Eve of Destruction is a mix of The Terminator and Westworld. One could argue that The Terminator is inspired by Westworld but for this film we should focus on the Westworld element where a robot has short-circuited and seems to be in battle mode, where the robot will kill anyone who she deems a threat. This robot is portrayed by Renée Soutendijk. And perhaps the general viewer have not heard of her. The Dutch viewer will. Since, she is a very accomplished actress in The Netherlands and Germany. Let me make it clear that she is not the problem, why this film failed.
Actually, Renée Soutendijk, should be credited for this film not getting worse. She is quite incredible, playing the double role. And she is quite awesome as the out of control robot. One important detail, she very much seems like a robot in human skin. Especially when she is in battle mode. Not once does she blink with her eyes when she shoots her fire weapons. Yul Brynner, who played the terminator like robot in Westworld, did his best to not blink while shooting so that he looked like a true robot. He was right, why would a robot blink? My guess is that Renée Soutendijk has followed his lesson, and glad that she did. She knocked it out of the park. Her role as, the creator of Eve, might not be that impressive on its own. However, she very convincingly demonstrated that she can act like two different persons. Too bad though that she is let down by the plot. It's as generic as they come.
Gregory Hines also tried real hard to make this film more compelling, and he does ask the right questions. Unfortunately, he and Soutendijk don't seem to have that much chemistry between them. I don't think it's their fault, really. The weak plot doesn't give them that much to do, and there is one fatal flaw that plagues the entire film. The fact that everybody takes this film far too seriously. Next to that, the film is suffering from some pacing issues. While Eve is supposed to be an incredibly dangerous threat, you never feel like she is. I know a lot of government officials get killed, and Hines does his best for the audience to have sympathy for them. I certainly didn't feel that, since we don't really know them. We just have to assume they are innocent.
Renée Soutendijk easily deserved better opportunities, but then again, it's so Hollywood to put in minimal effort and expect the most from people who do their hardest to deal with the crap they are dealt. Watch this for Soutendijk as Eve and nothing else. Otherwise, I can't recommend this!
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