Kids who grew up in the 80s and 90s when video games were just taking off have a lot of fond memories of those games. The graphics weren’t as realistic, the kills even less so and the adventures not near as complicated. And yet those kids had a blast. So much so that movies came out about gamers like THE WIZARD and TRON. But those days are gone. Unless you take a look at the new release MAX CLOUD.
Sarah (Isabelle Allen) is a huge game lover, so much so that her father Tony (Sam Hazeldine) eventually bans her from her game and takes away her controller. This is especially disconcerting to her since she just found an Easter egg in the game, a hidden extra item for players where she finds Space Witch (Jason Maza). As her dad leaves the house Sarah wishes that she could play games all the time. No sooner does she make the wish than the witch in the Easter egg grants it and she’s transported to the world of Max Cloud.
The big difference is that here she is ship’s cook Jake (Elliot James Langridge) and their spaceship has crash landed. Now she must adapt to this world as well as the hero of the game. Max Cloud (Scott Adkins) is an egotistical hero with an unmatched fighting ability always spouting heroic yet useless items while facing off against various adversaries. Things like “Kick *** first, ask questions if there are survivors” pop out frequently as he literally does so. While the game images on the outside world are 2 dimensional scrolling games in here the blood flows more freely.
As Sarah tries to figure out what to do her friend Cowboy (Franz Drameh) shows up. She talks to him from the screen telling him not to turn off the game or reboot it but to start playing and help her out. He does so still not quite believing what is happening. As he leads her through the game they come across another crew member, Rexy (Sally Collett) the games British heroine. Later they team up with famed game bounty hunter Brock Donnelly (Tommy Flanagan) who may or may not be trustworthy.
Of course we have to have a bad guy who’s behind everything, an end boss that you’d find in any game. Here that boss is Revengor (John Hannah) who along with his number two, Shee (Lashana Lynch), wants nothing more than to defeat Max and his crew and return to Earth. Does this mean the game Earth of the real Earth? Who knows until the end of the game should he win?
All Sarah/Jake wants is to get out of the game. But with Revengor trying to finish the game and take over everything that’s not going to be easy. With the help of Cowboy, Rexy, Brock Donnelly and yes even the misogynistic hyper violent Max Cloud the odds are against them. It’s time to put her gaming skills to work.
I’m surprised at the number of people who have chosen to slam this film online. It was actually a lot of fun and a great throwback to those classic movies made at the time. The low budget doesn’t hurt here since the sets are supposed to be interpretations of the game itself. In fact I thought they helped. The acting isn’t Oscar worthy but why would you expect it to be? It fits in nicely with the films it is paying homage to.
Adkins has been making a name for himself in smaller roles in major productions like THE EXPENDABLES and done a number of movies in the direct to disc market. He’s actually a better actor than many give him credit for. And his skills as a martial artist are some of the best you will find these days. Here he gets to display both as his character is hysterically funny at times and he plays it with a seriousness that makes it so. And his fight sequences match any he’s done before.
The movie is a lot of fun that the whole family can enjoy.
The only thing that might be a problem is the use of a few minor swear words
and the fake blood that’s on screen but it matches the setting of a game and
doesn’t come off as real. THE WALKING DEAD is far worse when it comes to
bloodletting and kids are watching that all over the country. This film is a
good starting point to talk to your kids about both gaming, gaming too much and
those movies you grew up with. For me it’s one I’ll hold onto and check again
from time to time. Just to see how Max Cloud is doing.
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