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10 Awful Matrix “Bullet Time” Spoofs

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago
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When I first saw the trailer for Wanted, I figured it was just another Matrix ripoff. And I’m sure there are many other people who thought the same thing. Of course, some Matrix ripoffs aren’t bad — I absolutely love Kurt Wimmer’s Equilibrium, for example — but most are. Even worse, though, are the parodies of the Matrix’s “bullet time” sequences. Do we really need to see another movie character bend over backwards to avoid a bullet (or milk)? Or another movie character suspended in motion while the camera tracks around him or her?

It’s no wonder that until yesterday, I had pretty much dismissed Wanted, because of that Matrix-like bullet time sequence in which Morgan Freeman shoots around a slab of meat to hit an unseen target. Yet as of yesterday, the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes rating was 100% (Anthony Lane’s New Yorker review, posted today, is the first “rotten” one, taking it down to 92%). Now I’m more intrigued. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that that bullet time sequence is there, reminding me of the worst that The Matrix has inspired in the past decade. To remind you, too, I’ve compiled a bunch of clips that should provide you with similar doubt.

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Russians Like Spoof Movies Too

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 1 year ago
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Remember the Cold War, when we were led to believe that Americans and Russians are so different from each other? Turns out that all that time we could have just made peace in a movie theater, watching spoofs like The Naked Gun and Airplane! together. Well, I guess the Russians could have only grown to love these kinds of comedies in the last 16 years, since the fall of the Soviet Union. But in any event, this trailer for the new film Hitler Kaput! shows that senses of humor are currently equal on both hemispheres. Even if our own latest parody, Superhero Movie, performed rather poorly at the box office over the weekend.

Presently, there are no plans for Hitler Kaput! to be distributed in the U.S. (it opens in Russia on April 10), but were it not for the language barrier, it would easily be popular here. Seeming like a cross between the classic Zucker Bros. spy movie parody Top Secret! and any post-Scary Movie spoof film, it looks just dumb enough to appeal to the masses. Perhaps it could sell as a cult-ready DVD release if the dialogue is dubbed instead of subtitled. Actually, considering the fact that we can tell what is going on in the trailer, despite it being in Russian, we probably don’t need dubbing or subtitles. Visual gags like the silly dancing Hitler, the photo of Sean Connery, the swastika eye patch and plenty of slapstick bits make the movie exportable just the way it is.

[via Fark.com]