Reviewed by Jason Meckes

Spanning countless different ideas, story changes, character remakes, and creative ups-and-downs, it is sadly not surprising that a movie like James Burgon's Identity now sits unfinished. Beginning, as I recall, titled "Alien: Retaliation," Identity's early roots is easy to see through what is shown in the current work. Dark, uneasy, and frankly, Cameron-esque. I commend James for not throwing in the towel when realizing that an alien movie would not make the most of his creative talents, but it's a shame that it seems more original efforts take a much larger toll on one's time and energy.

The story is, I'm afraid, just as I would've imagined from the start. A space vehicle named the Aegistraut somehow becomes home to a rather hostile alien creature who slowly picks off the entire crew, as in the end, only one being can survive. There are hints of deeper tones and possible motives scattered across the beginning scenes, but at this stage, it is fairly impossible for the viewer to put together more story than listed above. This, I believe, would prove to be Identity's fatal flaw. You can't sculpt David out of dirt. Forgive the metaphor, but bear with me.

The sound is rather unstable, nearly chaotic. While the underlying music, which I thought was Perfect Dark, though something else was in the credits, was amazingly suiting, the sound effects and voices were a whole 'nother ballgame. I went through the voice files, and the acting seemed simply incredible. All very fluent and clear, a perfect set (Apparently my character didn't make this version, whew!). They were, however, drowned out in the movie. Sound effects and atmospheric music overlaid several critical character and plot-building lines.

Animation was as was expected: Darkly satisfying. There was beauty in the black, and there was exhilaration in the red. The camera movements were modeled extremely well, on a personal note, especially considering Burgon's widely-known choice not to use the 3dmmAP2 animating accessory. The monsters were fairly well created, and I wouldn't even say unoriginal. Personally, I felt all of the designs were quite remarkable, and were amazing to see animated as they were. As unprofessional as it may be, I have this nagging need to divulge how incredibly awesome scene 56 was. The effect James was aiming for worked wonderfully. No, perfectly, and I actually giggled with delight at this moment. After begging for forgiveness, I started the play button again and resumed watching.

The cinematography and directing in this movie is a rather mixed bag. At times the eye can get really bored with Identity. There are numerous instances where the area or character of importance in a scene are centered right in front of our eyes; blatantly disregarding what graphic designers call "the golden rule" (Keeping areas of interest or focus on the 1/3 lines, but not the 1/2 line). Other times we are given a visual treat, with interesting angles and insightful directing. Hiding what shouldn't be seen, or revealing enough to keep the audience enticed, James Burgon shows that he can indeed be a very effective director. Interestingly enough, I disagreed with many of his comments on his unfinished scenes. The second and last scenes showcased were, I felt, very nice. While far from perfect, they had the right ideas down in terms of space and positioning. I'm fairly sure that James has since learned to maintain this visual level, and his next works, which I encourage entirely to come out, will no doubt be a living hell to the blind.

Overall, Identity has a good deal of quality directing and incredible visuals, but also tries to rely on story for these to fully impact. The story, being incomplete, can only serve as a toothpick crutch for the better qualities in Burgon's work. Possibility lingers throughout this unfinished movie, and there's no doubt in my mind that had the right amount of inspiration hit, James would've fulfilled a great deal of this possibility. As it stands, however, Identity is yet another movie that really, really could've been. Even in it's unfinished, waywardly chaotic form, it's almost a short movie of it's own, and does what it was asked to. I enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure that it kills James to release it unfinished. The fact that he begins his movies by creating the credits hints to me that he's always dreaming/anticipating a grand full release. Trust me when I say that I believe 100% that this day is not very far away. He'll do it.

7.5/10
Unfinished, but fun. While feelings of deja vu abound, there are enough interesting new ideas in this to warrant a look from anyone