JP Powers

So, being a child of my generation, and always a fan of "way to much thinking involved," I really enjoyed Donnie Darko. I've watched it more than a couple of times, and I was pretty psyched and also a little afraid when I heard about S. Darko, the sequel about Donnie's younger sister. I just watched it, and thru-out the whole movie, and even still now as I'm writing this, I'm just not sure of how I feel about it. I have no idea if I like it or hate it, but I know I'm not indifferent to it... To help me decide, I'm going to discuss some thoughts on the original film and this sequel, in hopes that it'll help me land on either side. I was going to write this without spoiling the original or sequel, but that's pretty much impossible if I want to attempt clarity in what I'm saying. So, be warned, spoilers lie ahead.

I think the most important thing to even begin liking this sequel, for myself, is that you have to understand that I see Donnie Darko not as about time travel in and of it self from a scientific stance, but instead was about the human "spirit" and how one handles events, such as time travel. The idea of time travel, as it's used in Donnie Darko, is more a vehicle for talking about, "What would a slightly maladjusted kid do if he was suddenly given the power to change his past? How would it appear to him? How does it work?" If you approach the original film from this point of view, it places the entire movie into a new light that many do not see. For instance, the reason Frank the Bunny is able to talk to Donnie thru-out the movie is he's dead, this much we know. However, why is it a dead man can talk to Donnie? It's because Frank plays an intricate part in Donnie's life right before the "event" that sparks the final and actual time travel event, their "spirits" are aligned in this way. These are all things that can be deduced from the original movie, and if you really dive into the Darko world and read excerpts from Roberta Sparrow's time travel book (the book in the movie that's used as a prop is actually fleshed out by the director), you can piece parts of it together further. However, much is left to the viewer to decide. There are a lot of things that, when you do take the time to dive in, discuss it with friends, etc, you'll conclude as was intended by Richard Kelly. However, he purposely left many doors open for multiple interpretations. If you view Donnie Darko in the manner I do, the questions you have left are "why does Frank talk to Donnie explicitly and not someone else?" and the like. Things that can't be answered from what's provided, but you can take guesses.

S. Darko comes along and mucks the whole thing up, though. At least from the leaving door's open perspective. It's directed by a new person, Chris Fisher, and although Richard Kelly is credited as a writer I think it's more as just an “inspiration” and that he helped write the characters. The new writer, Nathan Atkins, said in the commentary (according to IMDB, I haven't listened to it myself) that while Donnie Darko is from the perspective of the “visited,” S. Darko would be from the perspective of the “visitor.” For the most part, this is an accurate way of describing the differences. However, I feel it falls short of just that. Going back to my idea of “time travel of the spirit,” this movie closes the book on how that works. To describe it in Donnie Darko terms, it's not just that Frank is connected to Donnie, it's that Frank killed Gretchen, which of course is why Donnie shot him. Frank, now dead because of this time loop, wants to do what he can to have not killed Gretchen. The only way is to make sure Gretchen isn't on the dirt road, and the only way to do that is to make sure Donnie and her don't meet. So, he has to go back to the very start of the time loop so that Donnie will die, therein saving Gretchen.

Now, I'm explaining this in a way that makes it sound like Frank is the one manipulating the situation, however S. Darko allows for multiple travelers. Donnie Darko only follows Donnie as someone who is visited, it does not follow Frank at all. S. Darko has a total of 3 characters time traveling, and two spirit travelers. It's entirely possible that Gretchen spirit traveled to Frank so that he wouldn't kill her. However, that's only using S. Darko as a means of answering Donnie Darko questions. I'm trying to figure out if I like S. Darko or not...

The photography was pretty good. I thought it was shot very well, and there were many beautiful scenes. The special effects are basically stripped from the original, a lot of the plot (in the “sweeping strokes” sense) is almost identical, and it was difficult to identify with any of the characters. The acting was mediocre for the part, with only one or two actors “nailing” it, which helps bring S. Darko into something I'd easily describe as “Fan-fiction Sequel.” There is obviously a lot of love for the Darko universe in this film, but I think in the process of trying to put their own feelings, thoughts, and hopes for the Darko characters and world they overloaded the film with things that are fun to talk about but failed to put in enough substance to make it a good movie.

Once the movie was over, and I realized I had no clue how I felt, I hopped on IMDB to check out some user comments. I wanted to see what others thought. Almost everything I read was dragging it thru the mud, but there were some people giving it praise. I think I'm going to do as I always do and try to land somewhere in the middle. I stand by my “Fan-fiction Sequel” statement. It's a sub-par quality movie, with some talent behind it but not a lot. However, it does provide some thought provoking insights into the ORIGINAL work, which is all I could hope for from something like this. I did not walk into this expecting the same kind of film making that went into the original, or the same intelligence behind it. I did however expect some new insights into the Darko world, and I got that. I'm content with the movie as a whole, and I recommend it for fans of the original, but do yourself a favor: don't go in expecting to have your mind warped as the first one did.