SHANNON’S DRIVE-IN: EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Shannon watches the sci-fi action movie Eve of Destruction and wonders why we’re so fascinated by killer robots.

An android named EVE goes haywire while being field tested by the military as the android’s creator and a terrorist expert aim to stop her.

Director: Duncan Gibbins

Writers: Duncan Gibbins, Yale Udoff

Stars: Gregory Hines, Renee Soutendijk, Kurt Fuller, Micheal Greener

Way back in 1991, about five months before Terminator 2: Judgement Day was released, the Terminator knockoff Eve of Destruction made its way onto the scene. Creating its path with a punny title and a dream of being a great action movie, Eve of Destruction is a film with interesting ideas and a lack of much-needed intensity.

I recall the trailer well from when I was a kid, but never saw the actual film, so I finally made the time to watch it. That trailer made the film seem a hell of a lot more sinister than the film I watched as an adult.

Dr. Eve Simmons (Renee Soutendijk) constructs an android in her image, the titular EVE (EVE VIII, to be more specific, because a scientist can’t create a workable android on the first try without any bugs in it). The android is damaged in a bank robbery, leading to EVE accessing memories Simmons put inside her brain. Glitches ensue and EVE goes on a rampage.

Simmons teams up with terrorist expert Jim McQuade (Gregory Hines) to track down and stop EVE from destroying everything in her path. EVE also happens to be equipped with nuclear capabilities (because she was created as a potential weapon) and her internal timer is set off. Simmons and McQuade have twenty-four hours to track her down and save New York City.

The stakes are high as the film shows the timer ticking away in glorious red digital numbers, but I had trouble believing or caring about New York City being in danger under nuclear robot attack. I’m not sure why. Could it be that the more interesting part of the film is a robot reliving the traumatic memories of her creator?

It’s a fascinating way to go about trying to humanize both EVE and the mostly stoic Simmons. Give her a bad-ass red leather jacket and robot PTSD and you got yourself a movie. As EVE moves through the world, she keeps meeting toxic and dangerous men who trigger her, sending her into fits of rage, killing the men who do very bad things to her. In essence, it’s as if Simmons is unwillingly acting out her revenge fantasies with an unstoppable killing machine.

And no, you’re not going to feel sorry for any of EVE’s victims.

Hines plays at being an intense action star, pulling no punches in letting out his passion when chasing EVE. But there’s really nothing else to the character other than spouting out generic action movie dialogue throughout the course of the film. On the other side, Soutendijk plays Simmons as a cold scientist, repressing her trauma inside her human self only to put those memories inside of EVE as a coping mechanism. They’re both serviceable, but neither performance is anything remarkable.

The whole movie is cheap-looking, looking washed out, with a soundtrack that doesn’t serve what’s going on at all. The music is outdated and, at times, needlessly melodramatic, making the more emotional moments come off like a soap opera. A killer robot movie needs to look and sound dynamic. I’m not familiar with Duncan Gibbins other work, which includes a hell of a lot of music videos, but I’m curious as to if his style translates better to short form rather than a whole feature film.

The thing Eve of Destruction has going for it is the weird robot PTSD subplot and watching EVE run around kicking men’s asses is fun up to a point, but that’s about it. Also, count me in as wanting a cool red leather jacket just like EVE’s.

Shannon Grant is a writer, performer, adventurer, and horned cryptid living in the wilds of upstate New York. Her work can be found in many small press anthologies such as A Guide to Useless Sidekicks, Catskill Chaos, and The Lizzie Borden House Anthology. She is currently at work on a vampire novella. When not writing, she can be found haunting drive-in movie theaters, karaoke bars, and looking for ghosts in the woods.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.