Iron Lung: Breathing Blood
Mark Fischbach needs to take more credit for his work.
I, like so many others, have been a fan of Markiplier for years. I grew up watching this man give 100% of himself to everything he does. I watched in awe of his joy for the little things and the joy he gave to others. Now, after all these years of Mark proving over and over that he has the skill, the talent and the determination to do anything he puts his mind too. It was a self-funded passion project that was an incredible adaptation of a video game. Iron Lung did what every other video game turned movie or show fails to do which is expand the story in a meaningful way without cutting corners. I'm so proud of you, Mark.
Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about the game's creator, David Szymanski. I honestly don't know anything about him. I know he's made other games which I find really interesting because they all have such unique stories but I don't know anything about him personally. I would like to get to know him but I think it would be more fitting to give Szymanski a dedicated post about his work. I will say congratulations on your movie. You're game made an amazing movie. I really hope you're proud of this.
Now, for a very honest review of Iron Lung.
The plot is as thick as the blood sea Simon's sub explores.
Which is to say it's hard to understand if you just listen and watch the movie! Mark said in a recent live stream that he made a confusing movie. It's not confusing at all. Are there questions about what else is happening in the world and why they need to do this sub stuff? Sure. It's not confusing as to what is going on though. The movie and the game are both very straight forward. You are a criminal in a sub taking pictures of the sea floor in a blood sea on a moon. This follows the Silent Rapture an event where all the stars started to disappear and the world as we know it ended. It tells you right away. It tells you everything you need to know to be able to dive into the movie. The things we don't know are confusing for Simon too. We're in this sub with him just hoping for answers like he is.
Three years ago, Mark set out to make Iron Lung into a movie and I thought... really that game? I mean, I liked it. I found it held an interesting world concept but there wasn't anything to it. It wasn't a movie. It was part of a story. It always needed more and the movie Mark and David created is that more. Now, I totally get it. Iron Lung, yes, that game is so totally a movie! I wanted the game to have a little more but leaving so much to question at the end of the game was a huge strength. We like the character we play knew as much as the player did. It didn't matter what their life was like for the player we were in this sub trying our best.
I am not a fan of horror. I find people miss the point of horror a lot. So many movies are based around psycho-killers which is just not fun to watch. This movie however is horror. And it's the only horror I like. The stakes are as always death. But death at the hands of what? why? and when? Not who, never who. I loved that feeling. The feeling of what the fuck is out there.
I really liked the suspense, I felt like I was watching Mark play the game again at the same time it wasn't Mark. It's a criminal in this sub taking pictures of a blood sea floor. I honestly forgot at times it was Mark I was watching, he's such a good actor and he was directing himself! Simon was incredible, we don't know anything about him and we are given so little about the world and the people who remain in it but also so much. The story is expanded into something amazing.
My only grip with Iron Lung is the run time. I found there was one scene in the middle that was a little too long and it was just Simon silently "playing Iron Lung" which took me out of it. If the scene was maybe a little shorter my immersion wouldn't have been broken. But it's fine, I was lost in the story again in the next scene.
Now, my favourite part of everything is as always the set! I love a simple yet affective set! I am well aware that the Iron Lung set is anything but simple. I've seen the crazy machines behind that set! I know! But just think about it. The only set we see clearly in this movie is the inside of this sub. It is simple: pipes, camera, sub computer, sub controls and a chair affixed to the ground. It's very simple. Until he has to go down below the floor, which scared the shit out of me!! A small space that is suddenly smaller? NO THANK YOU!! It's a really good effective set for the movie. I dislike small spaces but took comfort in the fact that Simon had to walk between the controls and camera. It gave this false sense of more space. He was stuck in this sub at the bottom of an unknown ocean of blood. But the simple fact that he had to get up from his chair and walk two steps to use the camera made the tiny space feel bigger after some time. The set is so seamless I couldn't tell where the door was at all. I still don't know and I'm happy about it. It all adds to the illusion of the Simon being totally isolated. I loved it.
I adore Mark so much. This movie was so good. I really hope he knows how amazing it is that he made this movie. I also really hope that David knows how cool it is that he made a game that was expended on in such a cool way with this movie. It's like the game is one story and the movie is another but they exist in the same world. It's so cool. Aright, that's from me. Until the next one, this has been a Bubblez Review.
