Kampfansage - Der letzte Schüler

Paying homage to the post apocalyptic genre with echoes of stories like Fist of the North Star, Cyborg and the Postman this movie is infused with adrenalin, enthusiasm, rage, excitement, and action. It has a huge heart and the fact that it was made on a limited budget is testament to the skill and passion of those involved. They say that first time features made with limited financial support will have failings somewhere around Lighting, Script, Score and CGI. I am pleased to say that the piece is effectively lit even when filmed in cavernous tunnels. I rather like the CGI; it's obvious of course, but it offers a unique visual vista and blends well with the other outdoor scenes. The script, well, I watched the movie in German with English subtitles and found that the characters, although very familiar, (the hero falls somewhere between Kenshiro and Robin Hood) were comfortable rather than caricature. When the lead was doing voice over to convey his thoughts it really worked well for me, there was something about the sound of his voice that gave what I was reading some resonance. I thought the score generally worked well. I have some difficulty in accepting techno music in any setting; thankfully for me, its unwelcome intrusion was brief. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the fight choreography and the stunt work. In addition to all this, some of the cinematography was extremely effective, especially the two wonderful sweeping shots on top of the building during the final showdown. I won't pretend that the story is anything new but it is carried off with such bare faced enthusiasm and more than a little respect for the genre that I can't help but like it. I tracked this down from the makers own website. I'm glad to say that I was happy to pay the few euros for such a great product.