Writer: Philip Eisner (Screenplay)
Starring: Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee, Benne Furmann, John Malkovich, Anna Walton, Tom Wu
Plot: 28th century soldier Mitch Hunter leads a fight against an army of underworld Mutants.
Tagline – Welcome to the 23rd century. The new dark ages.
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Blood Soaked Adventure
Story: Mutant Chronicles starts with the world’s resources nearly depleted, a war like always is being fought between two sides trying to gain control of the remaining resources Major Mitch Hunter (Jane) is fighting on one side with his best friend Captain Nathan Rooker (Pertwee), with the enemy being led by LT Maximillian Von Steiner (Furmann), when they open a seal which releases mutants from the underworld, who are killing machines, taking the dead back to the machine to build more soldiers.
With the world facing extinction, Brother Samuel (Perlman) plays to lead a team into the underworld to blow up the machine from within, while the human race is rushing to escape the Earth. Samuel recruits, Mitch, John McGuire (Toussaint), Valerie Duval (Aoki), Juba Kim Wu (Wu), El Jesus (Echegaray), Severian (Walton) and Maximillian, all from different worlds, all willing to fight the future of mankind.
Thoughts on Mutant Chronicles
Characters – Major Mitch Hunter is one of the soldier who was fighting on the frontline when the door is opened, he witnesses first hand what the creatures can do and is lucky to escape with his life, turning to drink on his remaining days rather than escape, he will join the mission in exchange for loved ones safety, but will never give up his belief of doing the right thing for the stranded humans. Brother Samuel has the plan to end the pain and suffering from the creatures, he puts together the team to go into the hole to destroy the machine from within. Cpl Valerie Duval is a mother who uses this suicide mission to make sure her children get safety, deadly with a blade, she will be one that has the most to lose. Lt Maximillian von Steiner was once the enemy of Mitch, the two even have a showdown on the military field when the hole is opened, the two must put that difference aside to save humanity. The team is filled with other people from different backgrounds all willing to fight for what is right.
Performances – Thomas Janes was near the height of his power for the time, he is an action film leading man without a doubt and this proves this once again. Ron Perlman as the calmer religious leader is great to see, while Devon Aoki is always going to be a welcome addition for the combat side of the film. Benno Furmann is one of the unsung stars of the film where he must bring an enemy to life as one of the good guys and manages it. The rest of the cast do add things to the film, each getting a big moment to shine.
Story – The story here takes us way into the future where mankind’s own weaknesses has led to another war for resources only for it to release a new threat to the world, one that will see mankind meet its match and need to unit to save the future, we follow one group risk everything in a suicide mission to save mankind. This might well be one of the typical mission to save the world stories, with the numbers being against the group for the most part, each one fighting for their own reason and each having their own strength and weaknesses. The most impression side of the story comes from seeing just how imaginative the world created is, showing how humanity might be known to be true evil, but what is uncovered is worse than anything imagined before and that humanity’s only hope is to run.
Action/Sci-Fi – The action here is plenty of hand to hand, sword swinging and just gun blasting bodies piling up entertainment, which doesn’t hold back on the violence we get to experience. The sci-fi world is impressive as it shows how wars have reach a new level showing just how the people have been affected through the years, we also see different crafts that have steampunk around them too.
Settings – The film sends us to a world in the future where Earth is on its final legs, humanity has run it to the ground and a new enemy is coming to destroy them, we might have a lot of green screen in use here, but we do get to see what the world is meant to look like.
Special Effects – The effects are the biggest weakness in the film, the main problems here come from seeing just how the green screen is working, there are some horrible looking moments, but then we also have some bloody practical effects which work well.
Scene of the Movie – Going down.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The green screen looks bad.
Final Thoughts – This is a highly entertaining blood bath of a movie, it knows it is meant to be violent, isn’t afraid of holding back and brings imagination to the world at war.
Overall: Highly Entertaining.