Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Scintilla'

Written by Scott Edwards

Working with DNA has never been high on my list, but you get to hear about all kinds of benefits that are coming from doing so. I would be afraid if human DNA was mixed with a frog, because well, we would get a frog man or a very jumpy human. We still may be in just the starting stages of unlocking our DNA, along with the fellow creatures on this planet and I hope that one day the research will be able to save the lives of people born with irreversible genetic traits. With so much to learn and so much time to do it in, I honestly hope that the scientists take their time and do not rush in to something foolish, since you never know what can be created out of spite.

Jim Powell has been locked up for some time and is waiting to see the firing squad in front of him, but his friend Harris has some great news. Getting a high paying job, Jim will be released from the prison to work with his old team. Not knowing exactly what the assignment is, being a hired merc is not all it is made out to be, especially when the employer starts changing the rules. Dr. Lyla Healy is in charge for her firm and her group of mercenaries are to infiltrate a secret Russian laboratory and collect some specimens and leave before being caught. 

With enough information to get them to the facility, the group sees that the top side has been taken over by a local militia. Not knowing if they will be able to get in with their normal plan of fixing the monitors, everyone gets primed to fire, but Harris has a plan of his own and is able to befriend the leader with his winning attitude, along with a bottle of vodka. Finding a time to get the rest of the crew over the wall, Jim and his men are in and have to make the long trek down into the gloomy catacombs of the base. The further down the group gets, the stranger things start to get. Finding out that they are being followed by someone that does not look quite human, the group opens fire and find that their pursuers are nothing more than young kids.

When reaching the laboratory at the bottom of the stairs, Dr. Irvine is not surprised to see Dr. Healy again. With a young girl in labor on the lab table, the group starts to see what has been happening in the basement for so many years. When being invited to see Goethe, the second child that has been grown, the group finds out that human and alien DNA have been combined to make the hybrid that they see before them. Dr. Irvine is proud of her work and will not allow it to be taken away from her, but Healy has stayed with this mission and has another purpose to her visit, to kill Irvine. Although it will solve nothing, Dr. Irvine is willing to take her shots, as long as her child Goethe is taken care of. But when Goethe sees that his sister has been killed in cold blood, he goes nuts and shows everyone what he is capable of doing. Needing to stop the hybrid before he can reach the surface is the primary objective, but with so much bickering about the job, Jim will have to pull the group together.

This movie (also known by its alternate title The Hybrid) has so many good characters and they all serve their own purpose, no matter how large or small the role is. I stuck with the Jim story, since he is the one in charge, but the Dr. Healy story is great as well since she is bent on revenge and getting her credit for working in the lab. My favorite character was Harris, he brought so much to the group and when times get rough, he is right there with his gun or a witty remark to make the situation better. Maybe not as action packed as you would expect from a band of mercenaries taking over a facility and not as scary as a monster jumping out and eating someone’s head, but the movie delivers its story and tells it well. Even with a little flash back, you get to see what the scientists missed when not watching their own tapes. It’s a good flick and if you don’t catch everything that happened the first time you watched it, no worries, you are not the only one. Happy Viewing.

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