The first half of the film is definitely a chore to watch but it does get somewhat better in the second half.
The main things about Deus that suck include most of the dialog, some of the actors, some of the set design (for example: hexagon shaped doors),and the terrible accent for the computer AI. Also, the ending felt a little abrupt.
The graphics are pretty good and the story itself isn't terrible.
Claudia Black is, of course, the films saving grace.
Considering how awful most low budget movies have been lately, this one is entertaining.
If you can manage the first half, it turns out to not be a waste of time.
Plot summary
A mysterious black sphere is discovered in the orbit of Mars. The Achilles is sent to investigate. After the bedraggled six-person crew wake from eight months hibernation, the Sphere is transmitting a single word in every Earth language ever known - Deus.
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Not completely awful
Extended Dr Who episode
Just finished Deus after going in blind.
The whole thing felt like a Dr Who episode, just with tons of extra padding.
The plot was quite sloppy, and the effects had a "made for TV" feeling to them. The acting was pretty meh throughout, with some strange choices being made at times (when the main character learns a major plot twist their response is pretty emotionless).
They had access to a pretty good cast, but even that was wasted.
Some of the twists throughout were kind of dumb, and the rest were painfully obvious. Many of the plot points were needless and didnt add anything to the story at all.
I'm a sucker for sci-fi but this just felt very underdeveloped, like it was a second draft that they greenlit without any rework.
This could easily have been shrunk down to a 30 minute tv episode (with commercials) and still provided all the same info.
Not really worth the time unfortunately.
You could do worse
I came upon this almost by accident and rolled my eyes at it till I saw Claudia black who has some credibility, listed in the cast. She does a good job with the material and gives a great performance throughout. Her performance gives her character some depth which in truth, the screenplay seems to miss somewhat, but she can't singlehandedly carry this one off. The script needs another once over with a fresh pair of eyes if I'm honest, as much of the dialogue is like something out of a comic book, cliched, meaningless and stilted.
The story is a reasonably good one if a little predictable, but the premise is sound. However there simply isn't enough going on to keep the interest focused, and the lengthy scenes and uneventful screenplay lend little to maintain interest.
The special effects, CGI are all decent, nothing to write home about, but they don't let the movie down the way the script and story line do. I'm always a little sceptical when the writer and director are the same individual since what is perceived in creation isn't always the best way to flesh it out on film, and here my concerns are warranted. One or the other is my rule of thumb and rarely does it bode well for a creation with a single person doing both.
I think much of the films forced ambiance are due to a lacking in direction, and some of the characters are way off base. 'Grey' and 'Sen' played by Black and Blackwood are a constant source of contention with no clear command structure seemingly in place. Its an odd way to spin a relationship in space with a mission of such importance, and it neither works here nor rings true. There are other weird glitches throughout the movie and it serves only to kink the smooth flow of events as they unfold on-screen. I found it most disconcerting.
Blackwood delivers the whole compliment of his lines through clenched teeth as though he's stemming the overflow of some long held rage with great difficulty. His stiff, stoic delivery makes him stand out as the weak talent in this cast of less than ten people. Again I think this is more due to bad direction rather than a failing of his talent, but irrespective, the movie suffers as a result. David O'hara by contrast plays his character to a 'T' and the other cast members with more minor roles are accomplished enough, but forgettable.
On the whole it's not too bad, but there just isn't enough going on here to bring off the story, and some of the cliched developments really do it a disservice.
I think 5 is an honest and fair score, for what is at best, a 'watchable' movie. Its not a big production so I don't want to be overly critical knowing it couldn't have been an easy one to produce, but I think the scant flesh on the carcass of this one is its big problem. It really needed some fleshing out before being served up to feast.