Bronson West
Portal Runner is an interesting watch—that’s what I really want to start with. It has the quality of those early 2000s Disney Channel Original movies that we all love. That, mixed with an almost Goosebumps vibe, creates an interesting experience that, if you’re a fan of said originals or series, you might actually dig. Believe it or not, Portal Runner kind of scratches that itch left behind by what Disney and Goosebumps had in the ’90s and early 2000s.
Portal Runner stars Elise Eberle (Shameless, Salem), Sloane Morgan Siegel (Voice of Tim Drake/Robin in the upcoming Gotham Knights video game, Dwight in Shining Armor), Carol Roscoe (Language Arts, If There’s a Hell Below), and Brian S. Lewis (The Gamers series, Dwight in Shining Armor, JourneyQuest). It is also written by Tallis Moore (JourneyQuest, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising), based on a story by J.D. Henning, and directed by Cornelia Duryée (Language Arts, West of Redemption, The Dark Horse, Camilla Dickinson).
Now, Portal Runner starts off with a lot of questions and very few answers. From the get-go, all you know is that a teenage boy, Nolan (Sloane Morgan Siegal), is on the run from…something. He’s constantly ducking this something until he eventually makes his way to another parallel dimension where he meets the sister he never knew he had, Mae (Elise Eberle). He then recruits Mae to help him fight this evil being and stop it once and for all. Sound a little confusing? Yeah, well, unfortunately, it stays this way up until around 10-15 minutes left in the movie.
Portal Runner is also halfway a Christmas movie with a portion taking place on Christmas Eve and Christmas day itself, although it’s not much of a focus, it’s still nice to see during this time of year. I also can’t tell you much of the story because, honestly, I don’t want to spoil anything, and also, there’s actually not too much to tell. It’s pretty barebones and disappointing, but I still found myself enjoying myself and sort of…liking the characters.
Speaking of characters, there are also two more major characters. Well, sort of major. They’re in most of the movie, but kind of also don’t do anything other than either stand around or react to what Nolan and Mae do. Either way, you have their uncle Boon (Brian S. Lewis) who appears to be a bit of a tinkerer and a goofball, and then you have their mother, Klara (Carol Roscoe), who seems to be trying to keep it together as Mae is going through her rebellious years. There’s honestly not much to them but what I described, but they serve their purpose for the sake of the story and duration of the movie.
Let’s get into what was good about Portal Runner. First of all, the charm that it exhumes is apparent from the moment it starts. There is just something about the production quality and the quality of the effects that just gives me a warm and cozy feeling like I’m a kid again watching these Disney Originals or an episode of Goosebumps. It definitely played on my nostalgia, and I’m not complaining about that. Another positive is the acting. Though not always strong, there are moments of emotion and intensity that really let Elise and Sloane showcase their acting chops, and showcase them they do. The ending, although abrupt and seemingly rushed, had me thinking one thing was going to happen and the opposite actually happened. If this was a Disney Channel Original, this ending would’ve fit right into the catalog.
Other than that, the runtime is around 70 minutes, which I don’t think was enough time to complete the story. It almost felt like Portal Runner was pressed for time and decided to end a quarter way through the third act. Also, the lack of answers throughout the movie was kind of frustrating. Do they eventually get answered? Yes, but it was either too late after the questions arose or outright disappointing. Going back to the runtime, I think that is the biggest detractor for this movie. It could’ve used another 15-20 minutes of backstory and question-answering that would’ve bolstered the viewer’s quality of life while watching. Overall, it just feels incomplete and non-fleshed out in a way that makes the story really suffer.
Now, when I look at Portal Runner through the lens of a family movie, which it is, my feelings sort of change, but not too much. I do grant it a little leniency on the quality because not every filmmaker is going to be working with an insane budget, and I’ll never take a point off of a movie for visual quality alone. The effects do their job and have a hokeyness, yes; but as I said, it has a charm to it. There’s (from my memory) no swearing or offensive content (save for a Hitler/parent comparison), and I can kind of sense some semblance of fun that the case seemingly had while making this.
I can tell that care went into making this, and I’ll always admire that about any movie I watch. While not necessarily scary, Portal Runner not only has some heart put into it, but it also shows a bit of its heart, as well. Though not always perfect, or even really good, it always seems like it’s trying its best with what it has. So while Portal Runner may not be that great of a movie, it still has some value to it that, again, if you like old Disney Channel Originals or Goosebumps, you could definitely pull from.
