Super Hybrid (2011)

Should have been much worse than it was. _Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._

**_A night of vehicular hell at a Chicago impound garage_** After a street accident, a mysterious car is brought to the city parking lot whereupon the midnight crew are thrust into an unbelievable life-or-death situation. “Super Hybrid” (2010) meshes ideas from “Killdozer” and “Christine” but adds a fresh concept and the milieu of a big city impound garage. It’s superior to the former, but not great like the latter. Shannon Beckner is effective as the protagonist, Tilda, while Melanie Papalia is worth a mention as Maria. The first act is compelling in the manner of, say, “The Hidden,” but I started losing interest a little by the last act. There’s some predictableness and, while I don’t mind the trope of the unlikely female rising to the challenge, it wasn’t necessary to paint the ex-military guy in such a negative light (Oded Fehr). Just because someone’s a boss and tells subordinates what to do in order to get things done, it doesn’t automatically make him/her evil incarnate. The switch to coldhearted bumbling moron doesn’t ring true. Meanwhile the parting shot is eye-rolling in the manner of “Abominable” and the future “Dark Was the Night.” Still, if you can roll with its weaknesses, “Super Hybrid” is thrilling enough, albeit one-dimensional, if you want something along the lines of “Killdozer” or “Christine.” The movie runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, was shot in Regina, Saskatchewan. GRADE: B-/C+