Mutant Chronicles movie, viewed as a active roleplayer

 Let's talk about the Mutant Chronicles movie

Action movie: The Mutant Chronicles, on DVD

Recently, I watched the Mutant Chronicles movie on dvd. It took me a while to watch it... uhm, for weeks. Finally I managed to watch it thru. And surprise surprise, I remember at the end of the movie, that I've watched it yeeeeears ago as a digi movie via internet-video-player service.. and well, I liked it now more than back then... tho, I'm not really impressed on anything on the movie. Anything besides, how dull and what kind of bulk product they have managed to make of the Mutant Chronicles franchise. I mean, with the Mutant Chronicles, You have the world, the history, the background, many dupious characters, whole lotta weird and oddball machines and weapons, etc... Gotta say honestly, that it looked occasionally, very amazing indeed.

The steampowered warmachine on action

Gotta say this in all my honesty, the movie felt like watching a Warhammer 40K thingy but with a minor changes. Or the title of the movie, could have been almost any name of the known sci-fi video shooter. If it's the idea of producers to reach wider audiences, I kinda get it. But it is to the fans of the Mutant chronicles rpg and miniature gaming, and the fans of the Mutant Chronicles computer franchise, this is just dull and stupid. O tempora, O mores.

But that's all movie critique stuff and I think that we all can agree that the movie is not a great work of art but it's not bad either. It is just mild and lacks originality and it sucks on using the divine pool of great stories that the Mutant Chronicles has to offer. So, after saying this all, I shall move on the real subject on the hands: what the movie has to offer for a game moderator or a player in roleplaying-wise.

- What?  -Your fishes.

First of all, it proves well how characters with very thin background stories and very draftish n vague personality, can be very effective in the story. So, the characters to work (story-wise), doesn't have to have elaborate and detailed personalities, novel-thick backgrounds and so on. You need a good functioning main idea, maybe a little side-plot, few minor details and there it is: fully working hero to use as a primus motor in the story. Or a motivator for the other (main)characters or the non-player-characters (storytellingwise: side characters).

"Each of those (fishes) represent a kill"

The movie also shows perfectly that You can create drama and havoc with small details, with simple scenes, and with simple conversations. The movie is full of powerful oneliners that provide (for a viewer) a lot character building, tension, and even subplots thru the movie. I personally like a lot of the brief discussion between few characters, when they ask simple questions from each other. Along the conversation, we learn (as a viewers) that one person has sharks (first viewed simply as fishes) tattood as a sleeve. Every shark represents a kill. That really tells a story in itself and reveals that the certain character is a trained killing machine, but also being sentimental about it. And when the conversation goes on, we shall know that the group feels, knows, and says it out a loud, that they are on a suicide mission that propably will end on them all being killed.

"Suicidemission. We all are going to die"

And we can also see how simple scenes can lead us to a epic chronicle. We can learn from the movie that how mundane and simple motivations can lead the characters to make their desicions, in both: small scale and in gargantually epic scale. We can also learn how small problems handling the pandemic and epidemic situations can lead to very large scale problems. And while we are at seeing all the things mentioned above, we can see many small and bigger tricks of both dividing the gorup and keeping the group together. And also how people can act both as individuals and part of the group. Also we can see and learn how effective even smallest emotions are to motivate the characters.

The movie also contains simple but effective ways to lead the different characters together and to make total strangers to act as a fully functional group. Movie let's us see how even the most mundane and dullest and unimaginary plot twists and turns on the story may work well with the story going on and leading us to unexpected turns.

I am sharing all this with You to make a point. And the point is, You really don't have to invent very original ideas to make the story fully working, and to entertain people. And if it functions in the action movie, it may as well work in your gaming table.

Gotta admit that, in my experience, even the dullest and unimaginery plot twists from my favourite flicks (or the most hated films), have turned out to be very well-preciated on the gaming table. That just proves my point, You really need few ideas and then You have a story. Often changing the plot form the sci-fi movie to the realm of the modern society, makes the idea more than functional. Movies borrow elements from other movies, so as a game moderator, You really don't need tp invent the wheel again. You can take even the clumsiest plots and scenes from eg. Mutant Chronicles and make them shine with your players in your own gaming table! HAVE FUN in your sessions, wishes Krisse Tuominen, roleplayer starting from the time I still was in my mommy's tummy, game moderator since 1986-1988, published (mini)game designer, and roleplaying-game entusiastic... Plus a devoted sci-fi movie fan.