"I'm not paid to believe, I'm paid to fuck things up"
Eloquent words, I think you'll agree. And there are plenty more where they came from in the 100 or so minutes that make up "Mutant Chronicles".
I am not going to lie to you. From the first time I saw the trailer for this film I began to anticipate its arrival, and thanks to a little good fortune I have managed to get a sneaky viewing in before the October 10th UK release date.
Plot:
Loosely based upon a Swedish pen and paper role-playing game (and later board games), "Mutant Chronicles" is a tale of a dystopian Earth in the 28th century. The planet is under the complete control of four warring corporations, all of which are throwing men into battle to secure complete dominance and an overall share of "the market". However, before the plot is given a chance to develop into a diatribe of our destructive, capitalist ways, one such battle between two of the corporations just happens to uncover an ancient machine, which just so happens to reanimate and mutate the recently deceased. With bodies aplenty to drag away, the mutants begin to multiply until eventually the call is given to evacuate Earth. As the ships begin to leave it is apparent that millions will be left behind to face the rapidly encroaching hoards.
Does that sound like a lot of action to cram in? Yes? Well that is just the first act. And a clunky first act it was. Take away the flashbacks, spools of exposition and the set-up of characters you know full-well are going to eat dirt reasonably soon and you are left with very little else. But I am not the type to walk out on a film, especially one involving rampaging mutants in a futuristic dystopia.
The remaining two acts are concerned with a Monk named Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman), a member of an ancient order possessing knowledge of the mutant machine, who is on a quest to recruit soldiers to help him venture into the underground heart of the machine to bring an end to the destruction. Having found some suitably high-profile cannon-fodder (John Malkovitch has already appeared and has since buggered off again) in the form of Thomas Jane, Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee and Benno Fürmann (Inspector detector in "Speed Racer"), Brother Samuel proceeds to show off his mute assistant with mad sword skills and then chooses to waffle about the value of faith for a little while. Eventually some characters get exploded. The end.
So, it was never going to be Shakespeare, but the Philip Eisner screenplay was ridiculous. I enjoyed Eisner's previous and much underrated big screen effort "Event Horizon", but that was way back in 1997. I believe the intention was for the writing to be "out there", but aside from some genuinely funny one-liners, there was little to salvage.
The script may not burn itself onto your mind, this is left to the visuals. The film is shot almost in its entirety in front of a blue screen and contains over 2000 effects shots, which at the time of production was a record for any British helmed and funded film (the screenplay is American, but the film was shot entirely in the UK by British director Simon Hunter). Obvious comparisons could be drawn to films such as "Sin City", however, a closer fit and slightly more dubious honour, would be to compare it to "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow". Both films make use of digitally created retro styling in a futuristic setting. Whereas Sky Captain used an art deco aesthetic, MC opts for a much darker, steam punk variation on the early 20th century (yes, those are steam-powered flying machines in the trailer). I applaud the film makers for pushing boundaries, but as with Sky Captain, the effects failed to blend seamlessly with the action and indeed, some of the shots had the effect of looking unfinished.
All-in-all, this wasn't a brilliant piece of film-making, but it definitely isn't going to be the worst film of the year - far from it. This is, if not every ones cup of tea, is a decent popcorn action movie that takes itself too seriously, making it funnier than it is intended to be. If you disagree with that, then I hope you can at least agree that this makes Simon Hunter a director to watch out for in the future.
[SPOILER - kind of] But it did quite obviously steal the finale to "Total Recall"...Cheeky Philip Eisner.
2.5 severed limbs out of five.
Eloquent words, I think you'll agree. And there are plenty more where they came from in the 100 or so minutes that make up "Mutant Chronicles".
I am not going to lie to you. From the first time I saw the trailer for this film I began to anticipate its arrival, and thanks to a little good fortune I have managed to get a sneaky viewing in before the October 10th UK release date.
Plot:
Loosely based upon a Swedish pen and paper role-playing game (and later board games), "Mutant Chronicles" is a tale of a dystopian Earth in the 28th century. The planet is under the complete control of four warring corporations, all of which are throwing men into battle to secure complete dominance and an overall share of "the market". However, before the plot is given a chance to develop into a diatribe of our destructive, capitalist ways, one such battle between two of the corporations just happens to uncover an ancient machine, which just so happens to reanimate and mutate the recently deceased. With bodies aplenty to drag away, the mutants begin to multiply until eventually the call is given to evacuate Earth. As the ships begin to leave it is apparent that millions will be left behind to face the rapidly encroaching hoards.
Does that sound like a lot of action to cram in? Yes? Well that is just the first act. And a clunky first act it was. Take away the flashbacks, spools of exposition and the set-up of characters you know full-well are going to eat dirt reasonably soon and you are left with very little else. But I am not the type to walk out on a film, especially one involving rampaging mutants in a futuristic dystopia.
The remaining two acts are concerned with a Monk named Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman), a member of an ancient order possessing knowledge of the mutant machine, who is on a quest to recruit soldiers to help him venture into the underground heart of the machine to bring an end to the destruction. Having found some suitably high-profile cannon-fodder (John Malkovitch has already appeared and has since buggered off again) in the form of Thomas Jane, Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee and Benno Fürmann (Inspector detector in "Speed Racer"), Brother Samuel proceeds to show off his mute assistant with mad sword skills and then chooses to waffle about the value of faith for a little while. Eventually some characters get exploded. The end.
So, it was never going to be Shakespeare, but the Philip Eisner screenplay was ridiculous. I enjoyed Eisner's previous and much underrated big screen effort "Event Horizon", but that was way back in 1997. I believe the intention was for the writing to be "out there", but aside from some genuinely funny one-liners, there was little to salvage.
The script may not burn itself onto your mind, this is left to the visuals. The film is shot almost in its entirety in front of a blue screen and contains over 2000 effects shots, which at the time of production was a record for any British helmed and funded film (the screenplay is American, but the film was shot entirely in the UK by British director Simon Hunter). Obvious comparisons could be drawn to films such as "Sin City", however, a closer fit and slightly more dubious honour, would be to compare it to "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow". Both films make use of digitally created retro styling in a futuristic setting. Whereas Sky Captain used an art deco aesthetic, MC opts for a much darker, steam punk variation on the early 20th century (yes, those are steam-powered flying machines in the trailer). I applaud the film makers for pushing boundaries, but as with Sky Captain, the effects failed to blend seamlessly with the action and indeed, some of the shots had the effect of looking unfinished.
All-in-all, this wasn't a brilliant piece of film-making, but it definitely isn't going to be the worst film of the year - far from it. This is, if not every ones cup of tea, is a decent popcorn action movie that takes itself too seriously, making it funnier than it is intended to be. If you disagree with that, then I hope you can at least agree that this makes Simon Hunter a director to watch out for in the future.
[SPOILER - kind of] But it did quite obviously steal the finale to "Total Recall"...Cheeky Philip Eisner.
2.5 severed limbs out of five.
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