Going into writer/producer/director/star Derek Ting’s Agent Revelation (available on-demand on January 22), I had no idea it was a sequel. I saw the trailer and thought it looked like plucky low-budget sci-fi and that was enough for me. While it is that, to be sure, it also feels like a distillation of a sort of new-age-y philosophy. The whole thing feels like Ting is trying to nebulously work out an intensely personal mythology and wrap it up in a character study with science fiction trappings.
Ting plays Jim Yung, an unassuming aspiring CIA agent who was recently exposed to a mysterious material in the desert that left most of a group of his friends dead. Apparently, this was the basis of the initial film, and numerous flashbacks utilizing clips from that entry pepper this film. As a result of his exposure, Jim now has enhanced abilities that make him the ideal super-soldier. The secret training facility where he now resides is funded and ran by the wealthy Alastair (fan favorite Michael Dorn aka Worf from various Star Trek properties). Two other survivors of the incident are also at the base, Jim’s girlfriend Dr. Angela Porter (Marikah Cunningham) and John (Terrance Christopher Jones), a man who’s being mind-controlled by an alien presence. Alastair and his lieutenant, Dr. Janson (Carole Weyers), have spent years preparing for an alien invasion and they believe the incident that gave Jim his powers signals the beginning of their worst fears. They’ve assembled a team to meet that threat that includes soldiers Bell (Eve Mauro) and Linden (Chris Reid), tech expert Billy (Kayla Ewell), easygoing weapons engineer Aaron (Matthew Ryan Burnett), and young martial artist Higgins (Teo Briones). As they train against robots in a laser tag-esque obstacle course, Jim processes his recent strange encounter as well as his bullied youth while also discovering the truth behind the mysterious energy that runs the facility and the nature of the material, known as the ash, that transformed him and subjugated John.
Sounds ambitious, huh? Ting is certainly interested in squeezing every dime of his probably minuscule budget into producing as much production value as he can. The film certainly looks cheap, with its single windowless setting and CG backgrounds, but Ting plays everything as straight as possible, eschewing any trace of cheekiness or irony. This produces an effect where you’re quite aware that the seams on the visuals are showing, but Ting relentlessly insists with his direction that we maintain our focus on the story. When the aliens finally do show up, you can tell they were imaginatively conceived, but their ultimate realization on-screen falls a few steps above what you’d see in a talented YouTuber’s video and a few steps below a SyFy original. Still, Ting’s commitment is palpable.
The story is confounding, at times. Had I seen the previous film, or even been aware of its existence while watching the film, I might have been able to digest what I was seeing a little better. The flashbacks don’t exactly help explain what is happening, but they at least change up the visuals, as they are exterior location shots. Ting seems to really want us to pick up what he’s putting down while at the same time being as narratively abstract as possible. I think the film works better as something you feel, as Ting wants you to glean meaning rather than be traditionally entertained. Character work is fine, although I’d say that the performers inject personalities into their roles that aren’t necessarily on the page. Ting seems to be exploring some intensely personal issues, and that passion shines through even if it doesn’t translate into compelling storytelling.
The actors are all more than game, seemingly buying into Ting’s particular vision. They take the proceedings seriously even while they seem to be having fun. They maybe aren’t the most polished bunch, but they’re enthusiastic. Ting is extremely subdued but does manage to convey some smoldering intensity. It’s obvious that he’s a trained martial artist, so his physical prowess is a plus for the film and livens up the film’s small handful of action scenes. Dorn goes very understated, but he’s supposed to be a sort of Zen character so I concede that makes narrative sense. Considering he’s the film’s lone recognizable performer, I was hoping to get a more charismatic turn from him, though.
The fight choreography is well done, but there is far too little of it, I’d say. Even at a relatively brief 90ish minutes, the introspective aesthetic slows the pacing down. This isn’t a slight on the editing, as it seems to be stitched together as well as it could be, but it’s rather a casualty of Ting’s vague philosophical intentions. The green screen stuff with the hangar and drone ship isn’t convincing at all, but the utilization of the blue energy shielding looks nice enough, gifting the visuals with a somewhat slick futuristic look.
Look, Derek Ting’s Agent Revelation is obviously a work of passion. It’s not completely satisfying, due to the filmmaker’s commitment to exploring Jim’s abstract interior experience as well as the film’s existence as the middle chapter of a possible trilogy. We’re dropped in with no explanation and we wrap up with an open ending. It’s not without merit, though, and Ting is anything but lazy. Don’t go in expecting an action film while also remembering that this is an extremely low budget affair and you might just find yourself admiring certain aspects yourself.
Michael Cavender