Seven Deadly Sins

Grace, California is the kind of “small” town that all the young people wish to escape. Why? I suppose it is because they have ambitions for “greater” things. What are their ambitions while they have to stay? To be as catty and backstabbing as possible while living out a teen soap opera existence. Such is the groundwork for Seven Deadly Sins, a two-part mini-series created for the Lifetime network and based on a series of books of the same name. On this DVD the two parts are merged into a monstrous movie (clocking in at over 3 hours).

The story starts when a new girl arrives from Manhattan and uses the fact that she has designer merchandise and a snobby attitude to usurp the throne as coolest girl in school, all the while making a best friend out of the very girl she usurped. As the story progresses we are offered no more than the usual teen drama prattle of high school cliques, “who likes who” and “who betrayed who” which I frankly could care less about. Things do not perk my interest until a central character dies, only to have their ghost linger as the narrator and sometime provoker of events for her still living friends. It is through this implementation of the supernatural that the film desperately tries to tie in the “Seven Deadly Sins” theme, but it is VERY loose ties that it makes. Really, one should not come up with a provocative, albeit over-used, title first and worry about what it actually means to the story and characters second.

The length of this film is a major issue as well. I sympathize with the fact that this is coming from what was originally a two-part (two hour each) special on television, but at any rate the story is stretched pathetically thin. If such a substantial amount of stretching was required to make this into a two-part saga, I shudder to think of what might be needed to last an entire season had this been a show, and such is demonstrated by such programs as 90210 and Gossip Girl.

Fans of the programs I just mentioned may enjoy this film, perhaps even more so because it did dare to include the supernatural. To me, this hardly shows up on my radar for interesting programming, despite its enormous length.

Video

Enhanced Widescreen. Like the bland story, there is little to be said about the picture quality, only this time I lean more towards praise rather than criticism. Things are clear enough. The many exterior shots in the California sun avoid a bleaching effect and the colours look sharp enough.

Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. As I desperately tried to keep my eyes on the screen I hardly noticed what was happening in the Surrounding speakers. When I did, things sounded good and it was a good balance of sound effects, atmosphere and music. Perfectly acceptable.

Special Features

None.

Final Thoughts

While crossing the desert of boredom that was this film, there were maybe 2 hiccups that managed to grab my interest. It all just seems so unnecessary. This film offers nothing new upon first viewing, this combined with its gross length means no desire for repeat viewings and a sequel would have to share the title only. No hope for this one in my eyes kiddos. Steer clear.