A lame, by-the-numbers science fiction thriller. Occasionally I don't know why I bother watching films; the feeling hit me when watching this. One of those absolutely pointless, low-budget sequels designed to cash in, this offers nothing at all of worth. The reason I got it? The pictures on the box, sad to say. They showed some androids which looked pretty good, but on actual viewing of the film, there is none of this. In fact the reason I watched it was to wait and see the actual special effects of the robots - which were shown on the back cover. Come the twist ending, I realised that I had been horribly mislead. The substitute of the title is in fact NOT an android, instead a de-programmed man who struggles with his human nature. What a letdown!
The only special effects of note are a few uninspired death scenes and shootings - but there's no gore to speak of, at least nothing is as graphic as you would come to expect. The film shambles on from scene to boring scene, involving us in stupid and pointless teachers who sleep together a lot, argue and fight. The acting is incredibly bad - even worse than in a television movie. The substitute bloke is played by someone out of KICKBOXER 2, which tells you something about the level this film achieved. I had a quick look at some info on the first film in this series, and was amazed to see the cast including Malcolm McDowell and Pam Grier. What happened here! We get one nobody and a whole group of non-actors and actresses. It's insulting.
While there are a few okay-ish moments involving the sub murdering the students he doesn't like, these aren't really handled very well at all. They're not violent enough and there's nothing memorable. What little budget was available was obviously wasted on some huge explosions, which are nice to look at but, as is the case with the rest of the film, lack substance. How many times do we have to watch the android bloke walk towards the camera while something explodes behind him? To make matters worse, some interesting-looking clips are shown - from the first film, presumably, just to rub in what we're missing out on here.
The big finale involves happenings at a paintball game, giving you some idea of the tiny scale events are played out on here. You know it's a low budget film when the background is bare and lacking in decoration or other actors (as it frequently is here). Events draw out for a ridiculously suspended "will he kill he or won't he" sequence where the substitute repeatedly tries to kill the heroine before being stopped (either by himself or by somebody else). I could have told you the outcome from reading the back of the box. This is a film to avoid at all costs, as it's entirely, utterly pointless.
The only special effects of note are a few uninspired death scenes and shootings - but there's no gore to speak of, at least nothing is as graphic as you would come to expect. The film shambles on from scene to boring scene, involving us in stupid and pointless teachers who sleep together a lot, argue and fight. The acting is incredibly bad - even worse than in a television movie. The substitute bloke is played by someone out of KICKBOXER 2, which tells you something about the level this film achieved. I had a quick look at some info on the first film in this series, and was amazed to see the cast including Malcolm McDowell and Pam Grier. What happened here! We get one nobody and a whole group of non-actors and actresses. It's insulting.
While there are a few okay-ish moments involving the sub murdering the students he doesn't like, these aren't really handled very well at all. They're not violent enough and there's nothing memorable. What little budget was available was obviously wasted on some huge explosions, which are nice to look at but, as is the case with the rest of the film, lack substance. How many times do we have to watch the android bloke walk towards the camera while something explodes behind him? To make matters worse, some interesting-looking clips are shown - from the first film, presumably, just to rub in what we're missing out on here.
The big finale involves happenings at a paintball game, giving you some idea of the tiny scale events are played out on here. You know it's a low budget film when the background is bare and lacking in decoration or other actors (as it frequently is here). Events draw out for a ridiculously suspended "will he kill he or won't he" sequence where the substitute repeatedly tries to kill the heroine before being stopped (either by himself or by somebody else). I could have told you the outcome from reading the back of the box. This is a film to avoid at all costs, as it's entirely, utterly pointless.