The Mutant Chronicles (2008)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Simon Hunter

Writer (WGA):

Philip Eisner (written by)

Release Date:

2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The darkest age is yet to come. Have faith.

Plot:

23rd century soldier Major Mitch Hunter (Jane) leads a fight against an army of underworld NecroMutants.

Plot Keywords:

Artillery Fire | 2700s | Whiskey | Future | Stabbed In The Face

Cast

Thomas Jane	...	Maj. 'Mitch' Hunter
Ron Perlman	...	Brother Samuel
Devon Aoki	...	Cpl. Valerie Duval
Sean Pertwee	...	Capt. Nathan Rooker
Benno Fürmann	...	Lt. Maximillian von Steiner
John Malkovich	...	Constantine
Anna Walton	...	Severian
Tom Wu	...	Cpl. Juba Kim Wu
Steve Toussaint	...	Capt. John McGuire
Luis Echegaray	...	Cpl. Jesus 'El Jesus' de Barrera
Pras	...	Captain Michaels (as Pras Michel)
Shauna Macdonald	...	Adelaide
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Science Monk
Christopher Adamson	...	Hodge
Nicholas Ball	...	Plutocrat

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Australia:MA | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Ireland:16

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Edward R. Pressman Film

Trivia:

The Mutant Chronicles universe was first a Pen and Paper role-playing game published by Swedish game studio Target Games. There were also several boardgames, a set of tabletop wargaming rules (with associated lines of miniatures), as well as comic books.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Steiner and Hunter are lowering the girls on the rope one of the shots is obviously flipped as the backdrop reverses and Steiner is using his 'left' hand, when it’s his right hand that hasn't been burned.

Lord Of The Rings... In the future... With less walking. And story.

I watched this film because Ron Perlman's in it and i'm always buoyed by seeing a man who looks like a gorilla act so well. I had no idea it's based on some kind of role-playing franchise, and frankly, i'm glad i didn't. To be honest i probably wouldn't have watched it if i did. After having just sat through it, i thought i should add a positive review because well, i liked it. I was a good film. The Mutant Chronicles did kind of remind me of Lord Of The Rings (bite your lips fanboys) because it got the plot out of the way pretty early on and the rest of the film was essentially spent trying to achieve the one valiant act that will save the day/world. Whereas LOTR is spread out over nine hours of character development (boy howdy are they noble, eh?) and beautiful scenery, The Mutant Chronicles chooses the less trodden path of gunfire, disposable characters and mutants. The film takes place in 2127 in a dystopian future where two of the four corporations who run the world accidentally let loose an ancient evil into the world. Cue some wacky bloodthirsty mutants overrunning the general population and generally being a nuisance. As the rich survivors escape to Mars, a small group of nihilistic ass-kickers and religious nuts travel to the centre of the Earth to stop the catastrophe, showcasing an amazingly short grieving process along the way. Just about every location is computer generated. Rather well i thought, though i know there are those who strongly disagree. The shortcomings of the CGI are helped along by a very dark look and feel with a fairly monochrome palette being preferred with the exceptions of some reds and blues (think Sin City). The Mutant Chronicles may well be a minor stylistic triumph, not letting itself get bogged down in plot, character development and all that important stuff. It seems as though the film makers settled on making it a pretty cool movie. And it is.