Mad God

Well for once my wife and I are not agreeing about a movie. She gave it a four, I gave it a seven but since I write the reviews a seven it is. More than thirty years of work to create this mostly bizarre stop-motion movie. You gotta give it to Phil Tippett, he created something unique with a lot of patience. If I had to guess what Tippett likes to read I would say HP Lovecraft. If I had to guess what artist Tippett admires I would say HR Giger. If I had to guess what kind of music Tippett enjoyed listening to I would say Pink Floyd, especially The Wall. If I had to guess what kind of drugs Tippett takes, I would say I don't know but I want some. Mad Dog is weird, it's gross and grotesque, a combination of bio-mechanical and steampunk, it's apocalyptic and something you need to watch under influence especially if you like any of the things written above.

The stop-motion animation in this movie is top notch. From the character design to the set pieces, the filmmakers put together a beautiful, eerie, post-apocalyptic world with an eye for texture and detail in order to build this world and make it a character in itself. The film has no dialogue, so it heavily relies on the creative sets and creature designs to speak for itself.

The entire film primarily follows the journey of the main character traveling through this industrial post-apocalyptic junkyard with a lot of grotesque creatures along the way, and as an audience member you need to be open to take this journey.

The film does move a bit slow, and the lack of dialogue might not be everyone's cup of tea', but it allows time for the movie to breathe and get immersed in the world it's trying to build.

It's gruesome, eerie, yet strangely beautiful, and kind of reminded me of an animated Mad Max.

If you love stop-motion animation, especially if it includes heavy elements of sci-fi - horror you'll want to check this out.

If animation cinema is your thing, and dystopian dynamics make you sing, here's a film that you should see, it will fill your heart with glee, a post-apocalyptic nightmare with a sting. You're not too sure what's going on most of the time, in this purgatory world where nothing's fine, but the creatures are amazing, the hellish landscapes quite hair razing (amongst other things), the whole experience is outrageous and sublime.

Some rather talented people have made a grotesquely engrossing animation that leaves a mark, or perhaps a scar, that will linger for some time after and compel you to introduce those you know.

Mad God is one of the most visually and audibly arresting films I have ever seen. To say that the technical craft on display is striking would be a criminal understatement. This is thoroughly the singular vision of a master artist, and I am so glad I got to experience it.

It is chock full of metaphorical depth related to man's relationship to both creation and destruction, and for those who are patient and are in love with the macabre, there will be so much for you to glean from it.

As for myself, I did glean a bit from the film's heavy messages, though the extremely sparse narrative left me wanting a LOT more.

We never stay with a character for longer than 20 minutes, and our journeys with them are always cut short right as they're getting interesting. The lack of any clear stakes, motivations, or goals makes it extremely hard to get invested in, and makes 83 minutes feel like two hours.

It's clear that Phil Tippett used the 30 years of production to really get his visual ideas to be made manifest in gorgeous glory, but I do so wish that he had spent more of that time writing instead.

Mad God (2021) is a unique animated gem that was recently added to Shudder. The storyline follows a man who descends into a lost city in ruins. When he gets there he fines an array of death, torture and monstrosities that are a result of this lifestyle. He will search the city for the source of its pain and agony...

This movie is directed by Phil Tippett (Starship Troopers 2) and contains the voices of Alex Cox (Repo Man), Anthony Ruivivar (Tropic Thunder) and Talal Selhami.

The animation in this is fun and unique and reminded me a little bit of the movie 9. The universe is fascinating and the creatures within it are clever and well done. There's a good use of lighting to create intensity and curiosity. The storyline is a bit all over the place and hard to follow. The film focuses more on its outstanding special effects, gore and worthwhile action scenes rather than the plot. The surgery scenes in this are tremendous and the tank battles are very well done.

Overall, there's a lot to like here visually and conceptually. I just wish there was a better plot to take it over the top. I would score this a 7.5/10 and strongly recommend it.