Elizabeth Berkley Movie:

		List Price: $14.98		Label: 20th Century Fox Salesrank: 14639 Released: May 12, 2009
		Our Price: $7.58
		Used Price: $1.99
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 04/28/2009 Run time: 103 minutes Rating: Pg13

S Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale (Widescreen) Reviews:
An Interesting Continuation
2009-11-28 - The original "Donnie Darko" was a film that brought us into the intriguing world of mental illness. Donnie had focused on trying to figure out his problems through science and pseudoscience even though to the external world, his problems came from within himself in a diagnosed mental illness (probably schizophrenia) for which he took medications and saw a therapist.

It was a logical step of the writers to attribute the same characteristics of mental illness to Samantha Darko and the movie takes place during the span of the most common ages of onset (around age 18 for her). Samantha has a kind but often cold and misunderstood demeanor and tends to find herself attracted to others who seem to have similar problems to her own in terms of how they perceive the world.

I've read some of the previous reviews and I could see why many people might give this movie poor ratings but as someone is severely mentally ill and who has known many mentally ill folks, I have to say that this was a very tasteful and unique work of art. It gets right down to what it is like to be in the mind of someone who is experiencing psychosis.

This film is definitely not the same as "Donnie Darko" but if it is to be considered as a representation of mental illness, that is perfectly acceptable since no two people experience mental illness in exactly the same way. The film does take certain aspects of the original Darko film but also adds in some elements of Sam's own, such as the feather.

Though I'm not sure if it was intended, there seemed to be a lot of underlying symbolism and references to mythology and culture too. For instance, at one point, a feather falls from the sky and crushes the pavement. In the scene leading up to this, there are many American flags, including the towel Sam uses after getting pushed into the pool and other references to "white America." In First Nation culture, feathers are highly symbolic and there are many interesting ways to interpret the symbolism the filmmakers may have intended. If you watch the special features, they also do talk a little bit about the symbolism of water and metal.

If you're watching this as someone who has experienced psychosis or as someone who would like to get a better understanding of what it can be like to be severely mentally ill, this is an excellent film just as the original was. If you want to see a film that creates its own mythology or near-mythology and teases out some older ideas, it's a great film. If you're looking as this and expecting a film that is catered to a larger audience, you may be disappointed. This is the sort of film that has to be viewed a few times and the audience must have particular interests and a little patience to truly love it but to me, it's still among the best of the movies of its kind.

Fanfiction, straight to your TV
2009-11-12 - As a HUGE fan of the original Donne Darko, I was very excited to see that this movie had been released, even though I really should know better. Great movies don't need sequels. (I ignore the second and third Matrixes also.)

I will say I actually enjyed it when I viewed it on its own merits. The acting was decent though the direction was weak, the cinematography was very pretty indeed, and if you like coming of age stories, you might like this all right.

However, if the first movie happened as stated, then this film could not have occurred. Sam possesses Donnie's copy of Roberta Sparrow's book, with his drawings of Frank's mask in it. Um, No.

Also, the general flavor of the movie is so very different that it cannot but fail to create a franchise. While Donnie Darko was funny and insightful throughout most of it, S. Darko is tenaciously unwilling to amuse.

Overall, I really wish the writer had explored his own ideas, for they were present, and saught to write an independent film, leaving the heavy handed Donnie Darko-isms at the door. The movie is so busy tying all the Donnie Darko flavored time travel stuff into the story that every single original plot point goes unresolved. This is why people should use the work of others as an inspiration, and not a springboard.

Waste Waste Waste
2009-11-12 - Trust me, don't watch this movie. You will regret it and it will ruin your whole Donnie Darko experience.

Better than expected, but left me wondering...
2009-09-24 - First of all, I really liked the movie, despite that fact that the science could have been tidied up a bit. I liked that it showed things from the POV of the manipulated dead, which gave things a neat twist and kept the movie from getting stale. As a fan of "Donnie Darko", I had my reservations about this movie, because often sequels fall short of expectations. Still, it was a pretty good movie to rent on a slow night. The cast was surprisingly good. Had a different actress been cast than Daveigh Chase, I don't know if the story would have held up as well, though.

The music was okay, but it did not serve as a cohesive element like in "Donnie Darko". The plot at times was a bit predictable, but that did not take away from my enjoyment.

There was one subplot which never got resolved once time reverted to "normal", which made the ending sort of harsh and disturbing. (Much like how, in "Donnie Darko", the fire never happened, thus one character's secret was never exposed.) Other than that, though, the movie was good, as long as I didn't measure it up against the original.

just awful...
2009-08-16 - I tried to go into this one with no bias.. especially since the first one was so good, I didn't want to ruin it either way. but man this was a major fail. this movie was the equivalent to an encore of your favorite band but done by badgers dropping acid, just really long and drawn out-- and maybe with a few falling rocks from the sky. ouch, not worth the watch.