Action mutante

Do not be fooled into thinking that Accion Mutante is merely a darkly humorous schlock space-horror-action movie. It aggressively and successfully attacks 'decent' society, the media and the action movie genre itself in equal measures and still manages to be genuinely funny, shocking and surprising. Paul Verhoeven has been trying to make a film like this for years, but in my opinion has never got close.

Mutante is pure Science Fiction (and I mean SF *not* Sci-Fi) - deadly anti-bourgeois social commentary wrapped in a delicious coating of blood, sugar and intergalactic terrorism.

Nice one!

Accion Mutante is the debut feature from cult director Álex de la Iglesia. It incorporates the absurd comedy with violence template that he seems to have followed throughout the rest of his career. Also like others in his filmography such as The Last Circus and Witching and Bitching, this one starts out really well but loses a bit of steam in the final third. It's set in the future, where a terrorist group called Accion Mutante take violent action against rich hipsters and the superficially beautiful; their latest scheme sees them kidnap a society girl resulting in them being pursued to another planet by her mogul father who is bent on serious revenge.

This one has a pretty modest budget so it has to be cut some slack. Nevertheless, it makes good use of its resources at times. In particular an early high society party scene was nicely done; it was colourful and garish in a way that showed the definite influence of Pedro Almodovar who actually was a producer here. This scene along with the earlier more directly satirical ones that showed news reports on the terrorists activities were the most successful and focused parts of the film. After this opening things become more run-of-the-mill and the black comedy becomes less pointed. Ultimately, Accion Mutante is one of those movies which probably isn't as good as you think it's going to be given the potential of the central idea. It's still fun though. Of additional note is an amusing rap-rock theme song that plays in the credits.

While other reviewers suggest this started out well but later lost focus, to me it went vice versa. Starts out OK, trying to balance between hilarity and supposed social commentary and of course action and blood-sheding. It manages quite well (hey this is low budget!) but I don't think the director meant for serious satire or comment on high society and life style etc. others suggested. Anyway, at the final third part, when the spaceship reaches the planet, the film gets to its high point! I had a great time watching this film, it's funny (in a twisted way), there's blood and sickness. It's high time of entertainment. It reminded me of BRAINDEAD & BAD TASTE of Peter Jackson, as well as BODY MELT of Philip Brophy and maybe a bit Mad Max (by the way ALL Australian films). Just don't expect TOO MUCH. Fans of mainstream sci-fi cinema: STAY AWAY!

One of the best and most under-rated films I've seen in years! A black comedy in the truest sense. The scenario is outrageous, but never jabs you with that "get the joke?" elbow. The performances are true to character and slyly developed. I've never encountered any of these actors before, but they are all terrific and I'd watch almost anything they've subsequently made.

You may have to hunt for a crisp English subtitled print; beware the Substance 2002 DVD release that claims to be remastered, but is quite muddy, and I highly doubt it's a "remaster" as I've seen better non-subbed prints.

PS - the wedding cake scene is worth the price of admission alone.

Alex de Iglesia's first movie "Acción Mutante" is mostly a very enjoyable ride, but could use a bit more focus on the titular theme. You expect two hours of funny cripple terrorist attacks, but you get Homages to 3-4 different genre movies de Iglesia is apparently very fond of. The first quarter of the movie is actually concerned with the "Mutants" (actually just handicapped people) shooting the so-called beautiful upper class, but is then switching gears and becomes a mix of movies like Alien, Hills have Eyes and even Mad Max at the end. It would have been more interesting to see the terrorist group doing more attacks in the futuristic city, but I guess this was prohibitive because of the very low budget of the movie (1,5 Million $ approx.). Still, I applaud the movie for its visual inventiveness and not shying away from really nasty scenes. The director unfortunately wants to do too many things at once, and cover as many of his cinematic fanboy interests as possible.

The actors are mostly excellent, which is unsusual for such low-budget movies. Antonio Resines as the "Leader" Ramon Yarritu stands out, he manages to make a despicable character almost heroic in a sense. Which is weird, as he does so many awful deeds throughout the movie. But you kind of get his point after a while, it makes sense (even if its morally wrong).

All in all, an interesting debut, albeit very unfocused and with a lot of sloppy storytelling. But it shows clearly, that Alex de La Iglesia is a talented director nonetheless. Recommended, if you are willing to look past the usual first-time director imperfections.