The Captain (2013)
I don't usually review short films on here. I have once, I reviewed I'm Here (Spike Jonze, Her), with not much enthusiasm I must add. Today's short is The Captain by directors Nash Edgerton (Gringo) and Spencer Susser (ARO: Cocaine Style), and writers Nash Edgerton, Spencer Susser and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit). It also stars Taika as the leading man, playing here a captain of a crashed plane who awakes amidst the destruction. Like I'm Here, I'm reviewing this dull short with little enthusiasm, so buckle up buttercup for a bitter review.
You may have noticed that, for a six minute short, there's an awful lot of writers and directors behind it. It's not uncommon, sure, but what makes that fact more striking is the complete and utter lack of dialogue during the whole run-time. Even stranger yet, Taika is the only actor in the movie, save for some famous cameos (including Nash's famous brother Joel Edgerton, The King) as corpses. I'd imagine directing a single actor wouldn't be all that difficult, but apparently it's a two man job.
This isn't a great film, and it may be the case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The plot is largely insignificant as it lacks any meaningful events or intent. During its very brief few minutes, the film follows Taika as he does nothing but observe the catastrophe around him, before slipping his pilot's jacket and hat onto a corpse and running away. What's utterly bizarre about this film is it's labelled as a comedy; even more so is the complete lack of humour. This film is neither funny, nor thrilling. It lacks any talent in the acting department, as Taika just mulls about the screen looking like he's on the wrong set, and its plot lacks the effort and scripting to deliver a meaningful or memorable punchline. It constantly feels as if the film is readying up its fist, but drops it suddenly as it chickens out, like the Captain himself. We're given no reason to care about anything that happens, and, by the time the credits rolled, I was left wondering why the film even got made in the first place, because it looks awfully expensive to make.
The Captain is jam-packed with CGI which gave me the impression that this was some test run to see how good Nash and Spencer are at blocking a scene. Every frame is filled with broken houses, debris, pieces of the plane scattered around, bodies sprawled across the floor with their oxygen masks tightly wound around their mouths. It's certainly an impressive feat, but it's a sad thought that without any of this, this film would be nothing. The only element which tells this film's story is its visuals, not the acting or any dialogue, which would be fine, other than what we're being shown is of very little intrigue. We are shown instantly what caused the crash, before the footage even rolls, so there's little mystery as to why it's all there. So, if there's no intrigue then what is there? Well, the film certainly doesn't explore anything interesting, such as how one might feel after causing a catastrophic event, and it doesn't even go far enough in its comedy, for example by having Taika be so relentlessly uncaring about the whole affair to the point of absurdism. It's just nothing; it's a nothing movie.
This film's saving grace is its mercifully short run-time, that and the fact it's free on Vimeo. Without the talent attached to it, this is not a worthwhile film. Made by a nobody, this probably wouldn't have gotten the time of day, but made by a somebody makes it so much worse. This film didn't need three writers, it hardly needed one. It's a waste of time, a waste of money (to make) and a waste of talent. I'm sure these three together could create something amazing, but this ain't it chief.
3/10
You may have noticed that, for a six minute short, there's an awful lot of writers and directors behind it. It's not uncommon, sure, but what makes that fact more striking is the complete and utter lack of dialogue during the whole run-time. Even stranger yet, Taika is the only actor in the movie, save for some famous cameos (including Nash's famous brother Joel Edgerton, The King) as corpses. I'd imagine directing a single actor wouldn't be all that difficult, but apparently it's a two man job.
This isn't a great film, and it may be the case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. The plot is largely insignificant as it lacks any meaningful events or intent. During its very brief few minutes, the film follows Taika as he does nothing but observe the catastrophe around him, before slipping his pilot's jacket and hat onto a corpse and running away. What's utterly bizarre about this film is it's labelled as a comedy; even more so is the complete lack of humour. This film is neither funny, nor thrilling. It lacks any talent in the acting department, as Taika just mulls about the screen looking like he's on the wrong set, and its plot lacks the effort and scripting to deliver a meaningful or memorable punchline. It constantly feels as if the film is readying up its fist, but drops it suddenly as it chickens out, like the Captain himself. We're given no reason to care about anything that happens, and, by the time the credits rolled, I was left wondering why the film even got made in the first place, because it looks awfully expensive to make.
The Captain is jam-packed with CGI which gave me the impression that this was some test run to see how good Nash and Spencer are at blocking a scene. Every frame is filled with broken houses, debris, pieces of the plane scattered around, bodies sprawled across the floor with their oxygen masks tightly wound around their mouths. It's certainly an impressive feat, but it's a sad thought that without any of this, this film would be nothing. The only element which tells this film's story is its visuals, not the acting or any dialogue, which would be fine, other than what we're being shown is of very little intrigue. We are shown instantly what caused the crash, before the footage even rolls, so there's little mystery as to why it's all there. So, if there's no intrigue then what is there? Well, the film certainly doesn't explore anything interesting, such as how one might feel after causing a catastrophic event, and it doesn't even go far enough in its comedy, for example by having Taika be so relentlessly uncaring about the whole affair to the point of absurdism. It's just nothing; it's a nothing movie.
This film's saving grace is its mercifully short run-time, that and the fact it's free on Vimeo. Without the talent attached to it, this is not a worthwhile film. Made by a nobody, this probably wouldn't have gotten the time of day, but made by a somebody makes it so much worse. This film didn't need three writers, it hardly needed one. It's a waste of time, a waste of money (to make) and a waste of talent. I'm sure these three together could create something amazing, but this ain't it chief.
3/10
Comments
Post a Comment