Mutant Chronicles (2008) User Reviews (185)

It is what it is.

[likeshiminleather · 6/10 · 26 April 2009]

Fans of Sci-Fi have had to withstand much worse offerings than this movie. I was entertained and the movie kept my attention. I had, originally, just started it as "background noise", but had to rewind it because it began to draw my attention. I watched the making of and, considering the the budget they had to work with, the fact that they used models and matte instead of CGI, the special effects could have been a lot worse. I felt the acting was believable and I didn't see any obvious holes in the plot. I'd watch it again and would recommend it to a fan of Sci-Fi.

I've never understood the indignation of some of the posters on these boards. The movie wasn't over-hyped and is, honestly, quite enjoyable.

I think the cast,crew, and special effects teams all deserve a thumbs up.

Just my humble opinion.

Chronicles of Riddicks meets The Dirty Dozen meets Gears of War!!!

[philz_nz · 6/10 · 10 July 2008]

Yep its derivative, full of clichés, underdeveloped characters, but its still great fun and full of B movie goodness. Visually stunning and imaginative production design and great special effects combine to create what will no doubt become a minor cult classic over time.

I thought I was watching a video game after 5 Min's, partly due to the filming process (100% digital) and the colours (or lack there of). The blood is almost scarlet which give it an almost erotic feel.

Tension is used effectively and the film moves quickly enough, Thomas Jane is still good to watch (cant forget his performance in The Mist). Also Sean Pertwee puts in a solid performance as well. There is plenty of action, some great fight scenes, and some creepy moments - but that's your lot! Keep your expectations low and you'll enjoy it for what its! The whole retro mix of world war I and future technology is truly worth watching alone, and cant wait to see this in HD.

Visually impressive, if derivative, futuristic thriller

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 24 December 2008]

It's hard not to notice the parallels between "The Mutant Chronicles" and "Aliens": a team of soldiers, plus a few outsiders with deeper knowledge of the subject, are sent on a suicide mission (not to outer space but) deep beneath the surface of the earth to destroy (not bloodthirsty alien monsters and their source but) bloodthirsty zombie mutants and their source. The film is not quite as good as "Aliens", but it's still a serviceable B-movie. Visually it succeeds in creating its own, richly detailed and impressively designed, world: that includes the mutants themselves, who have one of their arms extended to a huge claw that can cut human flesh to pieces. The action itself, however, is a bit too chaotically edited: sometimes things happen and you don't have enough time to see how they happened, or a battle takes place and you're not absolutely sure who is hitting whom. This seems to be a recent trend in action movies (the latest Bond film "Quantum Of Solace" really suffers from it), and I hope they reverse it soon. The cast is good, though the characters are definitely not as memorable as those of "Aliens". Ron Perlman's best moments come near the end, while Devon Aoki and Anna Walton are unconventionally attractive and fully combative female leads. (**1/2)

Surprisingly enjoyable

[clgarglez-335-987983 · 22 October 2012]

Got this title by chance in the local BB trying to add to my rent amount to get a free one and was pleasantly surprised; while it does have some flaws. They are not really annoying as in most recent ones. It is a good epic with likable characters, a bit on the stereotype range though -that German did have a penchant for explosives- but still they managed to integrate a believable rat pack for the mission with their cultural differences hinted who do not have everything laid for them. Favorite phrase "you "think"is that sort of device?" "Well the prophesy book is not really an instruction manual" whose names I actually managed to remember by the end of the movie. While is not a masterpiece it does deserve a sequel which anyone who liked Riddick and that sort of action movies will enjoy.

no, no no, even leaving your brain at the door this doesn't work.

[kurgan_uk · 4/10 · 14 October 2008]

I can only imagine that the actors here had nothing better to do for a few weeks.

A straight to video movie that managed to get a cinema release on the strength of the actors involved.

I gave it 4 stars because I like the style of the movie, computer noirish. It starts out quite interesting but as soon as the real plot starts up it all goes to hell in a hand-basket. The plot is full of logic holes so big you could march the Capitol army through it.

Wait for the DVD, wait till it comes out on budget DVD, wait till your mate buys it and then borrow it.. wait till it comes out on TV.

In response to some posters who said they see no plot holes.. We are talking about one machine up the mountains, it spews out mutants, who can only walk or run, they can only replicate by dragging their victims back to the machine (at dragging pace) and yet they take over the world in a matter of weeks! There's one scene where the hero's are attacked in the air by a mutant controlled craft, but you can tell by the surprise on the captains face that this was a first so the mutants didn't use aircraft very often.

The crown on the illogic head was the hero's going back to the machine after what, a week? a month? a year? how long does a marching mutant horde take to conquer the world? anyway who do they find, still being dragged to his doom but a character (Mr Pertwee) who was one of the first to meet the mutants when they attacked, what a blatant and dumb plot device to get the main hero away from the rest of gang.

And of course there is the fact that the first time the mutants arrived they were repelled by sword wielding knights. After 2,000 years of military evolution it seems nothing really beats a good old sword.

Surprisingly Good

[reverend_darkshadow · 7/10 · 15 August 2009]

So, going into this film, I was not expecting to much. However, after watching this film, I can say I was impressed. There were good actors with Okay rolls. I also have to say, this is what CG effects and backdrops were used for, to give low budget films the interesting environments and effects without killing the budget.

To say the least about this film, it ranks as a top notch SyFy Channel movie. Yes, there are a couple movies on that channel that were good films, and this would be comparable, at the least, to them.

Admittedly, you don't really "feel" for many of the characters, other than Sgt. Hunter. His character, of course, was the primary of the bunch, so that makes sense. The remainder of the cast is just for support, and add for drama.

I have to say, I would like to see a sequel, considering how the film ended. I won't go into that as not to spoil anything.

Why must they ALWAYS destroy/change/kill the original background material?

[Blatifagus · 2/10 · 15 August 2008]

*** WARNING! Will contain spoilers! ***

*sigh* When I first noticed that this film was in the making, I was really excited. "Mutant Chronicles! Wow! That'll be so awesome!"

I was sadly and greatly disappointed.

The only good thing with this movie is the footage. It got a nice and dark style to it. Like 300 and Sin City. It works really well with the setting.

The acting is pretty mediocre. Given the actors I'm a bit surprised. They must've read the script after they signed the contract and thought "Oh crap! What have I gotten in to?" during the making.

And now for my biggest disappointment.

The roleplaying game it's based on have one of the most cool and gritty settings in the field. Admittedly it has borrowed things from Cyberpunk and Warhammer 40,000 but they managed to do something new with it.

Alas, the makers of this film just HAD to change almost everything that's good about it.

1: The "enemy" in the RPG is a nasty otherworldly force (that's heavily influenced by Clive Barker's stories like Hellraiser) that awake and start to attack/convert the solar system and every living soul there in.

In the movie it's a machine(spaceship) that create the necromutants (more about them later) for some unknown reason.

2: The Brootherhood in the RPG is a religious order that's wealthy beyond belief and have a say in pretty much everything. The fight the enemy by interrogating heretics and traitors in the most excruciating way, use the most advanced weapons known to man and some specialized form of "magic"

In the movie they are an obscure monastic order that have guarded the secret of the machine since it was entombed (by themselves). They've also written a book about it (The Mutant Chronicles!) that's really detailed implying that the old monks were down there taking notes before burying it. They fight the enemy by giving a few chosen men and women a sword each and a device (that they themselves removed from the machine all those years ago) so that they could put it back and hopefully blow it up. *sigh* It's so stupid it almost hurts.

3: In the RPG the enemy have a wide range of monstrosities. From the almost almighty Cenobite-esqe leaders to the lowly necromutants. The necromutants are just that. Mutated human corpses given new "life" by dark and arcane technology.

In the movie the necromutants aren't necessarily dead before they are "turned" by the machine. Not an issue really, but it makes the little "necro-"part of the word kind of redundant. And the process of turning is just stupid! The necromutants toss the "converts" into a pit where they fall down onto a conveyor-belt and is strapped in. Then some sort of beam scald them (why?) and a neadle is inserting something (nanobots or poison?) that will give them the pointy-right-hand-weapon-thingy that's standard issue. This process can easily be stopped by a tough individual (and guess what? The hero is one of them! Surprize!)

I can go on but it's pointless. They screwed the background material so bad that every other movie in this genre will get a bruise.

If you've never heard of the RPG or never seen a "get into the monster's lair to kill it"-movie, or if you just want to look at the setting, you might get some enjoyment out of it.

But I didn't.

Mutant Chronicles gave me a pleasant surprise

[raven-179 · 7/10 · 30 July 2008]

I didn't expect much when I saw the title, the name mutant in the title is never a good sign, but I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was really great, being a historian I really enjoyed the weird mix of Great War, cyberpunk and post-WWII United States. Reminded me of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, just not that shiny. The feeling of hopelessness and despair was clearly visible. The characters were typical, no big thumbs up for this one, but not shallow. People who watch movies for the little things like the tone of blood and the color of guts might be disappointed, but for an average movie-goer like me, who goes to the movies for entertainment, not slaughterhouse atmosphere, the special effects were nice. For everyone who still hasn't seen it, the atmosphere is the key in this movie.

Save your money

[alanp77 · 1/10 · 13 October 2008]

I felt it was my duty to register to IMDb and comment on this film, in the vain hope that it may stop at least one other person from wasting their money on this steaming pile of excrement. This is undoubtedly one of the worst films I have ever had the misfortune of watching. It was so bad that my friend and I even contemplated leaving the cinema half way through the film, which was a first for us (surprising, given some of the dross that we've been subjected to in the past). Whoever thought that taking all the bad elements from 'Sky Captain', 'Chronicles of Riddick' and 'I Am Legend' and blending them together would make a decent movie, needs their P45 stapled to their forehead. Where to start...First and foremost, the acting was diabolical (even from the usually impressive John Malkovich). Seriously, it has to be seen to be believed. The stand out moment for me, was when Shauna MacDonald turns to Thomas Jane's character and out of nowhere screams "My God, you've changed so much" or words to that effect, before calmly turning away and asking him how he takes his tea. It's so bad, that you actually ask yourself 'did that really just happen'? The plot is tedious and nonsensical, with clichéd religious undertones added to lend 'credence' to the story. It's set in the distant future, yet society has the look and feel of WWII Europe, albeit with futuristic weaponry...Yawn... The characters are so contrived and one-dimensional, that you have absolutely no affinity with them or their cause. In fact, they're so irritatingly wooden that you're almost praying for their demise. The dialogue is so banal, it could have been written by a ten year old (and I'm probably doing numerous ten year olds a major disservice there). "I'm not paid to think – I'm paid to blow **** up". Wow! I'm not saying by any means, that every film made has to be original and profound. 'Mindless' films can work, but they have to have the essential ingredients and this doesn't have any of them. This is Sci-Fi by numbers, except this time, the paints been slapped on with a trowel.

This movie is really special in it's own way

[alexfromhorn · 7/10 · 12 October 2009]

I think this was really something special. It was not what the average person would call good, but it also wasn't bad at all.

I'm somebody that really watches A LOT of movies. About 4-8 in a week. So I am really happy to see a movie that is not like the others. And this one is one of them.

It's like a Comic adaption, it reminded me a little of Sin City and 300. Sci-Fi and Fantasy at the same time. It begins with a war and ends with a 80's team mission horror action-adventure.

I think it's animation is also unique, you recognize that a lot is computer-animated but you don't really care cause it's done really good for a B-Movie. The blood effects give this a feeling of a film-noir like Sin City and it's epic tale reminded me in someway of 300 and Steamboy...

But I still can't tell if it's good or bad, but I can say this movie is completely unique, it had it's own atmosphere and it really entertained me, although it wasn't made in the best way...

Atmospheric yet quite disappointing

[musil-vlastimil · 4/10 · 15 September 2008]

As a long time fan of Mutant Chronicles universe I've been quite excited when I heard about making of this movie. A few days ago I watched it - and can't say I'm excited anymore. The movie's plot is very cliché-ish and pretty much all the characters are flat and predictable, most of them the lead character Mitch Hunter. Throughout the movie you'll find numerous illogical things - but in this kind of movies it's not so uncommon. Something that deserves credit is the atmosphere, which describes in a very true way the industrial-war spirit of the Mutant Chronicles universe, similar to the WWI movies from the front lines. The special effects (even though clearly digital) are okay and are used well enough to complete the dark smoky atmosphere. One thing that made me very sad is the movie has almost NO connection to the story of Mutant Chronicles universe. The history is totally different, the makers only took names of several MCH heroes - and the names are the only thing left from those, completely bypassed the presence of magic in MCH universe and changed the enemy of mankind to something else. No costumes whatsoever - glorious armors of the Brotherhood warriors were replaced by simple robes and mighty heroes you'll only find in standard boring uniforms. So all in all - If you don't know the MCH universe, you'll probably watch an average B movie and walk away untouched, if you know it however, you'll be disappointed for the movie is something else than it says, nothing but a borrowed name.

Classic B-Movie, with non-stop action and thrills!

[slayerjmk95 · 8/10 · 19 April 2011]

This is definitely one of the best, all-out sci-fi action movies i have ever seen, with all the characteristics of a classic B-Movie; static characters, simple yet effective plot, actually good one-liners, super-digital CGI (helps give the classic feel), and best of all; enough bloody, nasty, and violent action that makes this a great watch! Out of all the characters, Thomas Jane's performance is actually quite good, filling in the shoes of a good character that you can remember and come to like, surprisingly. The run time is good, doesn't drag anything out, but one BIG disappointment was the special "Director's Cut" released on DVD; it's not nearly as good as the theatrical version!! But even so, this is a definite must watch for all sci-fi/action/horror fans because in the end, this movie is a fun ride that needs no expectations except to know that the action and suspense cover for all the flaws 7.5/10 Stars***

Stylish Adventure

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 7 September 2008]

At the end of the Ice Age, The Machine came from the outer space with the purpose to change men into mutants. However, a hero defeated the device and a great seal was laid over The Machine. In 2707, the depleted world is ruled by four Corporations: Mishima, Bauhaus, Capitol and Imperial that are in constant war. During a battle between Capitol and Bauhaus, the great seal is broken and The Machine works again transforming soldiers and civilians in hordes of mutants. A small part of the population escapes to Mars, leaving millions of people behind. The man of faith and leader of an ancient brotherhood Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman) is a believer of God and the Chronicles, a bible about the mutants. With the city under siege of the mutants, he visits the Corporations' leader Constantine (John Malkovich) asking for an aircraft and twenty men for a suicide mission to destroy The Machine, planting a bomb and a detonator following the knowledge of the Chronicles. He recruits the tough Major 'Mitch' Hunter (Thomas Jane); the Bauhaus Lieutenant Maximillian von Steiner (Benno Fürmann); the keeper of the Chronicles Severian (Anna Walton) that is under a vow of silence; the gorgeous and lethal Corporal Valerie Duval (Devon Aoki); Corporal Juba Kim Wu (Tom Wu); Captain John McGuire (Steve Toussaint); and Corporal Jesus 'El Jesus' de Barrera (Luis Echegaray). Together they become the last hope of Earth against the evil mutants.

"The Mutant Chronicles" is a stylish adventure with a dark cinematography that recalls "Dark City" and "Metropolis" and interesting concepts of war in the trenches (like in World War I) and riveted flying machines (burning coal, like the ships in the beginning of the Twentieth Century). In the end, "The Mutant Chronicles" is neither a masterpiece nor a bad movie as indicated in many reviews; just an entertaining and stylish movie, with reasonable story and acting and great cinematography and especial effects. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Era da Escuridão – Mutant Chronicles" ("The Age of Darkness – Mutant Chronicles")

For the love of God nooooo!!!!!!

[Mamba25 · 1/10 · 14 October 2008]

Please people stop making trash like this! I want to be able to tell my kids that there are good sci-fi films to go and see but sadly this is not one of them! Whoever said to Thomas Jane that he could act needs serious help. I have seen trees act better than this man! Only saving grace was Sean Pertwee who like all his other films was once again the victim. He makes me laugh, if he isn't trying to keep his guts in (Dog Soldiers), keep his guts in (Wilderness), he is being dragged along by a mutant on what appeared to be a 2 week long hike deep underground, again keeping his guts in! Keep going Sean my son, Oscar will be in your trophy cabinet soon ;) I have nothing left to say other than please save your money people and don't encourage them to produce more rubbish like this!

OK but far from the original

[RenegadeTourist · 5/10 · 31 August 2008]

I did play the board game when I was younger and sort of liked it. To bad they changed so much of the background story - exactly what they changed can be found in other comments.

It would have been much better if there had been an explanation to the whole steam-punk thing going on. also I would have liked to see the fifth corporation. Apart from that, its sad that we never get to know the characters, they just get killed to fast, quite possibly because they spend to much time on the opening scenes not leaving enough time go go in depth with the characters.

As i remember the board game, the normal dark legioners (standard necro mutants) where pretty easy to kill even though they did have guns. The film would have benefited from them being easier to kill and having the elite guys fighting some of the more bad-ass monsters.

So in the end this thing ends up with a 5 for being a decent action flick.

Now I don't know if this counts as trivia or goofs or anything but Vallerie duval (who i think is supposed to be french) gets the middle name "chinoise" which is french for Chinese. My guess is that it refers to the actress being Asian, but I don 't know.

Pardon my bad spelling.

Lord Of The Rings... In the future... With less walking. And story.

[colin-mcarthur · 6/10 · 13 July 2008]

I watched this film because Ron Perlman's in it and i'm always buoyed by seeing a man who looks like a gorilla act so well. I had no idea it's based on some kind of role-playing franchise, and frankly, i'm glad i didn't. To be honest i probably wouldn't have watched it if i did. After having just sat through it, i thought i should add a positive review because well, i liked it. I was a good film. The Mutant Chronicles did kind of remind me of Lord Of The Rings (bite your lips fanboys) because it got the plot out of the way pretty early on and the rest of the film was essentially spent trying to achieve the one valiant act that will save the day/world. Whereas LOTR is spread out over nine hours of character development (boy howdy are they noble, eh?) and beautiful scenery, The Mutant Chronicles chooses the less trodden path of gunfire, disposable characters and mutants. The film takes place in 2127 in a dystopian future where two of the four corporations who run the world accidentally let loose an ancient evil into the world. Cue some wacky bloodthirsty mutants overrunning the general population and generally being a nuisance. As the rich survivors escape to Mars, a small group of nihilistic ass-kickers and religious nuts travel to the centre of the Earth to stop the catastrophe, showcasing an amazingly short grieving process along the way. Just about every location is computer generated. Rather well i thought, though i know there are those who strongly disagree. The shortcomings of the CGI are helped along by a very dark look and feel with a fairly monochrome palette being preferred with the exceptions of some reds and blues (think Sin City). The Mutant Chronicles may well be a minor stylistic triumph, not letting itself get bogged down in plot, character development and all that important stuff. It seems as though the film makers settled on making it a pretty cool movie. And it is.

Horrible movie.

[Elohim777 · 1/10 · 5 January 2009]

I just sat through this movie (only to be able to brag within my circle of friends that I actually managed to watch all of it without committing suicide). It really is that horrible. I would say the "movie" is one long CGI effect with supporting actors. I've seen some of the actors in other movies, and they were all underperforming in this movie. The name Mutant Chronicles seems to be borrowed, since nothing I remember from the roleplaying game or the board games even reminded me of Mutant Chronicles. The symbols of the companies were all wrong, the only thing they got right was the names. They even placed the companies wrong on the map.

Storywise, it's thin and poor to say the least. The "mutants" all look identical, they don't use guns and for starters the "evil" is located on Pluto, not the Earth. It's the "evils" wet dream to actually reach the Earth. Also, if they took the "bomb" from the machine and it is said that it would blow up the machine if put back, why didn't they just put it back in the first place, since they were already there? The story is stupid, and full of holes, supported by horrible acting and a lousy script.

If you hate yourself, watch this CGI effect. Oh sorry, movie.

Have faith...

[cyclone259 · 7/10 · 5 April 2010]

I'd seen a trailer for 'The Mutant Chronicles' back in 2008 and then it quickly disappeared. The concept looked intriguing as well as the feel of the film.

Before I was formally introduced to the whole 'steam punk' genre and knew that's what it was called, I liked it. There's a lot of material out there with the juxtaposed futuristic/antique look (ie. Hellboy, Sky Captain, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Golden Compass, etc.). Some do it better than others, but I felt that 'The Mutant Chronicles' used just enough to give it a twist, without overwhelming the subject matter.

I won't delve too heavily into the storyline except to say this earths alternate time line looks pretty bleak. You could easily draw comparisons between the corporations who rule this (the movies) world and our own, although ours isn't nearly as extreme. Much like other films of this type, there's the despair regarding the loss of humanity and then the proverbial 'light in the darkness' in the form of a savior (no, this isn't a religious movie per say, although one of the main characters is).

Moving along. The lack of development in each characters personage was to me the biggest shortcoming. They were all vehemently different and had their own minutiae, but just seemed to lack a 'soul'. I hate to say that the CGI saved this project, but in this case it helped to prop up the weaker areas and allowed it to not get too bogged down by the negative aspects.

I won't give it an A+ for being the best movie of its kind out there, but it was well worth the time it took me to finally hunt it down on Netflix.

Could this movie be any more random?

[Radiczr · 3/10 · 29 October 2008]

"23rd century soldier Major Mitch Hunter leads a fight against an army of underworld NecroMutants"

Alright.

In the ice age there was a machine that would transform humans into necro mutants. A hero locked up the machine underground, and the machine was released a long time later by being conveniently placed in the middle of a warzone. Thus, it killing everybody all over again and turning them into zombies When i first read the story in a nutshell, i was exited, i mean how can that not make a cool movie, right?

Alright the first part that really bothered me is the painted blood decals, and the gunfire, at times its just laughable that the visual effects guy actually got away with that. It justs makes everything feel so fake and due to the corny dialogue it makes everything so more retarded because it all feels so fake.

Secondly, the setting. The story takes place in the distant future, and what we see is a world war II-ish setting with guns that look like thompson, and English speaking people in mid-europe, fighting Germans, with the first German guy you see tries to be a Hitler look-a-like, screaming and yelling lines that are so corny and overused its just a cliché. The fact that they are in the trenches being bombarded by vehicles only a few hundred meters away in distance feels completely retarded because they have spaceships that can fly to mars but they don't have bombardment ships or landmines? There is even - and i shook in horror when i saw that - BARBED WIRE in their frontlines, i mean, what the hell is the purpose of THAT?! As soon as the enemy draws closer, being footsoldiers with rifles and stick grenades you dive into a scene of any random war movie that takes place in WWII.

As of third, the acting and the story. I really had the feeling the writer was on drugs when he wrote this because there are continuity errors all over the place, and most of the stuff that happens just doesn't make sense or has no effect on the story line what so ever. For instance, after the have been shooting and throwing grenades for like 10 minutes, random soldiers die off being mauled by several necromutants and their body parts are scattered throughout the war zone. As soldiers pass by they look upon the mutilated remains of their comrades and enemies and they go "****, they're in pieces" and i was like, Dude you've been throwing grenades for like an hour and you're surprised that they're in pieces?! Also they seem like they have never seen that kinda stuff before, but .. aren't they supposed to be soldiers, don't they see this kind of stuff like, every day?

There are a million things that are bad about this movie, and considering a million was spent on making this i could've chosen a better way to spend that kind of money.

Gave it a 3 because of effort.

Surprisingly good

[wisdomseeker88 · 7/10 · 7 February 2009]

Well, I'm not going to give a verbose review on the movie, I just want to say it was surprisingly good for a low budget flic. Really, this should not be compared to the crap you see on Sci-fi channel. They have a wonderful cast, great action scenes, decent environments considering what they had to work with, and a great script. I honestly did not see Ron Perlman as a priest, but somehow he pulled it off. I am amazed by the cast they managed to get together for this film, and I loved the mixed world war II/futuristic feel it had to it. This one is worth watching, and certainly deserves a better rating than it has on here. I would give it a 7/10, not a bad rental.

Mediocre at best

[cypherspace · 3/10 · 19 October 2008]

It's the year 2707, which looks curiously like 1942 except with more corporations and bigger guns. An ancient machine has been uncovered which mutates all it comes into contact with via some pseudo-scientific method. A team of intensely one-dimensional soldiers is recruited to die horribly in an entertaining fashion while spouting god-awful dialogue and conforming to stereotypes. Ron Perlman stars in a role that is far less worth his time than Hellboy. John Malkovich appears for five minutes in an effort to put another name on the poster.

Mutant Chronicles is not going to be popular, because it's not very good. It's not the worst film I've ever seen. The cinematography is good, in a sort of Sin City-esquire limited colour palette and some great action scenes. It's got some good ideas, set in a steampunk-style future where perpetual war is the order of the day, and the absence of a highly technological future sets it apart from most. The plot isn't even totally ridiculous, and would have promise if it was made correctly. It's just a pity that so many mistakes are made.

There's obvious continuity errors throughout the film and the universe is just not consistent. These are grating mistakes that could be ignored if the rest was any good, but the quality of the script is just so low that it cannot redeem the film. The dialogue is almost inexclusively awful and provides no character development and absolutely no reason to care about any of the characters, all of whom are essentially faceless drones. Apparently the film has been released in an unfinished form, which would explain some aspects of it, but even in a finished form I cannot imagine the dialogue improving. If you want to do the dirty in a cinema, go see this, because you'll be the only ones there.

Better than IMDb rating and expectations imply: the rare "B-movie" gem

[Quebec_Dragon · 8/10 · 1 April 2012]

Sometimes, seemingly simple movies, panned by most of the critics, just grab me. This was one of them. It takes place in the future, but I was gripped from the get-go with World War II trench-like warfare going on at the start. It feels very much like a good war movie at this point with a compassionate officer going up against some kind of Nazis, but things are not really that especially with the steampunk machines and unconventional firearms. It goes even crazier when some long-dormant evil is awakened. After that strong opening, we delve summarily into that society and some kind of prophecy that involves a desperate quest to save the world by a small group of heroes. It sounds pretty cliché, right, but weirdly it works here and the characters are compelling despite not being characterized much. It's the type of suicide mission story where the "heroes" get killed of one by one, and not always in the most heroic manner. However, you kinda grow attached to the multi-ethnic group, want to learn more about them (some intriguing snippets but not much) and their sometimes noble self-sacrificial acts make them likable. I truly enjoyed the heroism on display, but can't say I was particularly emotionally moved by any of the deaths. I also liked very much how the plot sometimes played with our expectations (witness the mother and child trying to evacuate) despite some logical flaws that bugged me a little.

The mutants in question are not super-heroes (like X-Men) or standard "zombies", and the title is misleading because it's not really "their" chronicles. Thee mutants are antagonists and besides attacking and being killed, they don't do much. The movie is apparently low-budget (at 25 millions, I'd say medium-budget) but it really doesn't show. You have stunning special effects, decors and vehicles that don't really look computer-generated (and sometimes actually weren't). It's not to say everything is realistic, it's a bit stylized and otherwordly like 300 for example. There were some really spectacular scenes and vistas. The action scenes were exciting and overall I thought the directing was very good. The movie was paced well, and I was never bored. One thing I didn't really care much for was the religious claptrap, but I've seen worse.

Please note however that I didn't watch the shorter (by around 10 minutes) director's cut that cuts some of the religious stuff but also a few nice character moments. I did check the differences and suggest watching the theatrical non director's cut version if you can. Before I forget, you do have some bad-ass heroes kicking major butt in satisfying ways (less and less guns and more sword fighting as it goes), and some enjoyable b-movie one-liners by Thomas Jane's character. So it's certainly not the type of movie you haven't seen before, but it's masterfully executed, beautiful in a post-apocalyptic way, but most of all it feels right. A rental is definitely recommended and myself, I'm even thinking of buying it.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Very good).

Lots of eye-candy and ultra violence, and not too much bullshit surrounding it

[kingderella · 6/10 · 1 May 2010]

"Mutant Chronicles" is a steam-punk action flick that borrows more than a few elements from "The Lord of the Rings", shares its monochromatic goth sensibilities with the "Underworld" franchise, and wears its artificiality proudly like "Casshern" or "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". It's not a good movie in the strictest sense of he word, but like the most of the movies mentioned above, it's a lot of fun and a perfectly enjoyable pulp flick.

What doesn't work: Somewhat typically for the genre, the story is very simple (get from A to B, mow down everybody that stands in your way) yet told in a overly convoluted way. Notably all the religious mumbo-jumbo doesn't really lead anywhere and is just plain annoying. There is a particularly boring, exposition-tastic stretch between the opening action scene and when the party finally goes on its mission. That part also includes a cameo by John Malkovich who gives a jaw-droppingly awful performance.

On to what does work: The movie clearly had a limited budget, but the filmmakers turn that to their advantage, as they don't hide the video-game aesthetics but revel in them, making the whole movie a stylish, proudly low-budget affair. The performances are all solid (with the exception of Malkovich). The party is a unexpectedly likable bunch, and i would love to see them in more adventures together. Particularly Thomas Jane, Anna Walton, and Devon Aoki stand out. They Might not blow away anybody with their acting chops here, but they are a joy to look at and make formidable action heroes, coming across as incredibly cool, despite some clunky dialog.

Ultimately, with those kinds of movies, the question is mostly whether the good out-weights the bad, and in this case it does. Lots of post-apocalyptic eye-candy and ultra violence, and not too much bullshit surrounding it - perfectly enjoyable.

How to rip-off a nice story

[vecnamichele · 1/10 · 1 December 2009]

Mutant chronicles is a rpg game of the 80s. It isn't the best rpg, actually it's quite bad, but the story behind it was quite nice, and with my friends I played it quite a lot. It's a decadent world, where humans have to use steam-punk technology to survive the powerful Dark symmetry, a force able to mislead any kind of sophisticated technology. The dark symmetry is represented by five gods all of them specialized in different ways but all with the same goal: to make the humans fight each other.

Now, this movie has nothing _NOTHING_ to do with the rpg game. If you are a mutant chronicles player stay far away, cause any of your playing session is by far better than this pile of crap.

Let's start with the story.. Story? This movie hasn't any story at all... I was used to play political-investigative games in the dark alleys of lunar city, tracking down a dangerous heretic infiltrated in the highest ranks of a mega-corporation, or fighting against Saladin's army in the plains of mars.. Or even better, exploring the outer planets to find out the origin of the symmetry.. In this movie we see a group of idiots trying to stop this zombie maker machine (That should be a necro-chamber of Algeroth) with a stupid sword.. Yeah GREAT..

Settings... In the mutant chronicles game the earth is long time lost cause of total-nuclear wars between the mega-corporation. The dark symmetry got awaken many years after humanity left earth...

The costumes... In the game we're used to see huge and scary armours that can provide cover even against the most powerful shotguns... The "zombies" in the movie are all the same.. In the game there was a plethora of monsters, most of them representing the greatest fears of the humanity, from the mighty Nepharite to the powerful Pretorian stalker, monsters who could destroy a man with one hand..

Last but not least where are the magical/mystical powers of the Dark symmetry and the Brotherhood? The only thing they got right is the coil powered ships, and it's probably the most non-sense idiocy of the game...

Apart these settings errors that basically transform mutant chronicles to something else completely different there's one thing to add. The movie is awful, bad cinematography, bad acting, bad story, bad dialogues... Can't find anything good about this..

This could be a much better movie if the actually followed the original story, or even if the invented a new story on the actual Mutant chronicles setting...

Just don't watch/rent/buy this..

Just bad

[psikonaute · 2/10 · 10 November 2008]

I'm a player of Mutant Chronicles Role Playing Game. It's a rich and complex universe which is here totally not respected. The movie is not only bad as an adaptation, it's just boring and full of clichés. I didn't have high expectations before I've seen it but I'm so disappointed. How many great stories, great books, great old movies or RPG are going to be ruined by the movie industry and uninspired persons ? Once Dunjeons & Dragons, now Mutant Chronicles... It's also a shame good actors like Ron Pearlman have waste their talent in this movie. I recommend you to gather a good team and play some scenarios instead. It's a good and wealthy social activity and it will give you hours of fun, pleasure. Use your imagination !