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DNA
Rating: 
USA. 1997.
Director – William Mesa, Screenplay – Nick Davis, Producers – Patrick D. Choi & Nile Niami, Photography – Gerry Lively, Music – Christopher L. Stone, Visual Effects Supervisor – John Mesa, Digital/Creature Effects – Flash Film Works, Special Effects Supervisor – John Hartigan, Model Helicopters – Larry Jolly Miniatures (Supervisor – Larry Jolly), Makeup Effects – Kurtzman Nicotero Berger EFX Group Inc, Production Design – Charles Wood. Production Company – Interlight Pictures.
Cast:
Mark Dacascos (Dr Ash Mattley), Jurgen Prochnow (Dr Carl Wessinger), Robin McKee (Dr Claire Summers), Thomas Taus Jr (Matzu), Roger Aaron Brown (Loren Azenfield), John H. Brennan (Halton), Mark McCracken (Sergeant Reinhardt/Creature)
Plot: In Sarawak, North Borneo, native doctor Ash Mattley is approached by Dr Carl Wessinger who wants Ash to lead him to the source of the insect that Ash once believed could produce a universal panacea for all human ills. But once there Wessinger takes the insect and attempts to kill Ash, although Ash survives. Two years later Ash joins CIA scientist Claire Summers in a trek into the jungle in search of Wessinger where they find that he has genetically tinkered with the insect to create a monster.
DNA was the second directorial film from William Mesa. William Mesa is a former visual effects supervisor with the now defunct Introvision Inc and later with Flash Film Works where he has produced work on films such as Outland (1981), Megaforce (1982), Rambo III (1988), Darkman (1990) and Army of Darkness (1992). Mesa debuted as director with the incredibly bad Galaxis/Terminal Force (1995) and then went onto the ghost story The Darkening/The Black Gate (1995). DNA was Mesa’s third film.
In DNA’s favour, it is at least a much better film than Galaxis. It starts out quite well, with Mesa offering up a Borneo setting, Indiana Jones-styled adventures into lost tombs, a genetic mishap gone wrong and Jurgen Prochnow as a sinisterly interesting mad scientist. But fairly quickly the setting and genetic engineering angle just turns out to be window-dressing on a slim rehash of Alien (1979) – even more so of one particular Alien copy, Predator (1987). The actual creature is quite fascinatingly fluid, but Mesa does nothing with it beyond the usual business of people running around darkened corridors and jungles. The action set-ups and the stalkings are all routine. There is one quite excitingly sustained sequence with the copter pursuing a speedboat with rocket launchers. Martial artist Mark Dacascos plays the lead and, while not a bad actor, does seem miscast playing a doctor.
Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2012
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