Monday, October 17, 2011

D-I-M, Deus in Machina Short Film Review


This film, while very impressive and sporting top notch (for the most part) production values, seemed really uneven to me. There are sequences that come off as fluid and professional, and others that were pretty rough around the edges (and the middle, too).

This is a film of a dystopian future where our lives are controlled by a sort of social credit points system. The protagonist isn't given much, if any, of a backstory. He is a young man who is generally up to no good throughout the bulk of the film. No reason is ever given for his behavior and it makes him a difficult character with which to empathize. This main character is on a mission to break into the office that controls the social credits system and, presumably, restore his social standing by manipulating the computers...or something. What follows is an overly-stylized foray into a rather inventive sci-fi world. It is a fun story, but it seems to get bogged down too much by the extensive SFX sequences.

The plot is fairly interesting and this could have made for an exceptional film if the story had been told in a more restrained and understated manner. Too much time is spent following badly rendered CGI robots around for us to ever get a sense of reality or a human connection. It may have been the intent of the filmmakers to create a sense of unreality to hint at the disconnection and loneliness that has become the modern ennui of the Digital Age. However, I feel it is more likely that they just wanted to show off all of their shiny SFX and motion tracking and compositing capabilities.

It also seems to me that if they had taken the time that was spent cramming every conceivable CGI trick imaginable into one film and focused it on creating a handful of really spectacular effects sequences, then the film would have been better as a whole. Then, we wouldn't be treated to a digitally rendered city street scene that looks like spec animations from an early Xbox game.

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