I've been waiting for a great Bond brickfilm for a long time. This one falls a bit short of that mark, but it's definitely one of the better ones I've seen.
The good: Solidly executed gunbarrel effect at the beginning, and the action and pacing of the first few minutes as Bond breaks in were well done. Everything the Bond franchise is known for is here: gunbarrel opening, credit sequence backed by silhouetted women, fights and killing, a disfigured villain, capture followed by an escape from a seemingly unescapable and almost comically excessive situation, and Bond's eventual triumph. (Nobody whine about my not using spoiler tags. I think you all would have figured that out without my help.) Techincal aspects all do the job nicely. And for something as simple as clay on construction paper, the illusion of a moving underwater object was startlingly convincing.
Needs work: Some common issues; set bumps, incongruous sound effects, etc. Footsteps, as with just about every brickfilm ever made, leave something to be desired, and a gunshot that were recorded outside from 100 m away was used for one in a small room. The end seemed rushed, tacked on merely to turn an action sequence into a complete story. But mainly, the film just didn't achieve the level of realism necessary to work as a dramatic film. The overuse of clay blood, physics issues common to many brickfilms (like the guy gets shot in the back yet falls backward), and the lack of some difficult-to-replicate yet important effects (the water surface; dust/debris from the grenade) were unfortunate reminders that I was watching plastic toys, which took away from the film's dramatic tone.
But overall, a nicely executed action flick. A few scattered sour grapes prevent this from being as awesome as it could have been, but you've got at least one very satisfied viewer. Quite a cool little film.
EDIT: Off topic, has zwan released his Bond film yet? And if so, can somebody give me a link?
Last edited by Noodle (April 22, 2009 (10:29pm))
With all due respect Noodle, I don't want you here. - Ratboy Productions