Justin’s rating: I’ll be going offline now

Justin’s review: I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie series where every movie starts out by effectively saying that the previous one doesn’t matter. Nemesis 2 let us know that the hero’s victory in the first movie ultimately failed because the cyborgs took over anyway. Nemesis 3: Time Lapse starts by basically saying that Alex’s survival and victory over the Nebula cyborg in the second movie didn’t really matter because she’s still being chased down for her delicious, delicious “mutant DNA.”

Anyway, here we are, yet again. It’s now 1998 (instead of 2000 as the previous movie stated, but nevermind) and our very muscley Alex is still on the run from future jerks trying to laser her in half. This time around, she wakes up with a bullet in the head and a gap in her memory. So she throws herself on the mercy of Farnsworth 2 (Trancer’s Tim Thomerson), a seemingly helpful cyborg who happened to be driving by, and goes on a journey of memory restoration.

There’s no easy way to get around this, but, yes, this whole movie is an extended flashback. I don’t know if I’ve made my position on flashbacks clear, but as a narrative device, I’m not a fan — especially when they go on and on and on. I generally want stories to progress forward, not backward. Call me silly for that, I guess.

As Alex remembers, she recalls that she has 20 or so sisters in the future who have sent a message back in time letting her know of a portal that will take her home. I guess that means she has a goal, but what the flashbacks really are leading to is why she got shot and dumped out into the desert. It’s so flimsy it might as well be toilet paper under a produce mister.

Nemesis 3 was shot back-to-back with the second, which is why they look and feel identical. More rebels in some African country running around abandoned buildings while Alex is chased by a few cyborgs boasting bad special effects. It’s an exercise to run out the clock, which frustrates me even more than a flashback framing device. If I had to point to something that I liked here, it would definitely be the assortment of enemy cyborgs (Thomerson is always fun to watch and the twins are delightfully weird).

But man, I have come to regret committing to finish this series. Nemesis 3 proves that the only thing worse than lacking a budget is lacking an imagination.

Didja notice?

• That leather suit does not leave much to the imagination
• AMAZING CGI ROBOT
• Such bad special effects during the medical exam