Shapeshifter (1999) User Reviews

The writer must have gotten confused...

[dreamjanus · 2/10 · 6 December 2019]

The acting was at best cardboard.

The story felt more like the writer tried to squish two different stories into the same movie.

2/3rds of the movie revolved around the main character gaining the ability to shift into animals to rescue his parents (a dog, a bird and a griffin of all things). The special effects were cheesy by 1980's standard let alone 1990's.

The last 1/3rd of the story was more of an add-on where he becomes a digital being to fight a techno-witch who up until this point had been a secondary character.

The writer should have dropped the techno-witch aspect and instead spent the time developing the main character and the rest of the shape shifting story line

WOW - Talk about bad acting!!!

[AIVAS · 2/10 · 2 August 2003]

An interesting plot just not well carried out.

It was capable of keeping my attention for it's length but just barely. The commercials were a welcomed break!

Talk about bad acting!

I've seen bad acting but this was worse!!!

Romanian kid's flick

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 22 May 2018]

SHAPESHIFTER is another Full Moon kid's adventure flick shot in Romania with a largely unknown cast and performances that can best be described as wooden, particularly on the part of the child actors present. The plot is typically nonsensical and involves a kid whose parents were secret agents. He inherits a shapeshifting ability - as per the title - and must use it battle an evil nuclear mastermind. He also hooks up with some friendly gypsy characters who are on hand to help him out. The film is cheaply staged and largely uneventful, although the shapeshifting graphics aren't too bad; it's a pity there aren't more of them.

Disappointingly unbelievable & uninvolving

[jar37 · 30 July 2002]

I usually enjoy "discovering latent powers" stories, so I'd expected an enjoyable story, but was frequently jerked out of my "suspension of disbelief" & "immersion in the story" by non-acting, lack of "likeableness" & character development, and unbelievable events.

The main character's (Alex) line delivery was like an ordinary teen's, not an actor's. His mother acted, but not his father. The "love interest" girl (Anika) was indeed cute & ingenuous, but worthy of more involvement & development. The Cyberwitch's acting was high-energy & fun to receive; her over-confidence, however, was embarrassing & unlikely in such a successful 'bad girl'. The 'bad guy' was OK, and had the best line in the movie (to her). The mentor's acting was satisfying, but his dialogue with Alex was sometimes disjointed, partly due to uninspired writing and partly Alex's non-acting. I did enjoy the old artifacts that he used; that part "resonated" with me.

The first half of the movie is spent, boringly, getting to the good/magical part (which needed & deserved more time).

THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH COULD BE CONSIDERED A 'SPOILER', though vague.

Alex's abilities were unbelievable, because he just gets its right, first time, every time; no learning curve, no stuttering, little doubt; it's just too sudden & too easy to be involving. I never really believed that he was in serious trouble, which erased the suspense. He should've had some serious failures & setbacks; his adversary should've been tougher for him.

Could have been better, expected more

[N.Bradley · 5/10 · 15 July 1999]

The mix of magic and technology was not handled nearly as well as I anticipated. The ability of the main character to shapeshift into any creature just by seeing a picture of it.

Later in the movie the title character was able to 'dissolve' into data and go fight a 'cyberwitch'. This ability was never completely explained as to how this is possible.

For pre-teens, these are probably minor points that many would not catch.

Wicked digital "witch of the west" Romania?

[Bernie4444 · 2/10 · 26 January 2024]

Alex (Paul Nolan) belongs to a family of parents being ex-spies for the CIA. However, a nasty evil leader of an East European country with solicited help from a witch (Catherine Blythe) decides to capture them and squeeze out some info. Naturally, it is up to their son to rescue them. Only this is a big kid older than most teenyboppers are.

While he is searching for his parents, he stays in a hostel. There is a coming-of-age cutie (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and an old dude that found a magical, digital rock as a kid assist him. Alex soon conveniently learns he can shapeshift.

Can his shifty shapes and his cutie friend help him extricate his parents?

What is the shifty witch really up to?

Will he keep his new pet rock and/or the cutie?

I know this is a pilot for a kid's series (probably to replace Alex Mac) but how dumb do you think kids are? Do not answer that. Believe me, kids would barf if you tried to feed them this pseudoscience, quasi-mystical (explicatory deleted.)

Aside from this the acting, what acting? Well, where there should have been acting, they use fake Romanian accents. The witch looks like the cousin to the woman who narrates "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

The props are just junk leftover from "Lost in Space" (the TV series). The story has no cohesion. They must be banking on the viewer having attention deficit disorder. Once again, we have a story where the kid is much cleverer than his catatonic parents are.

The Most Absurd Film In The World (Eraserhead Aside)

[kevinahoffman · 10/10 · 7 October 2005]

I don't know where to begin. This film is RIDICULOUS. I give it a 10/10 for the reason that I have never seen a more ridiculous movie. Shapeshifter would be great to incorporate into a beer drinking game with friends. Most people would turn this off within the first 2 minutes, but when you're someone like me who spends the entire daylight of Saturday recovering from the prior evening's drunken rampage, and something that seems thoroughly wasteful presents itself to you, you take hold of it for all it's worth (long sentence, huh?). This movie was truly hilarious (although it doesn't intend to be at all). I have the feeling that it was based on a dream some 9-year-old had after a night of eating peanut butter and cheese whiz. Then, the 9-year-old told the dream to his dad (who is a film producer) and, since the film producer had nothing better to do, gives into the kid and does it (which is the final blow necessary in thoroughly destroying his career). I would LOVE to own this movie on DVD with extensive commentary (and deleted footage) so that someone involved in this undertaking can explain to me what they were thinking.

If you are an impatient person with a busy life, then you will definitely NOT want to spend any money or time on this film. However, if you're a goofy bum like me, this movie will make your day. ENJOY!.

Great special effects, excellent performances!

[ss-14 · 13 September 1999]

Good family fun! My 10-year-old son and I enjoyed the great special effects, the twisting plot and the exotic locations.We definitely thought Shapeshifter was several cuts above the typical family fare.

Amazingly terrible, horrifically amazing, and spectacularly awful

[heathpark-86341 · 8/10 · 22 November 2020]

Another so bad it's good film. The added chaos and absolute randomness makes for a pretty entertaining flick. The acting in this movie makes 'the room' look Oscar worthy and makes for some good laughs.

Fun if you don't expect too much

[bkitchin-2 · 14 August 1999]

I watched this movie on a night when I wanted something light in the sci-fi realm. It fit the bill. I thoroughly enjoyed it inconsistencies and weakness included. I found the use and place of music intriguing but I can't say more without going too far.