''Mutant Chronicles'' is a 2008 British-American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action-horror film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

, loosely based on the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

of the same name. The film was directed by Simon Hunter, and stars

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Deep Blue Sea (1999 film), Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), ''The Punisher ...

and

Ron Perlman Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–199 ...

. It was released throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 2008, followed by a North American VOD on March 27, 2009, and a theatrical release for selected cities on April 24, 2009. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on August 4, 2009.

Plot

The story is set in the year

2707 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...

. The world is loosely based on that of the ''Mutant Chronicles'' role-playing game, in which many technologies are

steam powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

and mankind has exhausted Earth's

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

s. The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s must battle against mutated humans that were accidentally unleashed. The plot revolves around a "machine" which came from space 10,000 years ago. The "machine" mutates people into barely intelligent killing drones, known as "mutants", that drag new victims to the machine for conversion. Sealed away thousands of years ago by human tribes, the machine is accidentally uncovered during a large battle in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

between two (Capitol and Bauhaus) of the four corporations that now rule the world (the other two being Mishima and Imperial). Within six weeks the world is almost completely overrun by the mutant gangs. Some of the population has been evacuated to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

, but millions remain on the doomed Earth. A group of soldiers are assembled to take another ancient device to the heart of the machine in an attempt to destroy it in a

suicide mission A suicide mission is a task which is so dangerous for the people involved that they are not expected to survive. The term is sometimes extended to include suicide attacks such as kamikaze and suicide bombings, whose perpetrators actively commit s ...

. In return, their loved ones receive coveted tickets to Mars. En route their spaceship is shot down by a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

airship piloted by a mutant. The group is forced to battle through the mutants in tunnels to reach the machine, hoping to save the last of humanity. In their attempt to reach the machine most die, with Mitch being partially transformed into a mutant and Brother Samuel being fully transformed. Mitch is able to halt his own transformation, but is forced to kill Brother Samuel. Mitch, being the last survivor, is ultimately successful in activating the ancient device, causing the machine (which was actually part of a spacecraft) not to be destroyed but to blast off into space. A dying and mutated Samuel tells him to "have faith" as Mitch jumps from the slowly ascending rocket, landing in an underground lake beneath the rocket. Crawling onto land he sees the rocket disappear into the sky, realizing he is the prophesied savior of mankind, despite not believing in a god. Grievously wounded and partially mutated, he unsuccessfully attempts to light a final crooked cigarette. The final plan shows the rocket en route to the red planet.

Cast

as Sergeant John Mitchell "Mitch" Hunter *

as Brother Samuel *

Devon Aoki Devon Edwenna Aoki (born August 10, 1982) is an actress and fashion model. Aoki's film roles include supporting roles in '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003) and ''Sin City'' (2005) and lead roles in '' DOA: Dead or Alive'' (2006) and ''Mutant Chronicle ...

as Corporal Valerie Chinois Duval *

Benno Fürmann Benjamin "Benno" Fürmann (; born 17 January 1972) is a German film and television actor. He is known for his lead role in the 2008 film ''The North Face'', where he plays Toni Kurz based on the 1936 Eiger climbing disaster in Switzerland. Li ...

as Lieutenant Maximillian Emile Von Steiner *

Sean Pertwee Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions. He is known ...

as Nathan Rooker *

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

as Constantine *

Anna Walton Anna Walton (born 18 December 1980) is an English actress known for her roles in '' Vampire Diary'', ''Mutant Chronicles'', and the compassionate Princess Nuala in '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army''. Walton began working as a model while still a ...

as Severian * Luis Echegaray as Corporal Jesus "El Jesus" de Barrera * Shauna Macdonald as Adelaide *

Tom Wu Tom Wu (born 15 May 1972) is a Hong Kong-born British actor who grew up in Chinatown, London. He is a martial arts expert who has appeared in films such as ''Revolver'', ''Shanghai Knights'', '' Batman Begins'' and the Bollywood film '' Ra.One'' ...

as Corporal Juba Kim Wu *

Steve Toussaint Steve Toussaint (born 22 March 1965) is a British actor and writer. He first gained prominence through his role in the ITV crime drama ''The Knock'' (1994–2000). As of 2022, he plays Corlys Velaryon in the HBO fantasy series ''House of the D ...

as Captain John Patrick McGuire *

Roger Ashton-Griffiths Roger Ashton-Griffiths (born 19 January 1957) is an English character actor, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his role as Mace Tyrell in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Life and career Born in Hertfordshire, As ...

as Science Monk *

Curtis Walker Curtis Walker is a British actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He starred in BBC comedy shows ''Paramount City'', CBBC sitcom ''Kerching!'', ''The Real McCoy "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking wo ...

as "Bigboy"

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 18% based on , with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 3.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Bad acting, poor CGI and clunky script mean this sci-fi thriller is lacking in all departments including the thrills."

References

External links

* * * *

Dinamo Productions - visual effects]
Mutant Chronicles screening

Mutant Chronicles Teaser Trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutant Chronicles, The 2000s monster movies 2000s action horror films 2000s science fiction action films 2000s science fiction horror films 2008 films American monster movies American science fiction action films American science fiction horror films American post-apocalyptic films American splatter films British splatter films British monster movies British science fiction action films British science fiction horror films Films based on role-playing games Films set in the 28th century British post-apocalyptic films Steampunk films Works based on role-playing games 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films