the film's cardboard characters declaim their positions with little fervor.