An action scene without much context, but a really gripping and thrilling one
In a future where cities have crumbled and been reclaimed by nature we join a lone man exploring the ruins of the company Haven Nanosystems. Recovering a locked container he seems to have found what he was looking for, which is information relating to the quarantined Facility B. Unfortunately just as located by a robotic drone and the race to escape is on.
Although I speak about plotting there, the thrust of this film is in the four words "the race to escape", because this film is all about a fast- moving chase sequence featuring a man on a motorbike being chased through an overgrown and destroyed city by a robotic drone. It has a simple mission – to make this part of the film really good but, as George Lucas is always there to remind us, you can have lots of fast moving special effects and dramatic music but it can still be boring as hell if you don't know how to make it work with a heart. Fortunately in Wes Ball's film it does work and it works surprisingly well. With minimal set-up, the film really races through the chase sequence with lots of well chosen shots and some quite thrilling movements (racing through a dark tunnel with barely visible car wrecks everywhere was the best point). It has great pace and thrills and very importantly the technical aspects all work to make it stronger.
The animation is really incredible is pretty much all regards. Visually it does have a lot of influences and it is possible to look down your nose at the design of the film and sniff about lots of other "destroyed urban future" films and other areas such as the Terminator franchise (in the look of the robotic drones), but to me it works because it really draws you in and you don't worry about such things. The animation really only has one weak moment near the start where our character sprints and looks a bit like Woody from Toy Story but otherwise it is slick and convincing. The sound design is also very effective; the score gets the heart beating and makes it more exciting as good action scores should, but the sound effects are also very good – it is a short worth seeing with a good sound system or good set of headphones.
Of course it is limited in what it does because it is just a very good action sequence. The film has been picked up to see if they can develop it into a feature; we'll see what happens there but as it is the short film roots of Ruin are more than good enough to be worth a watch.
Although I speak about plotting there, the thrust of this film is in the four words "the race to escape", because this film is all about a fast- moving chase sequence featuring a man on a motorbike being chased through an overgrown and destroyed city by a robotic drone. It has a simple mission – to make this part of the film really good but, as George Lucas is always there to remind us, you can have lots of fast moving special effects and dramatic music but it can still be boring as hell if you don't know how to make it work with a heart. Fortunately in Wes Ball's film it does work and it works surprisingly well. With minimal set-up, the film really races through the chase sequence with lots of well chosen shots and some quite thrilling movements (racing through a dark tunnel with barely visible car wrecks everywhere was the best point). It has great pace and thrills and very importantly the technical aspects all work to make it stronger.
The animation is really incredible is pretty much all regards. Visually it does have a lot of influences and it is possible to look down your nose at the design of the film and sniff about lots of other "destroyed urban future" films and other areas such as the Terminator franchise (in the look of the robotic drones), but to me it works because it really draws you in and you don't worry about such things. The animation really only has one weak moment near the start where our character sprints and looks a bit like Woody from Toy Story but otherwise it is slick and convincing. The sound design is also very effective; the score gets the heart beating and makes it more exciting as good action scores should, but the sound effects are also very good – it is a short worth seeing with a good sound system or good set of headphones.
Of course it is limited in what it does because it is just a very good action sequence. The film has been picked up to see if they can develop it into a feature; we'll see what happens there but as it is the short film roots of Ruin are more than good enough to be worth a watch.
- bob the moo
- Apr 15, 2014