I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

One of my all time favorites.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

So i'm going to start off by stating that the 5 star rating I gave this film was simply because i enjoyed the acting of Thomas Jane. He was the only real stand-out performance in this, maybe thats because other's didnt have much of a chance to really shine but I can say that Ron Pealman and Devon Aoki were particularly bad! Ron just looked board and his accent constantly switched from American to almost-sort of-kinda-maybe Irish? I think?? Either that or he has a medical condition that I was not aware of, In which case, I'm sorry.Devon, We,, She was just BAD. I mean, like, REALLY CAN'T ACT. I remember her from Sin City as a intriguing, silent but deadly character, Maybe she should have adopted that persona for this movie as every time she spoke, it was as if a psychopath wishing you a happy birthday -Soulless.So, As the titale of this review states, I reckon most of the budget was gobbled up by the cast-ESPECIALLY John Malkovich, who was only in it for a short time amd then buggared off. His performance was relatively solid but thats to be expected.The special effects, Sometimes worked and the CGI sometimes actually gave the film a bit of charm and fit "its look and feel", But for the most part they were really badly done and brought you out of the movie as you could see the CGI farting in your face.General pros and cons, Some pros, Supporting cast were a mixed-bag, Some commanded each scene they were in and had my full attention. The setting of a futuristic/WW2/WW1 world felt pretty cool and interesting.Some cons, Choppy editing, Some scenes just came out of nowhere and it felt as though some scenes may have been cut that would have served a purpose for story telling so it just got confusing at times, Lazy writing, Bad bit-parts, but they were probably just happy to be in a film, action was garbadge, Some B-movies can save themselves with interesting and well shot fight or action scenees but these were all just generic shot-to-shot rubbish and a blurr so by the end of it, you haven't seen what happened but you just look at whoes dead to guess what happened.All in all, Rubbish, Actually, I'm going to change my rating to a 4, HA, Take that people with more money and talent than I.

The situation: A Machine from space, buried somewhere under Poland since the ice age, has been unearthed and is spewing out hordes of "mutants" (distinguishable from standard Hollywood zombies primarily by their giant claw). Despite their last attempt being foiled by the advanced technology of the neolithic era, the mutants are able to drive 28th century humanity to the brink of destruction in under two months.The obvious solution is the Ripley Gambit: "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."The alternative obvious solution is for the combined militaries of the four megacorporations that rule earth to converge on the Machine and wipe out the mutants.The significantly less obvious solution is this:Gather a single squad of soldiers, mixing troops from all the megacorps, who have more experience fighting against each other than together. Airlift them to Canaan. Send them into the tunnels that they can use to sneak into the Machine in nearby Poland (and wasn't it nice of the mutants to stay behind the seal when there was apparently a back door?). Once there, they will put back the Device which was taken from the Machine (for no apparent reason) ten thousand years ago. We THINK the Device is some kind of bomb, but we don't actually know. We do, however, know that it requires a separate Trigger, which the team will also carry. And a separate Key. Which we DO NOT HAVE, but will blindly assume that the squad will be able to find somewhere in the Machine. For some reason. The squad will detonate the Device, destroying the Machine and saving humanity. Should anything go wrong with this flawless plan, we will have absolutely zero alternatives, contingencies or backups. If this plan fails, "every man, woman and child on this planet will die".Guess which solution this film goes with. The others aren't even discussed. No others are.That a fictional character thinks this is a good plan is ridiculous writing. That a dozen other fictional characters, some of them experienced soldiers and officers, agree to it is ludicrous writing. That is works almost perfectly takes us all the way into the plaid zone.And it's far from the stupidest thing in this story. I think that award goes to the rescue of an officer who was captured within spitting distance of the seal just after it was broken. The team finds him in the tunnels being dragged towards the machine to be turned into a mutant. SIX WEEKS LATER. The mutant has presumably dragged him on the scenic route, via Bulgaria. And kept him adequately fed and hydrated. Which is nice of him.The inane plot is probably the weakest point of the film, but not by far. Between the dialogue and the acting (and I KNOW several of these actors are capable of much better performances than this) the characters universally lack character. The CGI varies wildly, sometimes flawless, sometimes laughable.On to the faint praise: The action scenes aren't generally awful. Or memorable. Monster makeup and effects are fine, shame the design is so unimaginative.As an adaptation of the Mutant Chronicles games: It isn't. From the fine details (the 6th letter of Capitol) to the broadest generalisation (the entire concept of the Dark Legion), there is nothing here but a few names: MC, the four megacorps (no Cybertronic), a few characters. And these are all "In Name Only". As a random glaring example: Valerie Duval, Asian Mishiman single mother.There are a few films which stand out as examples of how not to make an adaptation. Catwoman. Fant4stic. Judge Dredd. Uwe Boll. The Last Airbender. They fail on the counts of both making a good film and of making a faithful adaptation.Mutant Chronicles is worse than most of them on the first count and worse than any of them on the second.

Mutant Chronicles is a solid gem, as both a b movie and a legit exercise in bloody high concept fantasy. It's got a sci fi vibe meshed nicely together with a grinding steam punk sensibility, and it's pure visceral gold. The vague plot, as I best remember it: Some form of extraterrestrial intelligence takes up residence deep within the earth's core, using a gigantic machine to turn humans into mindless, rabid killing machine with nasty, pokey, king crab looking things for limbs. The warring corporations who control the remaining resources on the planet commission a crew of dirty dozen style bad asses to venture deep into the earth, stopping the mutants and their makers, and silencing the evil contraption forever. Thomas Jane is Major Mitch Hunter, the stoic tough guy leading the group with grit and guts. He's also searching for his missing superior officer Nathan Rooker (Sean Pertwee). Along with him is strong, silent monk Brother Samuel (Ron Perlman), his mute daughter (Anna Walton), and other assorted warriors including Benno Furmann and Devon Aoki. That's pretty much all you get for a plot. The rest is screaming zombie esque hordes that ambush them at every turn and provide especially grisly action set pieces. There's a really impressive journey in a rickety spaceship that looks like a cross between a hot air balloon and a toaster, and a cameo from an extremely bored looking John Malkovich. Jane and Perlman use their tough guy charisma to bring the story to life, and the special effects are pretty damn cool. This one has bite, imagination and buckets of gore, particularly in a frenetic finale deep within the earth's interior. Great stuff.

let's start by saying this....let's hope the writer, director and producer quit the industry and went back to making subs at Subway. 'cause this movie was extremely hard to watch to the end from the poor lines to the cheesy effects to the complete destruction of the world that this movie is supposed to be based on, I'm surprised they found financial backers. but, I suppose to saying goes..there's a sucker born every minute. when news of this movie came out, I was very excited. the world and universe that was created for the books, role playing and miniature games are very rich and exciting. a lot of the technology made sense, there wasn't all the "lasers, blasters and ray guns" of other sci-fi franchises. it's a dirty, gritty reality where a lot of the times the hero doesn't survive nor make a big difference in the ultimate outcome. so, with knowing what the source material was about, I was quite excited. then this abortion came along. poor CGI effects, EXTREMELY poor weapons and effects, poor spoken lines...the dialogue made me want to weep. then there's the MASSIVE changes that came with it. changes to the weapons, technology, the heroes and villains. everything was changed so dramatically, I'm amazed they could still retain the rights to call this the Mutant chronicles. overall, this movie was given the 1 it earned. what is REALLY sad is it had an excellent cast. Tomas Jane made a great Mitch Hunter, even though the character was almost unrecognizable. the other actors and actresses did a great job trying to save this sinking ship, but eve with their frantic bailing, it still sank and became the utter shipwreck it is.