Fiercely ambitious, Simon Hunter admirably reaches for the stars with Mutant Chronicles. Despite standout ‘steampunk’ production design and some favorite actors of the genre (including Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman) this sci-fi action epic wannabe comes up short where it matters most – storytelling.
I guess the fact the film falls short is no big surprise considering its role-playing board game origins where just a kernel of a good idea serves the basis of our yarn with little to no cinematic embellishments. It’s as if the synopsis on the back of the game box was slapped into the opening narration and characters were thrown at it as vicariously as darts at a dart board.
Filmed in that ‘Sky Captain/Sin City’ style of live-action actors over synthetic images, ‘Mutant Chronicles’ does have a significant edge for purists as the low-budget, independently made pic favored elaborate miniature models and highly-detailed matte paintings to create a decidedly unique look all it’s own. The look is all the more singular for presenting its post-apocalyptic future via a steampunk meets WWI aesthetic.
Think of anime like ‘Steamboy’ meets ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. This, of course, makes the film a frustrating experience as the visuals and tech specs are amazing yet almost nothing else in the pic works on any satisfying level. The only exception to this point is the consistent, no-holds-barred gore. And if you’re content with some great visuals and ample gore then you may indeed get your money’s worth here.
The turgid, convoluted (or just simply confusing) narrative starts off with narration explaining that the world has become a cesspool of violence and corporate greed. Governments are now run by corporations, the four biggest of which have split the world up into warring factions. Making matters worse is an ancient, aliens-buried ‘Machine’ that inexplicably transforms humans into bone-sword wielding, bloodthirsty mutants.
The Machine has been guarded by an assigned order of monks with responsibility passed down from generation to generation and when two corporations, the Capitol (representing the North and South American states) and Bauhaus (a German-dominated Europe), battle over the site of this machine in grand WWI trench warfare style, they cause the machines seal to bust open where thousands of mutants spill out and kill all of whom are in their wake.
Major Hunter (Thomas Jane) of the Capitol was taking part in the battle and saw firsthand the destruction of these mutants and with the mutants now wreaking havoc across the lands, a mysterious council ruled by Constantine (John Malkovich) orders a planet evacuation with the leader of the monks, Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman) selecting a crack team of soldiers to stay behind and fight.
Major Hunter becomes part of the resistance along with Duval (Devon Aoki), El Jesus (Luis Echegaray), Steiner (Beeno Furmann) and silent swordswoman and apprentice to Samuel, Severian (Anna Walton), with the plan to infiltrate the machine and hopefully destroy it. They definitely got their work cut out for them.
Jane, Perlman and Malkovich are dependable performers and Perlman especially does what he can with the role. The combination of digital design and clunky dialogue gives the whole film a distinct vidgame cutscene vibe that might be effective in between bouts of first-person shooting blow-outs but not as the only driving force of entertainment.
It’s a shame too as there is one hell of a sci-fi action cult epic here just waiting to burst out of its own ancient buried hole. It’s an ultimately disappointing and fairly soulless journey with only standout production design and consistent gore to keep you watching.
The film is presented in 1.85 anamorphic widescreen and does a nice job presenting the shot on digital pic. Mostly dark colors and splashes of red (blood!), standard-def sometimes has a hard time capturing great black levels but color here seems quite good so for peeps out there without a Blu-ray player, this is a solid runner-up. A Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is aggressive and will certainly give your sound system a work out.
Ample special features start off with a feature-length audio commentary from director Simon Hunter and Ron Perlman and it’s a fairly fun and informative listen. It sounds like Simon Hunter is keenly aware of the negative and strong points he brings to the picture so I definitely think Hunter is a director to watch for the future.
An outstanding documentary is featured here and is one of the best of its kind that I’ve seen in a while. The unassuming ‘Making of’ title ends up being a feature-length doc (running a whopping 107 minutes) that covers all aspects of production in a well documented, entertaining manner – some great stuff.
We also get some ‘Deleted Scenes’, a ‘Promotional Teaser Short Film’, the ‘Making of’ the Short Film, a full half hour of cast and crew interviews, a short ‘HD Net’ promotional featurette on the movie, a short ‘Visual Effects’ reel, a 10-minute ‘Comic-Con Panel Q&A’, twelve ‘Webisodes’, the trailer and comprehensive ‘Storyboards’ and ‘Concept Art’ photo galleries.
‘The Mutant Chronicles’ is one of those films that I really wanted to see succeed as you can tell the filmmakers and cast wanted to desperately entertain through something cool and unique. I just wished they had focused as much on the narrative as they did the look.
I still think it’s recommended for genre audiences as there is enough here to divert. I was just hoping for more. Bang for the buck does come in the form of all those special features so definitely give it a watch and put it on your close but no cigar shelf along with ‘Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’.
Mutant Chronicles (2-Disc Collector's Edition) is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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