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RELEASED:
2015
DIRECTOR(s):
Terry Jones
PERSONAL RATING:
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A space probe containing
information about the human race is found by the alien galactic council.
They debate whether to destroy the Earth or make humanity a member of the
council. As a test, they will give one random human limitless power to do
"absolutely anything". After ten days, if the powers were used for evil,
Earth will be destroyed.
The chosen human is Neil Clarke, a teacher struggling under Headmaster Mr
Robinson at a school in London. Neil has a crush on his neighbour,
Catherine West. Oblivious to his new power, Neil wishes for aliens to
destroy the classroom of students hated by him, which indeed causes an
alien spaceship to kill everyone in that classroom.
Perplexed, Neil tests himself to find out that he can do anything. To fix
the deaths of his students he wishes that "everyone who died come back to
life", causing all dead people to rise as zombies; he reverses this,
asking that the explosion never happened, reversing all previous wishes.
Next day he wishes for another teacher, Miss Pringle, to worship his
friend Ray, who is too shy to tell her he likes her.
Neil uses his power for petty personal gains and to give his dog Dennis
the ability to speak. One night, the galactic power glitches, failing to
make Catherine fall in love with Neil, but then coincidentally Catherine
knocks at his door. They spend the night together and her stalker
ex-boyfriend, Colonel Grant sees them.
Catherine hears Dennis shouting that he loves Neil, making her think that
Neil has a boyfriend. Ray says that Miss Pringle doesn't love him
romantically, instead she worships him as a god. Catherine locks Grant in
her apartment. Neil breaks Grant's arm and then fixes it, revealing his
ability to grant wishes whenever he says a wish and makes a hand gesture.
Grant kidnaps Neil, tying him up and gagging him to prevent his escape,
and then forces him to grant some selfish or absurd wishes (such as giving
all pasty-white English people huge ears and duck feet and giving police
pink uniforms), threatening to shoot Dennis.
Catherine and Ray rescue Neil who reverses all of the wishes, including
Miss Pringle's now violently fanatical worship of Ray, who was close to
being ritually killed by her and the cult she created. Catherine angrily
tells Neil that she could never love anyone so controlling. Disheartened,
Neil decides to use his powers to solve the world's problems; he grants
everyone in the world as much food as they want, says that wars shouldn't
happen for any reason, grants every person their own dream house and
wishes for the reversion of global warming.
However, this backfires when worldwide obesity flares, all land is taken
over for houses, several countries declare war for no reason (as opposed
to "any reason"), and the planet falls into a global ice age. Neil
reverses all these wishes. Disheartened with his personal life and futile
attempts to make the world a better place he attempts suicide, but as he
jumps into the Thames, Dennis jumps in after him and Neil is forced to
rescue the dog and by consequence himself. Afterward, Dennis says that
Neil should give the power to him, as he never thinks of anything selfish.
Neil does so.
Meanwhile, the aliens decide that Earth is not worthy. It turns out that
the galactic council has an inverted understanding of morality - it sees
dominance as good, and weakness as evil, with Neil trying to end wars and
make the life of others better being a sign of weakness. They decide to
destroy Earth, but Dennis wishes that the source of power be destroyed,
causing the doom weapon of the council to bounce back to the alien ship,
killing them all. With no power left, but full of confidence, the next day
Neil asks Catherine out, to which she agrees. Dennis is revealed to still
have his powers, given he only asked for the source of the powers to be
destroyed, and not the powers themselves. |
