Metroid: ‘The Sky Calls’ Short Film Review

There used to be a time when all us fanboys, fangirls and fan-non-gendered folks were still scratching our heads as to why we didn’t have Wonder Woman film yet, but before we got that film announced and then spent our time scratching our head about what the hell was going on. During that dark period in time, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds when Rainfall Films gave us over two minutes of Themyscira excellence with their Wonder Woman short. Slickly produced, excellent costume design, and pretty good action sequences. And of course, we all said, THAT is how Wonder Woman should look…yeah…I guess we’ll see on that. With their latest effort, Rainfall gives the Metroid universe the live action treatment with Samus Arun as the star. She is sent to investigate a distress signal on a planet that might be Chozo in origin, but turns out to be a trap as Space Pirates eventually converge on the location. What works in this short film is plenty. The character design and atmosphere of the planet feels very much out of the Metroid Prime franchise: bleak and treacherous. The abilities of the Power Suit are also one of the highlights of this film. They put a lot of the good stuff on display, including the grapple beam, the missile launcher, and of course, the infamous Morph Ball. All of them are done considerably well, and really make the characterization authentic. The all-too-brief action sequence is enjoyable and is something I could’ve watched a lot more of.

So what doesn’t …