Caught Ant & Dec’s foray in to movie making with Alien Autopsy. Based on the story of Ray Santilli, it is the story of Ray and Gary (Ant and Dec), who, having bought genuine footage of the Roswell autopsy, find that the reel has degraded by the time they return to England. Driven by the need to satisfy their investor, they resort to “remaking” the footage, and end up making a fortune from TV stations all over the world.
It’s an entertaining enough story, with a gentle British humour running throughout. However, it does suffer a little from sticking to the apparent story instead of giving it the beginning, middle and end that movies require. For example, a major character, who potentially causes a big problem for our heroes, is conveniently bumped off. Now, maybe this is true, but it doesn’t make for a good movie, does it?
Also, it assumes to some level that viewers remember the hoax. I don’t really, maybe vaguely, but it was a long time ago. Finally it tries to be a little too clever with the discussions with the film-maker, trying to link it to the film itself, if you know what I mean.
All of the main actors do well, and it is fun when they are mocking up the movie, but after that it seems unsure of which way to go, and moves from a comedy to a straight story with few laughs, drama or tension. Therefore we sit and wait out the end titles, when we see the real Ray and Gary, who tell us how clever they are. Thanks guys, that cements my opinion that you are the only people who think about how clever you are.
All in all, an ok film that has promise but fails to deliver. Hire it to see Ant and Dec, but you will be upset if you invest in your own copy.
