- Director : Martin Owen
- Actors : Scott Adkins, Tommy Flanagan, John Hannah, Lashana Lynch
- Aspect Ratio : 2.35:1
- MPAA rating : Not Rated
- Media Format : Dolby, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 29 minutes
- Release date : January 19, 2021
- Language : English (DTS 5.1)
- Studio : Well Go Usa
Campiness used to be a kind way to justify the
enjoyment of poor filmmaking, but now it is an intentional stylistic choice. Max
Cloud is so over-the-top that one hopes it to be an example of the latter,
but the intention of the campiness does not equate to quality or enjoyment of
it. And it does not equate to originality, which this film has little of. The
budget is obviously low, but it doesn’t take a lot of money for halfway decent
humor.
The basic premise
of the movie involves a teenage girl named Sarah (Isabelle Allen) who gets
sucked into her favorite video game when she discovers a secret portal,
blatantly ripping off the successful Jumanji reboot. Setting this
portion of the film in the 1990s adds to the campiness of the style, though much
of the film in the video game world is far more reminiscent of the 1980s sci-fi
space adventures that came in the wake of Star Wars.
Once in the
video game, Sarah becomes the minor character of Jake (Elliot James Langridge),
a bumbling cook on the spaceship of the legendary Max Cloud (Scott Adkins). His
arrogance is only matched by his abilities to kick ass, which is done in cheesy
80s video game style. After their spaceship has crashed on a planet that is
home to an intergalactic prison, Sarah and her video game hero must find a way
to survive the main boss, Revengor (John Hannah).
The prison setting
premise is nearly entirely wasted, mostly because each of the sci-fi space scenes,
whether in the ship or in the prison, basically have the same generic
low-budget look to them. The production design is fine, but only if the budget
it taken into consideration, or if you are able to buy into the idea that it
looks bad because video games in the 90s were the same. The same applies to the
action in the movie.
At times the film is violent, but
never with a level of realism that removes it from the video game world. What
is truly confusing is the casting of Adkins, who is known for his actual
martial arts abilities rather than his acting. And yet, the role of Max Cloud
only requires a few generic and cheesy martial arts moves, relying far more on
the kind of campy acting we used to get from Bruce Campbell. Unfortunately,
Adkins is not quite strong enough as a comedic actor to pull off this kind of
role convincingly or enjoyably.
The Blu-ray disc may actually do a disservice
to this film, which tries to simulate lower definition in the graphics and
design. On top of that, there are no special features to mention. All in all,
there are far too many reasons to pass on this adventure.
Entertainment Value:
4.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 0/10
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