← Back to Reviews
in
Mardock Scramble:
The First Compression
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
Final Verdict: [Meh...]
Mardock Scramble:
The First Compression
Sci-Fi Action Drama / 2010
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
Mardock Scramble is pretty easy on the eyes and it's a refreshing shift from the Patlabor school of sci-fi, but unfortunately it's attempts at a deep and provoking narrative fall a bit flat.
It sets up Main Girl who after a history of being sexually molested by her father which triggers her brother to kill her father, all of which she blames herself for, she accepts help from a serial killer who decides to use her to his satisfaction before suffocating her in a car, BLOWING HER UP, and using her ashes to make a ring for himself.
This is the set-up for her resurrection and it's a pretty heady mess. It's way too extreme right off the bat for me relate with this character who has no depth to her and her resurrection into an artificial body with durable skin, super reflexes, and an inability to speak normally do... pitifully little to help me relate to her, and when her best friend turns out to be artificial transforming gold mouse named "Œufcoque"... yeah, it's kinda hard to penetrate this relationship.
The backbone here is that the two characters are so alien in the world that it's difficult to find their place in and they bond over their shared isolation, I was reading a book not long ago not unlike this called The Golem and the Djinni, thing is, The Golem and the Djinni sets both characters up with valuable inner monologues and distinct personalities. While Œufcoque (or "Offcock" as seems to be pronounced) feels as stock as can be, Main Girl seems to be in a struggle to develop a personality at all. Now, I can understand that from a narrative standpoint, she is a relative new "person", and frankly I found her most likable (or perhaps only likable) when goes totally sadistic on her... rapists... (did he ever actually rape her?) associates...? Whatever, they're all out to exploit her for their own pleasure, so she gets a kick out of ripping them apart, I can dig that.
These villains though, good GOD they came out of the woodwork.
The movie just seems to be a relatively flat drama and then OUT OF NOWHERE we got this line-up of bad guys who are buddies with the prosecution (by the way, what in the hell is with this whole court subplot anyway? The impetus for it occurs entirely offscreen, I don't get it.).
First we got "Medium the Fingernail" who collects fingers,
"Rare the Hair" who collects scalps,
"Mincemeat the Wink" who's seeded their body with eyeballs,
"Flesh the Pike" who's grafted breasts all over his chest,
and finally, "Welldone the Pussyhand" and it's EXACTLY what you think it is.
It sets up Main Girl who after a history of being sexually molested by her father which triggers her brother to kill her father, all of which she blames herself for, she accepts help from a serial killer who decides to use her to his satisfaction before suffocating her in a car, BLOWING HER UP, and using her ashes to make a ring for himself.
This is the set-up for her resurrection and it's a pretty heady mess. It's way too extreme right off the bat for me relate with this character who has no depth to her and her resurrection into an artificial body with durable skin, super reflexes, and an inability to speak normally do... pitifully little to help me relate to her, and when her best friend turns out to be artificial transforming gold mouse named "Œufcoque"... yeah, it's kinda hard to penetrate this relationship.
The backbone here is that the two characters are so alien in the world that it's difficult to find their place in and they bond over their shared isolation, I was reading a book not long ago not unlike this called The Golem and the Djinni, thing is, The Golem and the Djinni sets both characters up with valuable inner monologues and distinct personalities. While Œufcoque (or "Offcock" as seems to be pronounced) feels as stock as can be, Main Girl seems to be in a struggle to develop a personality at all. Now, I can understand that from a narrative standpoint, she is a relative new "person", and frankly I found her most likable (or perhaps only likable) when goes totally sadistic on her... rapists... (did he ever actually rape her?) associates...? Whatever, they're all out to exploit her for their own pleasure, so she gets a kick out of ripping them apart, I can dig that.
These villains though, good GOD they came out of the woodwork.
The movie just seems to be a relatively flat drama and then OUT OF NOWHERE we got this line-up of bad guys who are buddies with the prosecution (by the way, what in the hell is with this whole court subplot anyway? The impetus for it occurs entirely offscreen, I don't get it.).
First we got "Medium the Fingernail" who collects fingers,
"Rare the Hair" who collects scalps,
"Mincemeat the Wink" who's seeded their body with eyeballs,
"Flesh the Pike" who's grafted breasts all over his chest,
and finally, "Welldone the Pussyhand" and it's EXACTLY what you think it is.