MutantChronicles Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Soloist
It seemed like the sort of project to explode with praise and critical acclaim -- Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in the story of a talented homeless musician who once went to Julliard. The reality, however, didn't live up to expectation. In her review, Jette Kernion said: "the overall film isn't compelling, and the plot falls into the easy traps of traditional melodrama." Still ... Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Obsessed
One of the classic cases of reviewer v. audience. The story of a psycho Beyonce didn't charm the critical eye, and Scott even said: "Obsessed feels a lot like a refugee from the Lifetime Network that just happened to have a budget." Nevertheless, it exploded. I say Skip It ... but I have a feeling that won't matter. Also on Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

"At the end of the ice age, a machine came. It came from outside. It came from space. It came with one purpose -- to change man into mutants..."

Those are very much the first lines of Mutant Chronicles, and it's a fair indication as to just how seriously our filmmakers are going to take their silly story. "Have faith" is a recurring mantra (hell, it's even the tagline), but speaking as someone who could get behind the genre-blending likes of Doomsday and Outlander, it's keeping the faith that the ambition of Chronicles may defeat its limited budget that proves a struggle mightier than that which our heroes face.

I'm a big enough person to say when I'm wrong, and sometimes, I'm also a big enough person to say 'I told you so'. The new R-rated trailer for Simon Hunter's Mutant Chronicles up at IGN, and while it was nice to get a glimpse of carnage from the sci-fi actioner; I have to be honest with you; it still isn't that much better than the last trailer we got our hands on.

Mutant Chronicles is set in the year 2707, when natural resources are at an all time low, and humanity has gone 'steampunk'. When mutant creatures descend, Thomas Jane (as the leader of a Marine Platoon) becomes the last line of defence before we all pack it in and abandon the earth. Throw in some quality CGI, and a cast that includes Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, and John Malkovich as a bad guy, and you should have had something, right?

Chronicles has earned a paltry 20% approval rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, but I guess it's the optimist in me that wants to believe the rating is the result of only a few people having seen it. Then again, even those who have weren't too thrilled with it either. Chronicles will have a limited theatrical release on April 24th, and then the film will head straight to the Sci-Fi Channel for a March premier.

So, have we all been just a little too hard on Mutant Chronicles? Are we all expecting too much? Or is there a very good reason why this film has made such a bad first impression. Take a gander at the trailer and sound off below...

The Sci-Fi Channel plays a lot of really crappy new genre movies. We know it, they know it ... and yet still the assembly line of cinematic detritus continues unabated, peppered with titles like Anaconda 3, Monster Ark, and Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep. Most of the "Sci-Fi Originals" are films that they bought or bankrolled at a low price -- and yeah, they're generally perfect for bored Saturday night viewing, provided you have a beer or a bong close by.

But according to Fango, the network just signed a deal to air three (slightly) more well-known properties. The first will be Simon Hunter's The Mutant Chronicles, which stars Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman. (I've seen this one. It's ... not great.) Then we'll get a nifty little gimmick thriller called 100 Feet, in which Famke Janssen is harassed by an evil spirit while she spends time on house arrest. Lastly, Magnolia's slick monster movie Splinter, which got a cursory theatrical release last month, will also play on Sci-Fi. Looks like we're holding until about June of next year though...

...which kinda stinks because I want to add Splinter to my DVD collection.

Sometimes I enjoy films with multi-layered stories and intricate characters, and then there are times when I just want to see people blowing sh*t up. I blame the testosterone. This week we've got five trailers that are all about the action.

Hell Ride
No, he's not directing, but Quentin Tarantino is producing this one which should turn a few heads, as will the fact that this is a red band trailer that earns its crimson hue. Three bad ass biker types played by writer/director Larry Bishop, Michael Madsen, and Eric Balfour are out for revenge against a rival gang for killing one of their bros. Dennis Hopper and David Carradine are in their too. The trailer embraces its b-movie action roots, not even caring that the shot of three figures nonchalantly walking away as a building blows up behind them has become something of a cliche. In his review of the film, Cinematical's Eric Snider makes the point that grindhouse style cinema is a niche market that appeals to a restricted number of people. True enough, though on a purely personal level, I'm a big fan of the old school grindhouse flicks and this looks like it's going to be pretty awesome.

This may sound paranoid, but I am convinced that Thomas Jane must have made some enemies in Hollywood. The guy is talented, he has great screen presence, he's awfully easy on the eyes; and still he ends up flicks like Mutant Chronicles. If you don't believe me, take a look at the new teaser for the sci-fi thriller over on the actor's personal site, and tell me this movie doesn't look destined for obscurity.

Chronicles is loosely based on the successful role-playing game of the same name from Target Games. In Philip Eisner's (Event Horizon) script, the world has been divided into four corporations who are constantly at war. When a new plague of mutants are unleashed unto the world, an ancient society recruits a battle-hardened soldier (Jane) as humanity's last chance for survival. Joining Jane are Ron Perlman as the mystic Brother Samuel, Devon Aoki as a fellow bad-ass, and John Malkovich as the political leader Constantine.

On paper, the whole thing sounds fine; mutants, elite military squads, and pseudo-mysticism -- what could go wrong? After watching the trailer, the answer would appear to be ... everything. The film was originally announced back in 2006, but other than a quick poster release and a website, there hasn't been much attention paid to the film...and now I'm starting to understand why.

Mutant Chronicles is scheduled for release later this year.

[via Coming Soon]

One of the mainstays of science fiction is the premise that the world is going to hell, not literally Hell mind you, but you get my meaning. The threat of apocalypse and the collapse of society are always a good way to get audiences on the edge of their seats. When it is done right, the filmmaker creates visions of the future that are fascinating and terrifying, and hopefully like nothing we have ever seen before. Call it a gut feeling but I'm guessing that if the poster art for the upcoming Mutant Chronicles, is any indication, we're about to get an apocalypse with more than a healthy dose of warfare.

Artist David Allcock posted the first look at his teaser poster for the sci-fi action film starring Thomas Jane and John Malkovich. The official site for the film is already online and includes glimpses of concept art, production videos, and promises of a director's blog to come. The film is set in a distant future where corporations have taken control and instigated all out war. Jane plays the leader of the last front of humanity's resistance to an alien invading force. It's early days, so I'm going to have reserve judgment on this one until I get a look at a trailer. I've seen enough bad sci-fi movies in my time to know to prepare myself for at least the possibility of another sci-fi schlock-fest.

[via JoBlo.net]