Was really intrigued by the premise, and while there were some charmingly low budget special effects that worked well with the sets and overall aesthetics, and a couple of funny moments, everything else was a bit annoying, for lack of a better word.
Even on the topic of humour that worked for me, there was a weirdly unexpected Raging Bull reference that got me, but when it's reincorporated at the end, it just felt forced. You never get a feel for the characters and even how they really know each other, so any humour that comes from their interactions always feels strange and contextless.
The characters just aren't interesting or very likeable, and the acting was pretty weak. The acting is just so "indie movie", if that makes sense- like they're trying but not quite getting there. It's this strange almost self-awareness but not quite that makes things insufferable in parts, and it's not just the acting that has that problem.
The music also screams "cheap indie film soundtrack" in a way that's hard to put into words, but I just felt it, and found it also a bit annoying.
I don't know- it feels mean picking on this to some extent, especially because there are a couple of things here and there that work, but it never establishes its characters very well and never settles on a tone or mood, or any kind of consistent "feel." It's not self aware enough, it's not funny enough, it's not well-acted enough... but the premise is interesting and many of the technical aspects have charm.
I know indies don't often get remade, but this one deserves a remake. Get Dan Harmon on it, I dunno- this just felt like one of those fantastical Abed-central Community episode stretched to feature length and not good.
Even on the topic of humour that worked for me, there was a weirdly unexpected Raging Bull reference that got me, but when it's reincorporated at the end, it just felt forced. You never get a feel for the characters and even how they really know each other, so any humour that comes from their interactions always feels strange and contextless.
The characters just aren't interesting or very likeable, and the acting was pretty weak. The acting is just so "indie movie", if that makes sense- like they're trying but not quite getting there. It's this strange almost self-awareness but not quite that makes things insufferable in parts, and it's not just the acting that has that problem.
The music also screams "cheap indie film soundtrack" in a way that's hard to put into words, but I just felt it, and found it also a bit annoying.
I don't know- it feels mean picking on this to some extent, especially because there are a couple of things here and there that work, but it never establishes its characters very well and never settles on a tone or mood, or any kind of consistent "feel." It's not self aware enough, it's not funny enough, it's not well-acted enough... but the premise is interesting and many of the technical aspects have charm.
I know indies don't often get remade, but this one deserves a remake. Get Dan Harmon on it, I dunno- this just felt like one of those fantastical Abed-central Community episode stretched to feature length and not good.