Very few artists on this Earth can convey the emotions and feelings of their project using stop-motion animation. One of the most revered artists who can is Guillermo del Toro, and the other who made his mark is Phil Tippett.
Del Toro’s Pinocchio and Tippett’s Mad God are on opposite sides of the thematic spectrum. But they both are manifestations of their creator’s views on humanity and the world. However, there’s not a single similarity beyond this.
Mad God is fantastic, surreal, and absurd. At a glance, the film doesn’t even seem to have a plot, but it actually does. However, making heads or tails of it is infinitely harder than climbing down Dante’s 12 circles of Hell.
The film follows a man called the Assassin as he travels through various levels of civilization. However, it’s not civilization as we have seen or are used to seeing. The landscape at every level is somehow worse than the one before.
Each one feels dystopian, hellish, and apocalyptic. Time hasn’t been kind to even one of them. The Assassin continues walking through the places as he encounters/ observes the post-apocalyptic chaos on his way.
There are strange creatures of different sizes who do things that will make any sane viewer vomit or at least feel squeamish. At last, at presumably the lowest level, the Assassin arrives at his destination and sets up the explosive. But what happens to him then?
The Assassin arrives at his destination and sets up the explosive from his suitcase. Several other similar cases are already there, indicating that other Assassins have tried and failed before. But the bomb doesn’t go off.
He is instead captured by a mechanical beast. His captors cut into him to find an offspring who they turn smelt into dust. That dust moves the needle of the bomb, and presumably, the explosion happens, and everything is turned to dust.
Is There a Story in Mad God?
Does the film have a semblance of a story? Yes, it does, even though there’s no actual dialogue or narrative. Viewers follow the Assassin on his journey through the post-apocalyptic and crime-ridden hellscape. He wears a gas mask, and even though it’s clear that he’s heading somewhere, it’s unclear, at least initially, what his mission is. However, more than the mission, his journey and what he sees during it is the meat of this film.
There are scenes of white lab coat-wearing figures cutting up people, liquefying giant people’s feces flowing down into the mouths of lesser creatures beneath them, of two creatures shoveling feces, and more. Is this how Tippett views humanity?
Probably. It’s disgusting but strangely enthralling. In the end, the Assassin reaches his destination.
He finds that there are several other suitcases like the one he holds. It signifies that many before him have taken this journey, and they haven’t fulfilled their mission, or he wouldn’t be here. He then takes out an explosive from the case and sets the timer. Then he gets abducted by a mechanical beast. So he gets captured too. But does the bomb go off? Does he survive in the end?
What Happened to the Assassin in Mad God?
After the Assassin reaches his destination, he opens his suitcase, brings out the explosive, and sets it up. But it doesn’t go off as the needle gets stuck just a few moments before detonation. The background is filled with several such suitcases- a testament to the failure of those who came before him.
So what happened to them? Exactly what happens to him? He gets taken by a mechanical beast, and his captors get inside him.
There dismember and torture him and, in the process, find a slithery and strange offspring inside. They cut it away from the Assassin and take it to a smelting workshop. Here, that child is crushed and made into shiny dust that opens a portal and shakes the dilapidated and destroyed world. That dust seems to bring the faulty bomb to life as the needle inches closer to the detonation line.
In the final scene of the film, the Last Man, who sent the Assassin down into the murky worlds below, looks down with his Assassin army to see if the explosion has happened. Even though the film doesn’t give explicit answers, it does look like the bomb went off, and the worlds below were destroyed. The Assassin succeeded, or rather, the offspring did after getting turned to glittery dust.
It’s clear that the offspring is the anomaly who restarted the world again, and the explosion was meant to resemble the Big Bang. But where did that offspring come from? The child may be simply a metaphor meant to signify a new birth. In this case, the birth of a new world. This also means that the film is cyclical.
After the rise and fall of various civilizations, the world will return to the apocalyptic, amoral, and disgusting state we saw in the film. So the cycle continues. Another theory states that the world the Last Man peers into could be one of the many he has access to. So he moves on to the next one, where he sends another Assassin.
But what could be the purpose of sending the Assassins? It could be because he is the God of the world who is trying to start the world anew.
Why Did Mad God Take 30 Years?
Phil Tippett is a globally recognized visual effects pioneer who has worked on projects like The Empire Strikes Back, Jurassic Park, Return of the Jedi, Starship Troopers, Robocop, Robocop 2, and more. He has won two Academy Awards and an Emmy for his visual effects work. Mad God is Tippett’s passion project. He took three decades to create it because he has been working on it amid working on other films.
He officially began working on Mad God while focused on Robocop 2. So he began Mad God in 1987 and finished it in 2020. However, he had shelved the project for years in-between because he couldn’t sell the idea to studios back in the 90s. His team encouraged him to resume work on the film in 2010 after props from it resurfaced.
Tippett, the writer, director, propmaster, and more for this movie, began working with an army of volunteers on the weekends.
Also, a Kickstarter campaign of $40,000 was launched to help with the production costs. But the amount they raised exceeded it. They got $124,156 in 2012. Even though it took 30 years, it’s undeniable that the film was worth the wait because it is a high art of pure creativity.
Who Is the Villain in Mad God?
It’s easy to say that the primary villains of the film are the Assassin’s captors. But it doesn’t seem like they are manipulating or controlling anything. Instead, it feels like they are carrying out their jobs. Also, the title of the movie doesn’t refer to them. It possibly refers to the Last Man, who definitely fits into the word ‘God.’
Either he is the creator of the world, or he is a human/ creature who has risen to the position of power and control. After all, he is above the rest as he peers at the beasts below him. With the bomb, he can seemingly change everyone’s fate and begin the world anew. But if he can change fate, why can’t he stop civilization from descending into disrepair? No such answer is given. But it could be because he is stuck in the cycle too.
How Scary Is Mad God?
Mad God is a difficult film to describe because it’s made to be visually felt rather than examined. The primary emotions this film evokes are nausea, hopelessness, and strangeness. It’s repulsive and degrading yet strangely playful in its handling of the subject matter.
Yet, it’s better to watch this film on an empty stomach. It’s also scary because of the existential dread it evokes in its viewers. However, no matter what, it deserves a watch.
Mad God is streaming on Shudder.
So what did you think about Mad God?
Why was the offspring present only in this Assassin? Is the Last Man a god? Did the bomb set off a big bang, and the universe began anew?
Let us know in the comments below.
