A small-town video game store clerk must go from zero to hero after accidentally unleashing the forces of evil from a cursed Colecovision game.
There are many kinds of indie movies. There’s the slow burn melodrama (think Kenneth Lonergan’s work), the surreal arthouse (all your Uncle Boonmee’s), the stiff documentary (“Life Itself” or “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”), the horror-as-metaphor (pretty much anything Robert Eggers and Ari Aster), as well as the ultra-low-budget horror (anything by Charles Band’s Full Moon production company) or sci-fi serious-camp among many other types. These types, in one form or another, are familiar with audiences worldwide thanks in part to boutique distributors like A24, Annapurna, and Well Go USA. Some bring these to the theaters for mass consumption while others send their movies straight to VOD (where I hear, profit is more guaranteed). I find it funny that the A24 movies champion the concept of ‘indie films’ when in reality there is so much more. It’s easy to write off the ultra-low-budget work as campy or just gleeful chaos when it comes to the horror genre but ultra low budget sci-fi demonstrates many of the same instincts with much more passion and verve. Where the camp horror leans into its cheap budget effects and contrived plotlines (often in a winking fashion) camp sci-fi tends to love its source material almost too much. “Max Reload and the Nether Blasters” occupies the exact middle distance between passion and self-effacing, often reveling in its silliness but also taking its narrative beats seriously. This split makes me feel divided about this movie entirely. I love to see the passion behind films come to the forefront when it takes its subject matter seriously, no matter how silly or benign. I can also appreciate movies pointing to their low budget and cheap special effects as the true attractions for audiences. “Max Reload” wants to have its cake and eat it too in a way that makes me wish it had just picked a side.
Tom Plumley plays Max Jenkins, aka Max Reload. When a long-lost videogame crafted by a mythic gaming figure, Eugene Wylder, and his bitter partner Barton Grabowski, Max unwittingly unleashes a nefarious game upon the people of LA. As more people play it, the Harbinger, a villainous god of gamesmanship, grows more powerful enslaving all who play. It’s up to Max and his friends to stop the Harbinger by learning to work together. Meanwhile, they’re going to need help from the wunderkind himself Wylder (played by Greg Grunberg).
“Max Reload and the Nether Blasters” hits all the beats of your standard ’80s movie, but without near as much soul. Everyone in this movie’s cracking wise and making jokes about gaming culture or pop culture references, even weaving them into the dramatic pep talk marking the climax of the film. Plumley’s take on the ‘standard not-toxic male gamer’ fits squarely within the mold set before him and rarely, if ever, stands out. Truly everyone in this thing is playing their roles strictly down the line: Hassie Harrison, Joseph Reitman, Joey Morgan, et al, fill in the world as their prospective types. Harrison’s gamer girl-turned-crush kicks major ass but eventually settles as a love interest. Morgan’s chunky best friend feels just as dopey as someone from a National Lampoon flick. The only people of note are the ones given obscure and bizarre roles. Martin Kove and Lin Shaye play out of touch old people trying to be cool and failing utterly and clearly they are giving it their all (Shaye especially who lays cringey joke after cringey joke when we first meet her). The true hero of this film is played by Greg Grunberg.
Many might not know the name but a quick IMDb search will demonstrate he is everywhere. Often playing very serious roles on popular tv shows. I know him from his full show run on ABC’s “Heroes” and recently his tiniest role in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Grunberg is allowed to play with witty quips and heavy lines, but he always draws back on the meta-humor to pepper his more emotional beats. His wacky performance rebounds in so many directions that it’s hard to keep track of his character and he feels more like a narrative tool than anything else, but hey! At least he keeps it interesting.
The movie employs the kind of down-and-dirty filmmaking that marks it as an ultra-low budget. For example, plenty of dialogue scenes are shot in a hasty handheld maneuver. Normally it’s considered an aesthetic choice (and still is) but when production needs to rush through a dialogue-heavy scene in order to get to the lengthier effects shots, often filmmakers will just pick up the camera and start rolling. It saves setup time. Lighting only has to light once and then the camera team can just run around and film. It’s a telltale sign when something as simple as a standard dialogue scene feels rushed in execution and editing.
I don’t begrudge cheap effects, practical or digital or optical. Your budget is your budget. I applaud filmmakers who know they’re not getting the highest quality effects and just go with it anyways. Some don’t hide their low budgets and revel in the quality work they get. Others attempt to hide it by swinging the camera around quickly, disorienting the viewer. “Max Reload” isn’t afraid of its special effects and knowingly leans into them. What tips my appreciation for these effects is when a movie makes fun of itself or its effects. “Max Reload” doesn’t verbally comment on this and so feels assured in its presentation of the action part of this action-adventure.
“Max Reload” does vary things up with a myriad of different sequences. It employs 8-bit graphics as a transition: showing the little movie avatar traveling from one location to the next without incident. It transitions into a full YouTube documentary at one point to deliver backstory (much more interesting than Grunberg’s data dump later on in the film.) It even contains multiple videogame clips: some from a classic RPG series and others in the newest VR style gaming. “Max Reload” demonstrates its love for videogames by including a broad variety of sequences.
I tuned in and out of this movie too often to say it’s solid through and through. Much like other video game-related films/TV, it pokes too much fun at its cultural stereotypes (the nerd, the gamer girl, the disavowed ’80s coder, the out-of-touch grandma). The closest I can compare it to is Video Game High School except that Rocket Jump knew how to craft action scenes and “Max Reload” stifles itself without that knowledge. This movie might have worked more thoroughly had it been set entirely in the ’80s and forgone a lot of its meta-humor. As it stands, it wants to have its cake and eat it too, which just doesn’t work for this thing. Go watch it if you have nothing better to do, but I wouldn’t put this on my VOD list.
Fun fact: this is actually the first movie I’ve seen involving Kevin Smith and I can see why people enjoy him. I also think that letting him just riff for seven minutes straight is a bit more time than I need with him.
In Select Theaters Friday, August 7th and on VOD August 11th
