S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale

Not quite a full decade after Richard Kelly introduced us to the ill-fated Donnie Darko, his family, his girlfriend, "Gretchen," and philosopher Roberta Sparrow, we are taken on another journey, this time following young Samantha Darko, ten years old when her brother was killed by a falling airplane engine, now 17 and traveling from Virginia to California in search of a better life.

While Daveigh Chase reprised her role as Samantha, Richard Kelly disavowed any involvement with the sequel. This was not encouraging. But it was a Donnie Darko Tale, as the cover clearly states, and therefore, as a card carrying Donnie Darko nerd, I had to watch, no matter how painful.

As is the case with most ill-conceived sequels, S. Darko rehashed much of what we loved about the original and made several obscure references to it as well. After blowing out the water pump in the car they are driving, Samantha and friend Cory (played by Briana Evigan) find themselves at Frank's Echo Service in Conejo Springs, Arizona. Work that one out on your own. The rest of the story is too bizarre to effectively convey without a scene by scene breakdown.

Basically, I think it was not a bad movie but I'm really not sure because I was far too distracted by the too much-ity of it all. In the original, there was a moment, when Donnie first meets Frank, when he touches the glass of the bathroom mirror and it ripples. That ripple effect was littered throughout S. Darko nearly every five minutes, and not just in mirrors and glass...thin air rippled (and rippled and rippled until I feared the onset of motion sickness) when it was touched as well. Scenes ran at double time more often than could fairly be called necessary. And there was a great deal of psychedelic lights and colors. There was a terribly upsetting moment where it seemed as though the writers had forgotten which movie they were sequeling and drifted into Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as Jackson Rathbone's face contorts and morphs into something less human and more alien.

As for rehashing the original, there was an ultra-creepy youth pastor slash cult leader, a fire burning hotter than any normal house fire should, a man in a biomechanical bunny mask. There was an "I would give anything to bring her back" sacrifice. And, 2000 miles from the setting of the original story, there was the grandson of Roberta Sparrow.

It is the opinion of this writer and viewer that, had it not been so overtly gimmicky, it might have rivaled the original in story quality. Not surpassed it by any means, but could have stood proudly on a shelf beside it's predecessor without rubbing its toe sheepishly in the dirt like a disdained younger sibling. As it stands, however, I can only think of two words to accurately describe what I saw: Grossly overdone. But. Twenty-four hours later, after having some time to think about it (and I did think about it) I say, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, rent S. Darko.

However, if you are a fan of Donnie Darko, watch this film without expectations (or as I did, expecting it to be a total disaster). Ignore the spiraling neon lights, ignore the double exposed flickering images of what may or may not be a ghost Sam (Samara? If Daveigh Chase isn't thoroughly screwed up by now, she's one tough cookie). Ignore the gimmicks and pay attention to the story. And watch it again. Because having endured it once, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that once was not enough...another part of it that was just like the original.