Indie Film Podcast Review: Hypersonic

A known terrorist launches a surprise cyber-attack on the U.S in order to gain control over their hypersonic missiles. FBI director Karen Smith enlists the help of two ex-military black ops soldiers to hunt down the culprits.

Written by Chuck Norton.

Disclosure: This review was commissioned by the filmmaker. Payment guarantees an honest review, not positive coverage, a predetermined rating, or editorial approval. All opinions are our own.

Exposition Takes Center Stage in Hypersonic

When I sat down to watch the first episode of Hypersonic, “Moonlight Sonata”, I didn't know what to expect from the scrappy up-and-coming writer/director/actor Aaron Abelto. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the technical quality of this production was solid. The lighting, camera work, sound design, and costumes pulled me in immediately. The opening scene follows an armed group of infiltrators breaking into a building, hacking their way into a secure server, then being suddenly neutralized by an enemy inside their ranks. After all that opening action, I was leaning forward on my couch, ignoring my popcorn and soda, and anxiously awaiting narrative nourishment. Unfortunately for me, that didn't happen.

After the initial excitement, Hypersonic quickly pivots to world-building. In only 47 minutes within the first episode we are introduced to a whopping 18 characters. As the story pivots to the FBI headquarters we meet the green Agent Dean (Roger J Torres), his gruff boss Dr. Karen Smith (Melissa Ann Hubicsak), Vice President Emerson (Joseph P Gamble), as well as General Mack (Erick Szot). At a meeting in a sparsely decorated office, the plot is explained. The U.S. stole Russian software that allows it to shut down the entire infrastructure of any country. The audience then meets the double crossing agent from the opening action sequence, deadly assassin Robyn Morrigan (Dayana Corton), who works for a Russian hacker, Vlad (Zach Felix). After some investigation the FBI learns of the Russian spies and decides to fight back. But first, they need to recruit two black ops soldiers, James Depp (Aaron M. Abelto) and Wade Washington (Woody Deant). This gets us about a third of the way through the episode. If you look at the IMDb page, you will see a surprising 68 cast members in this 5 episode mini-series.

Along with the rapid-fire introduction of characters, each scene comes with backstories, motivation, and new plot twists. Fortunately for the audience, Abelto clarifies every detail within the show's dialogue. “Quite a few years ago, the NSA gathered a team of their top analysts to create a program that would shut down a country’s infrastructure… We believed that if we could use their own program against them, we would eliminate them, inevitably. Similar to what Germany did with World War 2, The Art of War, defeat your enemy from within,” - V.P. Emerson. It reminded me of Austin Power's narrative vehicle (and character) Basil Exposition, "I just wanted to be extremely clear so that everyone knows what's going on at any given time."

With all the details, facts, and backstories explained in line-by-line dialogue, the actors themselves don’t have the opportunity to dig into meaty emotional moments. Because of this, the deliveries felt flat across the board. It was as though Abelto gave up on the human element in this production and hoped that the audience would care more deeply about the universe his characters described.

Indie Film Podcast Recommends: Wait ‘Til Later!

As a fan of well developed characters, I struggled through the first episode of Hypersonic, and thus give it a "Wait ‘Til Later" rating. Although the production value and technical execution earns a solid “A” rating (Hypersonic looks and sounds substantially better than your typical indie production), I wasn’t drawn into the characters or story enough to justify turning on episode two. Hypersonic was not up my alley, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t for everyone. Even Netflix morphed its universally popular Stranger Things franchise into a dialogue driven series that allows the audience to scroll their phone, look up periodically, and follow along just fine! If you crave a military action thriller that keeps plot points on the tip of the character’s tongue, check out Hypersonic. Or, if you’re looking for a Friday night drinking game to play with your friends, pop on Hypersonic and take a swig when dialogue transitions into exposition. Just please watch responsibly.

You can watch the full Hypersonic series on Tubi.