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★★★★
Directed by: Newmantron
Written by: #Newmantron
Starring: #AimeeCullen, #SteveBrownlie, #ChrisRyman, #IsabellaStevensonOlds, #SamChapman, #AlecChristie, #TonyMacMurray
Comedy pastiche Alien Hunter Nerf War from filmmaker Newmantron (his birth name) delivers a cacophonous yet engaging sci-fi movie for audiences who like their monsters terminated with foam-based weaponry.
Aimee Cullen plays Deathwish Smith, a rookie Alien Hunter whose wet-behind-the-ears career may just be about to get a jump start when she and her colleague discover Massive Ninja (Tony MacMurray), not a plural for a swarm of assassins but an actual character...called Massive Ninja. With the help of her fellow Alien Hunters, whose names include Platinum Drugs, Modem, Recoil and Wolfenstein, our heroine must rise to the challenge of defeating these violent (and quick stepping) alien scum.
You're probably already calculating the tone of this #shortfilm and you are most likely on the right track. Newmantron gives no quarter to sensible storytelling and opts for a full guns blazing action epic that is as unrelenting as it is farcical. From the never ending synth score to the quickfire dialogue, audiences will be bombarded with cheap thrills and melodramatic kills.
As with any cinematic offering, there is always enjoyment to be found if you are the target audience and if you approach the movie with some degree of realistic expectation. This is a fun, wacky, and silly send up of the action and #scifi genre. Spoofing classic movies and genres is something even the best filmmakers do (see #MelBrooks or #EdgarWright) and with Alien Hunter Nerf War, the filmmakers show throughout that they know what they are doing.
That isn't to say this film is without its flaws. The acting is a mixed bag, although shout out to Alec Christie for his phenomenal portrayal of Snyder. A turn laced with villainy, kind of like a panto menace (get it?). It would also have been nice to drop and build the tension more. As the score runs throughout the piece, the viewer is never allowed to contemplate. And whilst that may have been a good thing considering the content of the movie, it did seem to rob certain scenes of their dramatic potency.
Stylish and barmy, Newmantron slots together a thrilling blaster movie with a video-game pacing and wonderfully foolish characterisation that is, at the very least, the best science fiction movie where the baddies are destroyed with Nerf guns and the heroes have funny names that you will likely see this year.
Watch the official movie trailer below.
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