Secret Level, on Prime Video

"Live, die, repeat” was the tagline and Macguffin of Edge of Tomorrow, but it is just how things work in video games. Some of these animated short films cleverly incorporate that aspect of gameplay. Each original constituent film is set within the world of a popular game (including massively multiplayer online RPGs), but maybe not too popular, since their rights were still available. As is usually the case for anthologies, the results vary considerably in creator Tim Miller’s 15-part Secret Level, which premieres tomorrow on Prime Video.

There is a lot of CGI, featuring human depictions that try and most often fail to traverse the uncanny valley. As a result, some of the less “realistic” looking films stand out more. The opener, “Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle” is a perfect example of the CGI look that will quickly grow repetitive. However, the story written by Brooke Bolander certainly delivers on its promise of dragons. It is also one of the more successful at character establishment. However, the cliffhanger-style ending feels like a bit of a cheat (which too, will be a recurring response throughout Secret Level).

The next two constituent films are also two of the best. “Sifu: It Takes a Life,” directed by Laszlo Ruska with a story credited to Rich Larson is a mystical martial arts beatdown, in which our hero takes on a brutal gang to avenge his grandfather, even if it kills him, repeatedly, just so long as he still has one of his lives signified by a string of gold coins left after the carnage.

“New World: The Once and Future King,” written by JT Petty & Philip (The Spine of Night) Gelatt, is by far the funniest, thanks to voiceover work of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gamely satirizes his own action image while providing the voice of the hapless King Aelstrom. The entitled idiot intended to conquer the kingdom of Aeternum, but since the land there bestows eternal life, it creates a meritocracy among residents, leaving him ill-equipped maintain the status he expects by birthright.

“Unreal Tournament: Xan” looks very much like many other Secret Level mini-sodes. The hook here is that it openly invites viewers to root for the “rise of the machines” and against humanity when the evil Gamemaster (voiced by Elodie Yung) condemns a group of rebellious androids to a series of gladiatorial games against humans. Doesn’t that just sound like a really bad idea?

The lowest point probably comes in “Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear,” in which a group of space-faring marines are dispatched on a mission that is almost impossible to follow, because the animation is so confusing.

If you are expecting anything like the old Saturday morning cartoon from Victor (Nocturna) Maldonado & Alfredo Torres’ “PAC-MAN: Circle,” you will be shocked. In this case, it an extremely dark allegorical take on the classic arcade game. The ambition here is impressive, but your nostalgia will be dashed to smithereens, so temper your expectations.

Damian (Another Day of Life) Nenow’s “Crossfire: Good Conflict” is a refreshing change of pace, partly because it is the only short that does not incorporate any science fiction or fantastical elements. It also tells a fully self-contained and satisfying story, while maintaining a high degree of ambiguity regarding the why’s of everything. There is also a whole heck of a lot of shooting.

“Armored Core: Asset Management,” based on a Peter Watts story, also feels very similar to the “Unreal Tournament” and “Warhammer 40,000” episodes, but it is easier to follow and features stronger characters. It has the benefit of Keanu Reeves as a broken down mecha pilot who still thinks he has the right stuff. The mecha-action is very video game-like, but that hardly counts as a criticism for a series like this. Wisely, the animators also deliberately modeled the pilots features on Reeve’s, which should please his fans.

Another Day of Life, from GKIDS

In 1981, Ryszard Kapuscinski was fired for supporting Solidarity, but back in 1975, as a journalist in good standing from a Soviet satellite state, he was granted rock star access by the Marxist MPLA during the Angolan Civil War. He duly took their side, as is clearly depicted in Raul de la Fuente & Damian Nenow’s Another Day of Life, which opens this Friday in New York.

Unfortunately, Kapuscinski is no longer with us. If he were, he might have a few choice words to say about Rafael Marques de Morais and Mariano Bras, two journalists who successful defended themselves against criminal defamation charges after they dared to report on the attorney general’s corruption. Sadly, none of Kapuscinski’s surviving comrades who are seen during the film’s live action talking head sequences have anything to say about the lack of press freedoms during the MPLA’s uninterrupted single-party rule that they and Kapuscinski helped bring about. At least, Kapuscinski is seen struggling with the fundamental issue of how reporters change events just through their very presence.

Nevertheless, it is still pretty compelling to watch the stumble-faced Kapuscinski venture towards the southern front, in hopes of scoring an interview with Farrusco, a legendary Portuguese paratrooper who crossed over to the MPLA side. To get past the initial checkpoints, he enlists the help of Artur, a native Angolan journalist, but for the journey through the southern war zone, he convinces the MPLA to assign him Carlotta, the star soldier of MPLA’s propaganda campaign, as his escort (by promising her commander fawning press coverage).

You have to wonder if de la Fuente, Nenow, and their three co-screenwriters recognize the irony of the climax, involving Kapuscinski deliberate decision to exclude mention of the Cuban military’s armed intervention in the country, to prevent the American military from moving to counter them. It is indeed absolutely fair to ask about the implications of Kapuscinski’s decisions—in fact, it is conspicuously absent. Clearly something is profoundly amiss with the management of a nation with considerable diamond and petroleum reserves, but its per capita GDP is estimated below $4,000 US.

Frankly, it is surprising how biased Another Day is in favor of the oppressive MPLA, especially since it was co-helmed by Nenow, whose memorable short Paths of Hate depicts the dehumanization of war in a way that eschews ideology. Still, it certainly portrays Kapuscinski as a complex and conflicted character, rather than a standard-bearing revolutionary.

The animation of Another Day is quite similar in style to that of Paths of Hate. Both are quite stylish visually, so it is too bad GKIDS isn’t screening the 85-minute feature with the short, as they have sometimes done in the past. Regardless, the feature’s biases are so distractingly obvious and so many glaring questions are left dangling in the air (like what happened over the next forty-four years?), it greatly detracts from Kapuscinski’s character study. Not recommended, Another Day of Life opens this Friday (9/13) in New York, at the IFC Center.

Paths of Hate (short)

There were compelling reasons for the Allies to fight WWII. However, two fighter pilots are well beyond such moral and political questions, if they are even engaged in that war, as the makes and models of their planes suggest. A gritty tale of aerial combat that takes a detour into macabre symbolism, Damian Nenow’s animated short film Paths of Hate (trailer here) screens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Two pilots engage in the mother of all dogfights. Before the war, they lived and loved like anybody else, as the pictures taped to their cockpits attest. Yet, both men get caught up in the moment, reaching a state of beserker fury far exceeding the demands of mere survival.

In a way, Paths darkly expresses the Youssarian’s sentiments in Catch-22. Of course, war is personal. Whenever people try to kill each other, the situation is as personal as it gets. Indeed, there will be no separate peace reached in Paths.

Nenow and the Polish animation team Platige Image have crafted a distinctive looking film, somewhat stylistically akin to the animated sequences of The Wall and segments of Heavy Metal, comparisons further reinforced by Jarosław Wójcik’s shredding soundtrack. Yet, despite its gruesome commentary on the nature of warfare, Paths’ dogfight sequences are so well executed, they largely upstage the film’s message (but this is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for viewers who want to see something cool).

Polish animation has been building a world class reputation on the festival circuit, in considerable part due to previous films from Nenow and Platige. Available for further fest screenings (through New Europe Film Sales) Paths now has a rare (for short films) straight-up theatrical booking this Friday (6/17) at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood. A striking film, Paths is definitely worth seeing on a big screen.