Although I don't watch BLACK MIRROR, as I'm no fan of Charlie Brooker, I had to check out the Netflix-produced BANDERSNATCH, a stand-alone movie. The reason? It's the first fully interactive "choose your own adventure" production, and I've been a fan of the genre - albeit in book format - since the 1980s with the likes of the FIGHTING FANTASY series et al.
This film starts off wonderfully, with an intriguing situation and a great bit of self-referencing in the '80s setting. I had a Spectrum myself, coincidentally enough, so I was lapping all this up. However, after about an hour of playing, things begin to lose their lustre. The viewer finds themself trapped in a loop, trying to figure out how to progress even a short way onwards, and the lack of a real story becomes apparent. The story flirts with interesting themes and concepts, and Will Poulter is typically fantastic, but in the end it feels more than a little repetitive and you just want it to finish, although it never really does.
This film starts off wonderfully, with an intriguing situation and a great bit of self-referencing in the '80s setting. I had a Spectrum myself, coincidentally enough, so I was lapping all this up. However, after about an hour of playing, things begin to lose their lustre. The viewer finds themself trapped in a loop, trying to figure out how to progress even a short way onwards, and the lack of a real story becomes apparent. The story flirts with interesting themes and concepts, and Will Poulter is typically fantastic, but in the end it feels more than a little repetitive and you just want it to finish, although it never really does.