If there’s any reason to watch Shortcut it will likely be because it feels like a demented cross between Jeepers Creepers and The Breakfast Club from the start since the characters don’t feel all that well developed, at least in the trailer, and the fact that they’re on a bus and eventually get off of it only to be further terrorized does bring back memories of the second JC movie. How does The Breakfast Club analogy work? As John Bender would say “That’s real simple”. You don’t need to do much to look at how this might shape up since there are bound to be certain types of characters in this story that will either feel genuine or as though they were given a certain type to emulate and not much else. It’s worth watching just to see if it proves us wrong, but at the moment, with just the trailer in hand, it doesn’t feel that way since there are simply too many tropes that can be seen that are used in a very blatant manner. Unfortunately, the hook that attempts to get people into the story, “Every journey has its road. And every road, sooner or later, comes to a crossing.”, builds up the story in a way that might create a great deal of expectation for the viewer. It’s important to live up to that expectation if one is going to promote it in the first place, otherwise, the result is that people won’t be likely to take the movie seriously at all.
Think of the story this way, the kids are on a bus, they’re coming back from or going to somewhere, the bus driver takes a shortcut because…well, think up a reason, a fallen tree or something else that might make the main road impossible to use. The roadblock is used as a diversion for whatever, or whoever, is attempting to stop the bus and possibly assault those inside. Where there’s one threat, another one suddenly appears and becomes the primary threat that everyone is afraid of, in this case, the monster that is seen in the trailer. The monster traps the kids on the bus, then the monster enters the bus and forces them off. The story continues to progress with death, horror, and whatever the kids will do to survive. Obviously, there’s more to it than that, and glossing over everything won’t give the whole story, but that’s what people should be looking forward to, not just the short bits that are shown in the trailer. Critics have already given their opinion of this movie and it would feel that a number of them aren’t really that impressed, but it could be that they’re not exactly giving the movie its fair shot since it does emulate other movies that were anything but great.
To be honest, it does look a bit generic, and it does appear as though it might be a giant mishmash of other movies rolled into one feature that may or may not be as good as the lot of them put together. But it’s still worth watching and giving an honest opinion on if only because it’s bound to be something that’s a little bit different in some way that might allow the movie to redeem itself. While I’ve been one of those to say that some movies aren’t worth the effort it took to make them, the point is that they still deserve a shot to be viewed and to tell their own narrative. Even the worst of movies deserves the chance to make a believer out of those that are willing to give it a watch, and no matter how this one looks it does appear to be something that might appeal to horror fans that simply enjoy the rush and the idea behind it. Looking at the trailer and reading up on it, Shortcut does feel as though it might have a few twists and turns that are worth the effort but might be pretty typical throughout much of its length. It’s still worth watching simply because it’s another horror movie, Halloween is coming up, and it could be something to recommend to those that happened to enjoy Jeepers Creepers 2. Hey, there are people out there that enjoyed it.
Apart from that, taking the time to watch the various movies that continue to come out is a great way to find the gems among the chaff and give them the attention they deserve. That probably sounds dismissive and kind of mean, but the truth is that show business isn’t always about being kind and stating that every movie is special in its own way, even if it is. When really pushing movies it’s usually about which ones are worth the most in terms of story, effects, and overall marketability to the desired demographic. And then there’s the idea of whether people think it’s worth watching of course.
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