Aktion Mutante (1993)

Aktion Mutante: Directed by Álex de la Iglesia. With Antonio Resines, Álex Angulo, Frédérique Feder, Juan Viadas. In a future ruled by attractive people, mutant terrorists kidnap a rich man’s daughter to claim rights for the ugly. Escaping police, the mutant leader crashes into a planet of crazy miners where no women live.

“Accion Mutante is the debut feature from cult director Álex de la Iglesia. It incorporates the absurd comedy with violence template that he seems to have followed throughout the rest of his career. Also like others in his filmography such as The Last Circus and Witching and Bitching, this one starts out really well but loses a bit of steam in the final third. Itu0026#39;s set in the future, where a terrorist group called Accion Mutante take violent action against rich hipsters and the superficially beautiful; their latest scheme sees them kidnap a society girl resulting in them being pursued to another planet by her mogul father who is bent on serious revenge.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis one has a pretty modest budget so it has to be cut some slack. Nevertheless, it makes good use of its resources at times. In particular an early high society party scene was nicely done; it was colourful and garish in a way that showed the definite influence of Pedro Almodovar who actually was a producer here. This scene along with the earlier more directly satirical ones that showed news reports on the terrorists activities were the most successful and focused parts of the film. After this opening things become more run-of-the-mill and the black comedy becomes less pointed. Ultimately, Accion Mutante is one of those movies which probably isnu0026#39;t as good as you think itu0026#39;s going to be given the potential of the central idea. Itu0026#39;s still fun though. Of additional note is an amusing rap-rock theme song that plays in the credits.”