Watching "Paintball" is like watching one of those studio montages at the beginning of a DVD. You know – the words say something like "celebrating a century of entertainment" as clips of memorable scenes flash by.
Well, like those highlight reels, much of the best of "Paintball" comes directly from other films. At times, as I sat watching this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival, I swore I was watching "Predator," "Pitch Black," "Descent" and even "The Condemned." That's how closely this movie borrows from other flicks. And if you can recall those clips, you can splice together "Paintball's" plot.
The film follows a familiar formula – cocky expert hunters become the hunted.
In this case, a group of paint-ballers answers an ad to play in the ultimate game. Their opponents will be another top team. The location is a remote area in what appears to be a former Soviet republic.
The objective is simple: capture six flags and collect goodie boxes along the way.
Trouble and credibility problems start at the first flag when someone starts firing real bullets.
So how do these pros respond? Instead of disappearing into the woods like good players, they panic and spend the rest of the movie making themselves easy targets by shouting and arguing – and walking along open roads and fields.
It doesn't help matters when the women shed their camouflage duds.
The group does press on because the mysterious goodie boxes offer survival aids like a bullet-proof vest.
Teammates die along the way, but we don't care since the movie never gives anyone much of a back story and the constant screaming and bickering gets tiresome to the point it's almost a relief to have characters die so they'd finally shut up.
That said, "Paintball" is not a bad movie. The action sequences really pop like bursting paint ball pellets, and there are are plenty of other shoot'em ups with bigger budgets that are far worse.
The movie's biggest weakness is that by relying so heavily on other films for material, "Paintball" constantly reminds us these is better work out there – and it's already been done – so why not watch "Predator," "Descent" or "Pitch Dark" on DVD instead?
Well, like those highlight reels, much of the best of "Paintball" comes directly from other films. At times, as I sat watching this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival, I swore I was watching "Predator," "Pitch Black," "Descent" and even "The Condemned." That's how closely this movie borrows from other flicks. And if you can recall those clips, you can splice together "Paintball's" plot.
The film follows a familiar formula – cocky expert hunters become the hunted.
In this case, a group of paint-ballers answers an ad to play in the ultimate game. Their opponents will be another top team. The location is a remote area in what appears to be a former Soviet republic.
The objective is simple: capture six flags and collect goodie boxes along the way.
Trouble and credibility problems start at the first flag when someone starts firing real bullets.
So how do these pros respond? Instead of disappearing into the woods like good players, they panic and spend the rest of the movie making themselves easy targets by shouting and arguing – and walking along open roads and fields.
It doesn't help matters when the women shed their camouflage duds.
The group does press on because the mysterious goodie boxes offer survival aids like a bullet-proof vest.
Teammates die along the way, but we don't care since the movie never gives anyone much of a back story and the constant screaming and bickering gets tiresome to the point it's almost a relief to have characters die so they'd finally shut up.
That said, "Paintball" is not a bad movie. The action sequences really pop like bursting paint ball pellets, and there are are plenty of other shoot'em ups with bigger budgets that are far worse.
The movie's biggest weakness is that by relying so heavily on other films for material, "Paintball" constantly reminds us these is better work out there – and it's already been done – so why not watch "Predator," "Descent" or "Pitch Dark" on DVD instead?