The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Movie Information:

The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Directed by: Simon Hunter The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Written by: Philip Eisner The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Cast: Ron Perlman, Benno Furmann, Thomas Jane, John Malkovich, Devon Aoki, Pras Michel

The Mutant Chronicles (2008) U.S. Distributor: Not available at this time The Mutant Chronicles (2008) U.K. Distributor: Not available at this time

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The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Synopsis:

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

The Mutant Chronicles (2008) Movie Review:

Based off the popular role-playing game series, The Mutant Chronicles is a sci-fi apocalyptic thriller that has been completed for a long duration, but is having a difficult task of finding a distributor. The film was screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival in search of a distributor and now is being screened in certain cities around the globe in attempts to strike a deal for its theatrical release, which is still unknown, but is slated for sometime in 2008.

After seeing this film, it is understandable why no one is wants to pick it up and unleash it. The Mutant Chronicles is a drenchful film on every level of filmmaking. This film is so bad that it lurks into Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, Alone in The Dark) territory. In researching the popular game series that this film is based, it is evident that this film is a long way off from master any type of concept of the game series. Therefore, the built in game audience may be more disappointed with this film than sci-fi or actioner fans. It fails on every technical area under the direction of Simon Hunter as well as in terms of clarity, such as the film is said to be set during 2707, as well as being referred to the 23rd century.

Whatever year the takes place it is in the far future, where a handful of corporations run the planet and are at war with each other. Some way during this long war sequences that are reflective of World War II, an area is awaken or opened where an army of NecroMutants are released. The NecroMutants are deadly red-eyed mutants that use their claw-bladed arms to kill and infect others, which then join them in their quest to rule the world in chaos.

Away from the fighting a noble religious figure known as Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman) finds and reads through the powerful Mutant Chronicles, which calls upon a hand-picked variety of warriors to come together to go on a suicide mission inside the underworld to fulfill one’s destiny of stopping the NecroMutants. After confirming the mission with the powerful Constantine (John Malkovich), Samuel bands together the team, which includes enemies past and present that must come together to save the world. The team includes the war hero Major Mitch Hunter (Thomas Jane), the strict Captain Michaels (Pras), and the beautiful, but deadly Valerie Duval (Devon Aoki).

Working from a script by Philip Eisner, Simon Hunter’s direction is as misguided as the blueprint that he had to work with. Hunter shot the entire film digitally, which is cheaper, but the production and technical elements of the film come across as very cheap, including flying bright blood in all the gray colors. The film has non-stop gore and clumsy fight sequences that seem to go on forever against the green screen backdrop. Digital camerawork and green screen has worked well in past films, including 300 and Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, but here the process goes totally wrong. On top the elementary production values, this film is so poorly executed, it makes straight DVD sci-fi movies look almost award worthy. The themes and materials of the games is also construed and is almost as if the source was splatter painted, rather than staying within the lines of what is available. The Mutant Chronicles game itself is a monster, in which to cover all the areas of it and make the fan base happy; perhaps Hunter should have thought of making this into a mini-series event on television.

There are some notable players in the cast, but all are atrocious with the material and direction they are given. Thomas Jane is the biggest name of the cast as Major Mitch Hunter, in which his performance becomes nearly laughable in the final act of the film. Sin City’s Devon Aoki has a small role as one of the chosen warriors and John Malkovich has merely two scenes in her full over the top mode as Constantine. Ron Perlman, who just hit a home run as Hellboy again, plays Samuel as a noble character, but he can not turn spoiled material into freshness.

The Mutant Chronicles is an absolute disaster that is really embarrassing for the cast that is involved as well as the built in fans of the game. It is really cheaply and poorly done, and it is understandable why the film is having such a tough time finding a distributor. This one should just go ahead and get dumped on DVD.

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The Mutant Chronicles (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson