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THE MUTANT
CHRONICLES
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One of the main reasons to watch “The Mutant Chronicles” is for Hunter’s allusions to the classic war movies of the bygone era that sported the likes of John Wayne and Lee Marvin. Thom Jane gives a stand out performance as the war torn Simon Hunter, a veteran with a knack for leadership drawn in to combat after his best friend falls under the wrath of the mutants. There are many moments when Jane shines on screen with great moments of heroism that often seemed as if he was channeling Lee Marvin. Once the film begins to roll with the mission to destroy the machine, Hunter’s film becomes a cavalcade of dazzling special effects and some thrilling war scenes that make up for the derivative narrative. The mission to get to the bottom of the world is a constantly harrowing one very much in the vein of “The Descent” and “Dawn of the Dead” while the mutants are a constantly creepy and merciless antagonist. “The Mutant Chronicles” makes for an entertaining bit of apocalypse fodder that reaches for limitless terror and almost gets it right.
From the deep tomes of religious commentary, political intrigue and big names, “The Mutant Chronicles” knows all the proper ingredients without ever managing to leave us wanting more. It’s hard to believe, because I was often entrenched in the story up until the story slowed down to deliver terrible dialogue (“God is life, these things are unlife”), while never being able to pin point what genre it belongs to. Is it a Faustian fantasy or a horror film? Is it a science fiction flick, or a war film? Its lack of focus brings down anything worth salvaging including characterization. I wanted to know who these people were, but they’re often interchangeable or killed much too quickly, and when it all finishes it simply ends without supplying much closure. If we were told the machine had to be destroyed, why did it simply take off in to the sky? Where was it going? What happened to Hunter? Did he die, was he stranded, or turned? It’s left in the air, and we just move on to the next movie instead of absorbing what we’d just seen.
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Granted, I didn’t fall in love with “The Mutant Chronicles” as much as
I’d hoped, but with post-apocalyptic movies it’s almost impossible for
me to be disappointed. Director Simon Hunter’s Science Fiction horror
flick doesn’t disappoint even if it’s never anything above average.
Hunter gathers all the right elements for the post-apocalyptic epic from
corporate corruption, war, and religion, as well as the teaming of a
group of survivors who could save the world with their collective skills
on the battle field. Bringing strong memories of “Seven Samurai” to
mind, Hunter and co. aim for a more comic book or video game approach by
treating each character with a mini-bio per their introductions, thanks
to the ever vigilant Brother Samuel who acts as the resident moral
center and martyr; Samuel is a conflicted chap who takes it upon himself
to destroy the machine, and Perlman’s performance is entertaining
reliant on his ability to transform at the drop of a hat.
What is the machine? How does it work?
Why does it work? Damned if we’ll ever know, because while the
writers do keep a healthy level of ambiguity and suspense, much of
the machine’s workings make no sense, and what is explained is
rarely ever clarified for the audience. Especially considering half
of the audience likely never played the RPG of which this is based
on. As for the heavy handed narration, Perlman takes the duties of
describing almost every single thing on screen even when he’s not
around, which also leaves audiences scratching their heads and
wondering why we even need him to describe what’s occurring. The
epic atmosphere is never quite accomplished and whether that can be
attributed to the endless CGI, or the uneven story, “The Mutant
Chronicles” is a movie that tries for big things and never actually
accomplishes what it sets out for in the opening.
