There are things I expected before seeing this movie (it has been released in theatres where I live)..
I expected it to suck.... Obscure Marvel Character+Obscure Release+Obscure Names in the credits... plus, I hadn't heard a word about this project... somehow it all reeked of low budget stench.
But being a Marvel fan, and having painfully endured the likes of 'Daredevil','Blade III' and 'Fantastic Four', I wondered, hell how could it be worse than any of them??
Well, from time to time I take masochistic pleasure watching some bad films and ripping them to shreds while having some good laughs. But the least you can ask from a bad movie, is to at least attempt to be entertaining and unintentionally funny.
Man-Thing is, (aside from completely incompetent in the production, acting and story departments), dreadfully slow-paced and boring.
Almost 3/4 of the movie are filled with moronic one-dimensional characters (and no monster) that seem to belong in a bad Hanna-Barbera episode. Particularly all 'villains' involved: -The Oil Tycoon (laughably exaggerated histrionics) and his dim-witted son...at one point father and son share one of those cartoony evil laughs 'Mwahahah!!' while throwing their heads back. -The dumb, ugly, nasty dirty brothers that serve as a pathetic and extremely puerile comic relief. One of them goes to crap in the swamp and falls on his behind. Who-ho! that's funny!
There are some more completely moronic characters: -The new Sheriff, who for some reason, can only do his work and search for answers during the night. Sure thing, patrolling a swamp at nighttime is a great idea. He does so continually. -the Indian Shaman whom we are supposed to respect, but comes across as a complete and useless fool. -The Bigfoot journalist. Duh!
And then, of course, during the last 10 minutes or so of movie, the MAN-THINGY itself!!! They attempted a Predator-like vision effect but it comes across as a silly 'Benny Hill' paced vision, in which all moves by comically fast, with a sepia filter. I almost expected your typical Charles Chaplin piano music whenever we were seeing through the monster's eyes.
The CGI is, well, ambitious for a direct-to-video release, but crappy nonetheless. But worse than the CGI is the extremely fake and stiff cardboard monster used for the close or out-of-focus shots. Sure, if we're going to cover it in slime and muck, who cares anyway?
The monster has no relation at all with the comic Man-Thing by the way, it looks more like an aborted floral arrangement made out of a tree and Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce.
The way the monster leaves at the end of the movie probably involves the worst CGI ever, it almost looks like Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion monsters on a bad day.
Who knows, maybe instead of releasing this film on videos, DVD's or theatres, they could try to release it in slides. There, it could have a future.
I expected it to suck.... Obscure Marvel Character+Obscure Release+Obscure Names in the credits... plus, I hadn't heard a word about this project... somehow it all reeked of low budget stench.
But being a Marvel fan, and having painfully endured the likes of 'Daredevil','Blade III' and 'Fantastic Four', I wondered, hell how could it be worse than any of them??
Well, from time to time I take masochistic pleasure watching some bad films and ripping them to shreds while having some good laughs. But the least you can ask from a bad movie, is to at least attempt to be entertaining and unintentionally funny.
Man-Thing is, (aside from completely incompetent in the production, acting and story departments), dreadfully slow-paced and boring.
Almost 3/4 of the movie are filled with moronic one-dimensional characters (and no monster) that seem to belong in a bad Hanna-Barbera episode. Particularly all 'villains' involved: -The Oil Tycoon (laughably exaggerated histrionics) and his dim-witted son...at one point father and son share one of those cartoony evil laughs 'Mwahahah!!' while throwing their heads back. -The dumb, ugly, nasty dirty brothers that serve as a pathetic and extremely puerile comic relief. One of them goes to crap in the swamp and falls on his behind. Who-ho! that's funny!
There are some more completely moronic characters: -The new Sheriff, who for some reason, can only do his work and search for answers during the night. Sure thing, patrolling a swamp at nighttime is a great idea. He does so continually. -the Indian Shaman whom we are supposed to respect, but comes across as a complete and useless fool. -The Bigfoot journalist. Duh!
And then, of course, during the last 10 minutes or so of movie, the MAN-THINGY itself!!! They attempted a Predator-like vision effect but it comes across as a silly 'Benny Hill' paced vision, in which all moves by comically fast, with a sepia filter. I almost expected your typical Charles Chaplin piano music whenever we were seeing through the monster's eyes.
The CGI is, well, ambitious for a direct-to-video release, but crappy nonetheless. But worse than the CGI is the extremely fake and stiff cardboard monster used for the close or out-of-focus shots. Sure, if we're going to cover it in slime and muck, who cares anyway?
The monster has no relation at all with the comic Man-Thing by the way, it looks more like an aborted floral arrangement made out of a tree and Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce.
The way the monster leaves at the end of the movie probably involves the worst CGI ever, it almost looks like Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion monsters on a bad day.
Who knows, maybe instead of releasing this film on videos, DVD's or theatres, they could try to release it in slides. There, it could have a future.