Review: Broken Toy

When my editor at Bazooka Magazine asked me to watch and review a web series, I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but those expectations were definitely a lot lower than what I got. When I first clicked the link, the still of a shirtless guy covered in blood with dark lighting didn’t exactly thrill me. I was kind of worried that I’d signed on to review one of those awful attempts at dark existential horror that never quite work out. I put it off for a good week until the deadline was to close to procrastinate any longer.

Once I actually hit the play button, the first thing that got me was the production values. I kind of figured that outside of Dr. Horrible, all web series were crappy videos made by Star Trek nerds and film school wannabes in their basements. Broken Toy looks like something you’d see on TV or in a theater, complete with special effects that can hold their own against major studio releases. The comic book geek in me was happy to find out that, whether intentional or not, this has all the makings of a great super-hero story. Of course, if I’d read the info blurb when I first got this assignment, I would have known that going in:

“Astounding progress has been made by the United States government in the development of the once-theoretical Mach 24 jet engine. Fast jets, however, need fast pilots and a program to re-engineer aviators with accelerated reflexes and neural pathways capable of flying these fighters has been a disaster. Four prime candidates were upgraded. All four died horrifically. A fifth — never meant as anything more than a disposable test subject — has unexpectedly survived the strain to his nervous system. Hunted and confused, he is now a violent fugitive on the run from his grave.”

In the two episodes that are out so far, which total a little under 10 minutes, we get an inkling of the “origin story” and the escape of Quinn (the experimented-upon lead) from his military handlers. Even if you’re not a comic book fan, the action scenes are very well done, the acting (especially by the lead) is good, and there’s some great dark comedy running through the first scene. While I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid yet, I’ve signed up to be notified next time it gets passed around. You should too. You can watch the episodes and find out more at http://forewarnedfilms.com/.