London Film Festival

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Mutant Chronicles - Review

The Mutant Chronicles

Review by Jack Foley

IndieLondon Rating: 1 out of 5

AS WITH most movies inspired by games, Mutant Chronicles is a largely pointless exercise in filmmaking that feels like the exploitative cash-in it really is.

It’s the 23rd Century and control of the world is now torn between four mega-corporations who constantly war over its remaining resources. When one battle ruptures an ancient seal embedded in the earth, thereby releasing a demonic army of mutants, mankind looks powerless to prevent its own slaughter.

Hope lies with a brave band of soldiers – led by a holy man (Ron Perlman) and a gung-ho commander (Thomas Jane) – who agree to travel underground to destroy the mutant power source.

Simon Hunter’s film is inspired by a role-playing board game that became a phenomenon almost a decade ago, spawning books and the inevitable console game. But it fails to translate to film thanks to a plodding storyline, risible script and some phoned in performances.

The film is one of the first to exist in a fantasy sub-genre known as “steam-punk” (an era or world where steam power is still used) and therefore boasts a distinct look. But this only serves to exacerbate its problems, creating the synthetic feel of a computer game and depriving it of any real sense of humanity.

Put together with the near-constant violence and an interminable running length (which runs close to two hours), this is a bloody, joyless experience that doesn’t even have the good sense to poke fun at its own absurdity.

Performance-wise, no one emerges with any credit and John Malkovich’s extended cameo as a corporation head speaks volumes for the half-hearted nature of the whole venture. No one looks as if they’re interested, and their sense of despair quickly translates to the audience.

One thing worth noting, however, is the presence of Sean Pertwee among the ragtag group of soldiers ripe for the slaughter. As ever, the British actor (of Event Horizon and Dog Soldiers fame) gets to die a prolonged and violent death. A far better game, therefore, would be to name the various ways Pertwee has bought it in the movies he’s appeared in. To play, you don’t even have to see Mutant Chronicles – which is the best advice to take from this review.

Certificate: 18
Running time: 111mins
UK Release Date: October 10, 2008