I know this is a post on Uncharted 4, but I feel like I should start off by mentioning Who Killed Captain Alex.
I saw it basically under the same circumstances
that introduced
me to Dinosaur Island -- i.e.
“celebrating” the holidays with bad movie night. But even though I went in expecting the
worst, I found myself getting into the movie.
The
story behind it is bizarre,
to say the least, and that’s before you get into the actual movie -- which to
put it simply is a Ugandan kung fu murder mystery. Despite that (and the utterly absurd “dub”),
I couldn’t help but grasp characters, motivations, and themes. It was as much about “mortal combat” as it
was about understanding the impact of the late captain, and what it meant to
exact revenge for him and those
closest to him. Coupled with the sincere
effort and energy infused into the film, it’s hard not to feel a sense of
admiration.
Even if Who
Killed Captain Alex is held together by pocket change, used floss, and a
whole lot of hope, it still manages to impart something on an audience. No matter how deep of a read you make,
there’s still something to enjoy -- something to respect despite (or maybe
because of) the pitiful visuals. So
while it is technically a bad movie,
it doesn’t quite come across as one.
Why? Because it’s proof that it
doesn’t take much to win people over. It
doesn’t take much to win me over,
even if my posts have suggested otherwise over the years. Good stories come in many forms, regardless
of the money or resources poured into it.
Still, that’s the immutable end goal: to tell a good story with the
means available to you.
So here we are with A Thief’s End. And disagree
if you will, but I’m convinced that it either has a terrible story, or one so baffling that even now I have
yet to grasp it. And this is coming from
someone who could grasp Who Killed
Captain Alex.
