Redemption of a Cool World

I've put forward this idea on here before I think, the idea that a mediocre story well told isn't such a bad thing. That presentation, if done right can go a long way to winning you over, like, for example a well written book sticking out merely for the virtue of being well written.

Now, I'm meandering so before I lose sight of my point let me tell you about the film I watched last night. It's called Cool World and through some random youtube surfing I came along a full high definition upload of it, at first I flicked through it mindful of its poor reputation but I found myself absorbed by the animated segments and ultimately sat back resolving to watch the full thing.

Its reputation is well deserved, Cool World's plot is awful but thankfully it doesn't get in the way too much, it's a film which mixes live action and animation much like roger rabbit but here, unlike in Roger rabbit they don't mesh together at all well to the point where it feels like two different films edited together sloppily.

The strange thing about Cool World is that had it been purely an animated film it would have been infinitely more watch-able because boy does the animation kick ass. A lot of it is psychedelic, creatures morphing from one form to another while the antagonist Holly Would is amazingly well animated being a very faithful reproduction of a woman. The sinister sleaze of the cartoon town is the perfect antidote to the cheery toon town in Roger Rabbit and in fact the pure atmosphere of the world alone was enough to pull me through to the films ridiculous conclusion.

So, I can't for a second attest that Cool World is a good film but I honestly really enjoyed watching it. The characters themselves were shallow, the dialogue instantly forgettably but the world was deep and chaotic and had so much personality in itself it pretty much saved the show.

Am I purely just making an argument for style over substance? Hell no, of course I'm not, I'm acknowledging that substance comes in a lot of forms. Cool World is an example of something that failed in almost everything that its medium requires but it still took me somewhere, still entertained me and I feel that's similar to what a great writer can achieve.

Through the colour and fluidity of expression weak material can be redeemed purely by the scaffold the writer produces to present it.