StrongKanegou

When I saw the trailer to 'Infini' I was intrigued, although it appeared to be chock-full of space survival horror clichés. Moreover, I was a put off by its low score on IMDb, however decided to check it out anyway; the worst that could happen, I expected, was an imitation of genre classics, maybe with some unused costumes, props and scenery (I'm a sucker for those Aliens-type movies anyway) cast against a standard-sci-fi-fare backdrop. Given this outlook, Infini turned out to be a gem in the rough, though.

Make no mistake, the movie was produced on a budget, and it shows. Effects and production design are far from striking, but solid, the cinematography is actually quite good. The acting runs the entire gamut, from surprisingly positive (Daniel MacPhesron, Tess Haubrich, and Luke Ford – nice to see his face again) to weaker performances (Grace Huang, Matt Minto – he really hams it up).

The movies weak spot is definitely the beginning; weird dialogue and a somewhat off pacing seemed to confirm my initial suspicions. However, as the story progresses, the plot gets room to unfold and about half-way in, it shifts and Infini slowly picks up speed and begins to deconstruct genre conventions. I certainly didn't expect this from a budget film, and it was really refreshing to see how the movie played with run-of-the-mill sci-fi and horror elements. Daniel MacPherson holds this neatly together by his performance and the cinematography and pacing pick up to turn the proceedings on the ill-fated mining colony at the end of the universe into an engaging vicarious experience. Ultimately, the movie arrives at a surprising (but rewarding) conclusion.

A definite strong point the film has to offer is its innovative take on and gradual dismantlement of classic sci-fi/ horror elements. It manages to infuse very personal aspects into its protagonists while grazing topics like the human condition. Be warned, this is done on a rather superficial level, so expect no deep philosophical insights. On the other hand, by doing so it avoids losing its pacing, which is a boon to its overall integrity – keeping this balance is not a small feat in my eyes.

If you have an inclination towards classic sci-fi horror (and don't expect it to outdo its spiritual predecessors) and are willing to give this one a chance, you'll be in for a pleasant ride. There are shortcomings, needless to say, but all things considered, Infini manages to deliver at the end of the day. Would recommend.

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the last survivors are jammed together under one giant concrete dome, which is protecting the remnants of human civilization from the deadly atomic winter. As resources grow scarce people become more and more rampant, eagerly awaiting the arrival of a fabled Ark which is supposed to save them all. Amidst this mess we find Soft, whose job is to check the structural stability of their shelter. When he discovers that the dome is close to collapsing, he plunges himself into the pandemonium of the last human civilization in order to find out more about this mythical Ark.

I was able to watch a subtitled version of 'O-Bi O-Ba - The End of Civilization' at a festival, which had a segment dedicated to Eastern European sci-fi flicks. I didn't know what to expect - none of the actors rang any bells, neither did the director. Boy, was I in for a surprise! The acting is very solid throughout the movie, I especially liked the laconic fatalism of Soft's boss (Marek Walczewski) and the performances of Jan Nowicki as the Engineer, and of Soft himself (Jerzy Stuhr) who acts as our guide into the depth of the dome, and does a wonderful job of trying to keep calm and rationalize his way out of certain doom.

What struck me most, though, is that this movie works perfectly as an post-apocalyptic dystopia. It displays the (at times pointless) struggle of Soft against his and the others' fate, while at the same time painting a very dark and cynical portrait of human society living on borrowed time on the brink of certain oblivion. As we follow Soft into the underbelly of the dome's society, we discover its secrets layer by layer and realize how paper-thin the wall between madness and reason really is. I am not overly familiar with the circumstances in which the movie was made (it was shot when Poland was still a Socialist Republic), but the social commentary is quite clear. The movie lends itself to be read as criticism of a capitalist society, basically (and at times quite literally) devouring itself. My guess is that it works both ways and can also be applied as an attack on Socialist societal mechanisms (as the movie was shot during the last years of collapsing Polish Socialsm), but I'd venture on very thin ice if I were to substantialize this claim.

At the very least, this film revolves around the human condition and contests if the human race has grown in any way over the last centuries and millenia. Great stuff, go see it if you have the chance - especially if you're a fan of dystopian fiction!

I recently was in the lucky position to watch three documentaries on video games in rather short succession (Get Lamp, Indie Game: The Movie, and Minecraft: The Story of Mojang). In this trifecta, Get Lamp has to probably be the odd man out, since Indie Game and Minecraft revolve around recently released indie games, whereas Get Lamp presents itself more like a nostalgic retrospection. Still, out of those three, Minecraft, I am afraid to say, turns out to be the weakest - for a variety of reasons.

The movie documented facts and events after Minecraft had circulated the internets, turning out to be a tremendous success and having created an immense fan base. This may be partially due to the fact, that the film was founded through Kickstarter and thus needed some time until it was in the clear financially (I am not familiar with the exact details, though). The thing with Minecraft is, however, that the game is probably the most thoroughly documented gaming phenomenon on the internet (being responsible for numerous Let's Players and game commentators on YouTube) – those videos alone vividly depict the endless possibilities Minecraft has to offer and are able to make you understand why it turned out to be the phenomenon it is, even if you are not familiar with the game itself.

So what does this documentary add? Well, other than Indie Game, which focused on the people behind the games, their relation to what they were doing, and the reason why they did it or do it, Minecraft basically renders Markus Persson as a nice guy who simply lucked out making a game that he thought would be cool to play himself. Period. And then moves on to all the other aspects that are the Minecraft phenomenon – all of which, however, you are able to witness yourself first-hand by using your internet connection. Do I need a documentary to inform me about the existence of The Shaft or Yogscast? Or that Persson founded a company and is working on a new game? The most insightful comments are probably Peter Molyneux's in which he explains why he thinks Minecraft is such a big hit and discloses the fact that Minecraft played a role in him founding yet another game dev studio. Guys, seriously, for having Peter Molyneux, Tim Schafer, and Jonathan Blow (although he just makes a very brief appearance) available for interviews, these are pretty meager yields.

For fans of the game it absolutely may be interesting to see more of the people behind the game (especially 'Notch' Persson – and it is good to see that he has remained a likable, down-to-earth guy, despite being responsible for possibly one of *the* gaming sensation of this decade), for the average gamer or documentary aficionado, however, this might be too little. Where Indie Game was able to tell a captivating story about the minds behind the games, Minecraft is asking the right people the wrong questions and leaves the viewer with an unsorted array of factoids about the phenomenon that is Minecraft.