Posted on: May 16, 2009 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

I’ll make no bones about it, Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies. I was very worried when I first heard that a sequel to Donnie Darko was being kicked around, and made all the more worried when a number of web sites that I have visited panned the new movie. However, after getting a chance to watch S. Darko, I find a number of these claims to be without merit. The film surrounds Donnie’s sister, Samantha (played again by Daveigh Chase), and the premonitions that ey has regarding the end of the world. Where the destruction of Donnie came at the exclusion of eirself from family and the inhabitants of the town, Samantha’s own journey requires that ey taps anyone that ey can, lest the world be lost.

There are a number of bonus features that will allow viewers to get further into the mythos that is the Donnie Darko line of films; regardless of whether the viewer can totally understand what is happening, there is a considerable amount of context that is provided by these added featurettes. Of course, most important of these would have to be the commentary that the filmmakers laid down for S. Darko; different decisions come to light and the plot begins to make more sense than it would during a cold run.

This is furthered by the fact that there are a deleted scenes that clarify further the story that unfolds during S. Darko. “The Making of S. Darko” is important not because it explains some of the context, but rather showcases the different actors and how they got into the roles, along with a little behind the scenes action that will be interesting to viewers that appreciate that sort of material. Finally, “Utah Too Much” is just odd; it discusses a song that the cast and crew wrote and injects a little bit of humor into this DVD. Purchase this DVD if you liked Donnie Darko.

Rating: 7.3/10

S. Darko (DVD) / 2009 Fox / 103 Minutes / http://www.fox.com

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