Like the mysterious object at the center of the story, this movie doesn't lend itself to easy interpretation. In many cases, that is a good thing -- but in the case of Epoch, I think it's just a natural byproduct of a weak and insufficient storyline. The whole movie disappoints on multiple levels. The scientific research angle is not credible, the military angle leaves much to be desired, and the governmental and international diplomacy angle is laughable.

With the exception of David Keith, the acting is acceptable at best, and the impressive special effects scenes are outnumbered by patently fake and poor CGI shots. I love science fiction films like this, but Epoch just doesn't make the grade.

Epoch's story revolves around a remarkable and wholly mysterious object that suddenly rises out of the earth in the Asian country of Bhutan. The gigantic monolith just hangs there like a tornado flash-frozen in carbonite. Locals attach a religious significance to it, claiming that its appearance has healed the sick and brought the recently dead back to life. The United States government, as represented by a room full of unidentified diplomats and military leaders, sends a team to investigate the site.

That team consists of Dr. K.C. Czaban (Stephanie Niznik), a National Security adviser we know nothing about (we don't even know what her specialty is supposed to be) and Mason Rand (David Keith), a civilian engineer with a skunk works past. Two people with hazy backgrounds -- that's it. They are accompanied by a team of elite soldiers. The Washington talking heads insist that the military presence be as low-key as possible, yet the military sets up a base camp and takes over the whole area with a visible presence. The team's mission is to find a way in to the object and learn as much about it as possible -- and time is short because the Chinese are also interested in the object (which lies only a hundred miles or so from the Chinese border) and will soon be sending their own forces to the area.

Things are a mess on every level. The Washington diplomats are just silly and clueless, Rand butts heads at the site with both Czaban and the military, the elite special forces act like a bunch of scared little boys at the first sign of trouble, the diplomatic and military negotiations between the Americans and Chinese leave everyone looking foolish, and even the military command structure on site eventually slides into chaos. We learn very little about the alien structure beyond the fact that it may hold the secrets to life on Earth even as it emerges as a possible threat to life as we know it.

An unsatisfying conclusion leaves a whole host of questions up in the air. The movie does sustain your interest throughout, but the whole thing seems almost pointless in the end. Epoch is essentially an epic disappointment.