Max Cloud – or The Intergalactic Adventures Of Max Cloud as some place seem to refer it as – is a sci-fi action comedy that feels like it’s designed to replicate the kind of late 80s/early 90s cult movie that would become immensely popular in geek circles, and ultimately be destined as a throwaway reference in one of those Ready Player One books. And as much as it might not sound like it, I do mean that in a good way.
The film begins like one of those old Star Wars knock-offs, we meet a brutish and macho, Duke Nukem-esque Max Cloud. His ship has crash landed on a planet that serves as a prison for the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. We then cut to the real world, in the year 1990, where we have a teenager, Sarah (Isabelle Allen), who loves playing the game, much to the dismay of her father, who is getting tired of telling her to not play video games all the time. Nevertheless, she kept on playing, which then leads to a rather strange series of events.
Upon discovering an Easter egg in the form of a secret room where there is a space witch. He then uses his powers to bring Sarah into the world of the game, where she takes the form of the awkward side character, Jake (Elliot James Langridge). She isn’t alone in all this though as her friend, Cowboy (Franz Drameh), visits her house not too long after she gets sucked into the game, and is surprisingly receptive to her situation. He takes the controller, and they help each other in completing the game and defeating its villains, Revengor (John Hannah) and Shee (Lashana Lynch).
I was quite charmed by Max Cloud. However, there are a few elements that were tough to swallow, mostly in the approach that director Martin Owen and his co-writer Sally Collett (who also plays Rexy, one of the members in Max Cloud’s team) took in portraying the game world. Like, why does this game have you play some rando and not Max? Why do some characters in the game make remarks that are deliberately commenting on or subverting classic gaming tropes? And as much as the display of the game in the real world matches those 16-bit aesthetics well, it showcases a lot of openness that games of that era weren’t capable of.
I admit that most of these are very much nitpicks. It only really stands out because the two recent Jumanji movies did such a great job at replicating older video game mechanics in live-action form, and all the self-awareness and commentary came from characters who were controlled by actual people. I was willing to go with it in Max Cloud because it does a solid enough job at getting me engaged with the characters and the situation. Despite how self-aware much of the humor is, there is an earnestness that I was fond of.
The film is at its best when it has its character playing things completely straight. Scott Adkins, Latasha Lynch, and Tommy Flanagan – who plays the bounty hunter Brock Donnelly – come out of this making a really strong impression. For the most part, they act like legit video game characters, handling the occasional deliberately stilted dialogue wonderfully. And thankfully, in having Adkins in the film, the filmmakers take advantage of his skills as a martial artist, lending to some really fun and dynamic action sequences throughout the film.
All in all, Max Cloud is a somewhat perfunctory, but pretty fun time. Some of the arcs are a bit undercooked, especially the relationship between Sarah and her father, and it doesn’t add all up to much else beside a general notion of believing in yourself. It makes a solid use of its obvious budget limitations, and the sets, costumes, and visual effects are all really good. You can tell everyone involved is having a lot of fun, and that fun and clear love of old school video games really shines through. Practically every line coming out of Scott Adkins is pure gold, and there’s more than enough laughs to be had here. I wouldn’t call it required viewing or anything like that, but it’s an endearing watch that doesn’t overstay its welcome, and I think is worth looking into, especially if you’re someone who has a fondness for the era in gaming that the film explores.
Max Cloud is now out on VOD platforms.