Movie Review: We are the Strange

Yes, I've turned critic.
Someone once said, that critics are the shadows of failed poets, artists and writers, who take unholy pleasure in belittling the deserving works of those they secretly envy.

Ok maybe I said that. But its based on something some smart dude said.

Anyways I just watched a stop motion/ 3D action feature called We are the Strange.

This one’s a lil’ slippery so bear with me.

We are the Strange is created and produced by an independent studio called M.Strange.
The story is set inside some kind of techno city, indeed the entire story is told like a retro anime game using a combination of 3D and computer generated environments with stop-motion characters.

It revolves around Blue, a stripper who just got thrown out of her strip joint for a rather odd medical condition.
Anytime she speaks, smiles, or shows any kind of emotion, her skin turns scaly and pixilated.

With nowhere to go she wanders into the Forbidden Forest, where she meets eMMM, a battered poorly stitched and completely mismatched plastic doll (no, not THAT kind of plastic doll).

eMMM just wants ice-cream.

Together, they embark on a quest for ice-cream which takes them into the heart of the city.

But dark things stalk the city, and before long Blue and eMMM find themselves at the mercy of monsters straight out of a Standard 3 kids Play-Doh set.
The rest of the story revolves around eMMM finding a lil more than ice-cream, Blue discovering her inner popsicle (you gotta watch it to find out), and of course, the unveiling of the super-villain (package includes Hero-Villain showdown).

The story itself is formulaic, suffers from severe pacing problems (minutes long slow motion running scenes are the least of its problems), and the character development is almost juvenile.

This show does, however, have fantastic, surreal and mind-bending gothic visuals. In fact, they probably stitched the pretty visuals together to make a story.

The stop-motion direction is nothing to shout about. The CD cover boasts that the show is Monsters Inc. meets A Nightmare before Christmas in a retro Japanese videogame, but the stop motion comes nowhere close to Nightmare. Some of the motion is intentionally kept simple and even ridiculous to keep with the retro anime feel, but this simply hampers the telling of the story. And it can get annoying. A light touch would have made a world of difference.

The music will only appeal to hardcore electronica and techno fans. Or if you just popped some E’s and have nothin’ else to headbang to.

All in all this show’s a novelty. But the novelty wears out pretty fast. There isn’t enough to keep the viewer interested in the story.

1 out of 5.