Director:
David Donihue
Studio/Production Company:
Choose Interactive
Genre:
Experimental
Length:
Short
Website:
http://www.theweatheredunderground.com
Score:
1.5/5
Remember those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from when you were a kid? "The Weathered Underground" is an attempt to bring that concept to the screen (something that the "Choose Your Own Adventure" franchise has, incidentally, already done). The audience "becomes" the main character, a disillusioned, urbanite twenty-something named Eric. The film pauses at different points so that you can make a decision for Eric, and by clicking one of the two or three choices on-screen you are led down a unique path that leads to more decisions. So there are many courses that this film can take, and it's all up to you, the viewer.
In concept, this film is intriguing. In execution, unfortunately, it is disappointing.
Every film needs a character that the audience can sympathize with, and Eric ultimately fails to fill that role. He is brash, existential and cynical, all while carrying around a holier-than-thou attitude that includes contempt for everything and everyone, including the audience.
The imagery in this film is very artificial and strange. In places it reminds me of the cut-and-paste style employed in earlier seasons of South Park, only here they use pictures instead of construction paper. In other places it's like an acid trip gone bad.
I think the biggest issue with this attempt at a new type of film is the lack of any kind of an artistic message that results from a vacuum where the story should be. With dozens of different paths the narrative can take, there really is no path. And this eliminates any intrinsic moral value that the film may otherwise possess.
It takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to make your way to one of the endings. At first I thought I would try to watch all of the possible versions of this film, but after five or six tries I didn't really see any reason to continue.
David Donihue
Studio/Production Company:
Choose Interactive
Genre:
Experimental
Length:
Short
Website:
http://www.theweatheredunderground.com
Score:
1.5/5
Remember those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from when you were a kid? "The Weathered Underground" is an attempt to bring that concept to the screen (something that the "Choose Your Own Adventure" franchise has, incidentally, already done). The audience "becomes" the main character, a disillusioned, urbanite twenty-something named Eric. The film pauses at different points so that you can make a decision for Eric, and by clicking one of the two or three choices on-screen you are led down a unique path that leads to more decisions. So there are many courses that this film can take, and it's all up to you, the viewer.
In concept, this film is intriguing. In execution, unfortunately, it is disappointing.
Every film needs a character that the audience can sympathize with, and Eric ultimately fails to fill that role. He is brash, existential and cynical, all while carrying around a holier-than-thou attitude that includes contempt for everything and everyone, including the audience.
The imagery in this film is very artificial and strange. In places it reminds me of the cut-and-paste style employed in earlier seasons of South Park, only here they use pictures instead of construction paper. In other places it's like an acid trip gone bad.
I think the biggest issue with this attempt at a new type of film is the lack of any kind of an artistic message that results from a vacuum where the story should be. With dozens of different paths the narrative can take, there really is no path. And this eliminates any intrinsic moral value that the film may otherwise possess.
It takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to make your way to one of the endings. At first I thought I would try to watch all of the possible versions of this film, but after five or six tries I didn't really see any reason to continue.
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