FILM REVIEW: MAD GOD (2021) WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY PHIL TIPPETT

Mad God (2021)
Written by Phil Tippett
Directed by Phil Tippett


Review by: Mark Walker


A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city and the Assassin emerges from it to explore a labyrinth of bizarre landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. (IMDB)

The word “masterpiece” gets bandied around a fair bit, and it isn’t always well-used. In the case of Mad God, I think it is justified.

I don’t know what the hell I just watched.

But I fucking loved it.


30 years in the making and Phil Tippet has delivered some of the most incredible stop motion animation I have seen in a long time. I mean, the man has form; Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Robocop, Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers, and Twilight to name but a few, so it is no surprise that this is so impressive. I grew up on stop-motion films and the amazing work of Ray Harryhausen, so I was definitely up for this when I read the description. However, watching movies like Jason and the Argonauts, or Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger did nothing to prepare me for the genius at work in Mad God.

Now, I am not going to pretend to understand everything that I saw in this film. Mad God is a film to be experienced (sorry, the pretention is sneaking in) not necessarily understood; at least not on the first watch through. And, if you are anything like me, once will not be enough; Mad God demands repeated viewings.
The film opens with an image of a tower. Atop the tower, an imposing figure looks down and surveys the hundreds of workers/subjects slowly making their way around and up the tower. Lightning strikes the figure and cloud descends to eventually obscure the whole scene, clearing the image for the film title to slam into view.

Was this the Tower of Babel? Destroyed through God’s wrath? The Mad God of the title? The justification for the destruction of the Tower of Babel certainly suggests the action of a Mad God; but is this an angry God, or a God who has lost their mind?

A quote from Leviticus follows the image of the tower and suggests a wrathful God, taking revenge for anyone not following his doctrines and rule; a God prepared to wreak havoc and destruction on his own creation if displeased with their subjects.

          “Your land shall become a desolation and your cities a ruin.”

In Mad God, everything is desolation, ruin, and despair.

As the film “proper” begins, the “Assassin” descends through several layers (rings of hell?) of post-apocalyptic cityscapes, below ground and down into a twisted labyrinth inhabited by nightmare-fuel creatures and monsters of staggering invention and horror. The Assassin encounters a procession of disturbing scenes that are likely to haunt you for long time to come, past drone-like workers, blindly toiling for a demented, babbling baby overlord, while their lives are clearly expendable and easily wasted.

Desolation. And Despair.

The Assassin carries with him a slowly decaying map and a suitcase that contains a bomb, the purpose of the Assassin’s journey. He has clearly been sent here to do some damage, perhaps to end the suffering and torment of the creatures around him; to release them from the world created by the titular deity?

From here things get a little tricky to discuss. It is difficult to explain the plot, such as there is, of Mad God without discussing everything that happens in the film and, even then, the plot is difficult to describe beyond the suggestion that the Assassin has been tasked with destroying this subterranean hell-hole.

But it is much more layered than that. There are sinister surgeons, other Assassins, animal experiments, scientists, a witch like character who might be the figure from the top of the tower in the opening images and a (final?) man (Alex Cox) overseeing everything and sending assassins into the inferno. Could he be the Mad God?

The plot follows a fairly clear route up to about a third of the way into the film before a significant event for the Assassin changes his fortunes and the plot moves into a more (if possible) dream-like state moving between the Final Man, a new Assassin and the fate of the first assassin.

Confusing, but indescribably compelling.

Mad God is a film that is hard to describe and even harder to explain but, despite what I have said about confusing films in the past, this one doesn’t fall into the same category. This doesn’t feel like a film that is confusing for the sake of it, just to try and prove how clever it is. There is layer upon layer of meaning here. Or maybe there isn’t. And that is the beauty of Mad God. The meaning is what you find in it, like all great art.

Is it a political or environmental allegory? Is it a warning? The film shows a bleak (future?) with some hope, some chance of revival and renewal, but with a stark warning that we are destined to make the same mistakes unless we learn from the past.

Or that is just one possible interpretation and who knows if that is the right one? Well, Phil Tippett probably does. On first watch, I was definitely confused and, a few days later, I still am, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it, piecing together what I saw, and I will definitely watch it again. A physical release would be fantastic.

The word “masterpiece” gets bandied around a fair bit, and it isn’t always well-used. In the case of Mad God, I think it is justified. For me. The film is going to find fans and haters alike. It is unusual, disturbing, inspirational, violent, and confusing – it is going to polarise. But, if you are a fan of stop-motion and fancy being weirded out and fascinated at the same time, then I think you will enjoy Mad Dog – even if you just stop and look at the model work and sets from time to time. So much work has gone into this film, it is mind-blowing (sorry, more hyperbole). There is so much detail here and little treats in the background. On my first viewing I spotted a Robbie the Robot, what looked like Kali from the Golden Voyage of Sinbad and a cyclops similar to the one Sinbad encountered on his 7th Voyage. I am sure there are more, and Mad God is a visual treat that is equally inventive, nostalgic, and disturbing. Even if you don’t understand what is going on, just soak up the visuals and enjoy the ride.

Mad God feels like the result of a collaboration between the creators of the “Little Nightmares” video game and “2001: A Space Odyssey” after a drug-fuelled trip through Dante’s Inferno – with maybe even a nod to Stephen King’s Dark Tower.
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I am the first to admit I have gushed a little here, but I make no apologies for it; Mad God deserves all the gushing, but don’t come for me if you don’t like it – this is going to be marmite!

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