Movie Trailer: The Prototype - Teaser V.3

There are only six stories you can tell, or so the saying goes.  There aren’t any new ideas, just endless ways to repackage old ones.  Everything has been done before, and is derivative to some degree or another.  Bearing that in mind, you’d think that so-called cineastes wouldn’t be so quick to label everything that comes down the pike as plagiarism.  That kind of attitude can keep so called fans from seeing the forest for the trees.  Even more crippling is the idea that something has to be revolutionary to be worth the time of a true connoisseur.  I am so thankful that I have never fallen victim so such a narrow mindset.  Otherwise, I’d never be able to muster any kind of excitement for small pleasures such as the teaser trailer for The Prototype.

The Prototype is an upcoming sci-fi/action flick written and directed by Andrew Will.  It’s a joint production from the Bandito Brothers (The Company behind Act of Valor) and design/visual FX studio Cantina Creative.  The story centers on the idea of singularity, or superhuman artificial intelligence created by mankind via technology.  It uses this idea as the springboard for a standard chase flick.  When an experimental military drone (or a “robotic soldier”) malfunctions and violently escapes from an FBI storage facility, a team of heavily-armed agents are charged with tracking it down.

In creating the title character/machine and it’s story, Andrew Will adheres to the old saying “steal from the best.”  The plot is equal parts Blade Runner and The Terminator.  As far as the character design, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is clearly an inspiration.  The drone looks like a cross between Karl Ruprecht Kroenen and Abe Sapian.  It’s also reminiscent of The Iron Giant.  However derivative, the steam punk aesthetic captures the imagination.  I’d follow that drone anywhere based on its look alone, so The Prototype has already won half the battle in that regard.  That’s what so many fanboys seem to miss when evaluating these things.  Just because something has been done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done again, and well for that matter.

THE PROTOTYPE - TEASER V.3 from Andrew Will on Vimeo.