Wrong Target

Once again the Mad Scientists hit us with a deluge of over-the-top gratuitous blood, gun-fire and slaughter. Once again good triumphs over evil, albeit by mistake. Good stuff.

I really like the idea that Mad Scientists just kind of make the same movie every year. I mean, WRONG TARGET has a lot more depth and detail going for it than ONE MAN ARMY, but all films by this team are just big ludicrous shoot-em-ups, and while I would argue this to be a bad thing for any other team, I truly hope you guys never change. Keep making these delicious pieces of schlock, and you'll probably end up with more cred than the finalist regulars.

Good to see a team going balls to the wall. I was surprised that the first 3 heats didn't have more films like this. I thought the energy got to 8 or 9, pushing it to the limit is fantastic, but save some for the end for a final blast! Not sure what the ending meant with the pointing to the head and the mouth. Thing in the top of the head killing effect was used like 3 times! Good shot with the dagger in the back of the head, and the human dog. This film is the embodiment of what I want from 48 hours.

After a couple of cops are killed by a dangerous gang their hostage manages to escape and go on a rampage. A trademark Mad Scientists film that doesn't pretend to be anything else than a shoot up, killing spectacular. I loved how are hero escaped, had has hands free but never removed the tape from around his mouth. Nice touch. Overall, I'm not really feeling it after seeing three of these films now but I totally respect you making the film you want to make and people new to 48HRS will love, love, love your work. And yeah, that said, I'd still watch the extended version!

I look forward to a film by Mad Scientists every year. Can i please request an ongoing continuity for your future films? Or are you already doing this? Bloody great stuff. You should go skydiving next year!

So bad it's ... Pretty fun film overall. Clearly a lot of work went into it! I normally don’t like guns in 48 films, mainly because it’s NZ and we don’t have guns (well, you know, pistols and automatic weapons and such). But in this film it works, because of the OTT epic silliness of the film. It’s Mad Max, Rambo, Suicide Squad all at the same time. I think. Charlie Flowers character is fantastic. Creepy in a fun way. With a superpower thats hinted at near the beginning and revealed at the end. Nice touch. Pacing is a little off, especially during the sniper scene, while well executed (ha!), went on a bit too long. The spilt frames worked really well most of the time, working best when showing Charlie and the action side by side. The night scene shots were fun (I always avoid the night shoots if possible). Love the use of fog (did you have a smoke machine?). It's a good bad film but if I had to suggest anything, it would be to embrace the bad side more, go all in with it. Some of the outdoor shots were really nice and well exposed, and could of been dirtied up a bit. Film grain in post, or an aggressive ND filter so you could dial up the ISO during the day to get that noise in camera. Keep doing what your doing tho, it's what make 48 so fun.

I love you, Mad Scientists. It's insane how many high-end productions - from comedies to dramas - are coming out of this competition, but you remain rooted in the pure anarchistic joy this competition started off being. A lot of teams shoot for the moon, but what gives yours the energy is the spazzy characters and costumes that the actors fully commit to as well as the 'cut to the chase' editing that never lets up. I'd love the sound to be greatly touched up so it removes the wind and that we get juicier knife-slitting audio effects to compliment the gunfire. The split-screen was cool when done vertically (ie. near the end) but a little off when done horizontally (ie. in the middle). Also for next time, I'd recommend trying to amplify the action. Start off small then steadily increase the madness leading to a highway pile-up of a climax.

There's a lot of really manic energy coming from the performances of this film which is the real highlight here but everything else seems quite amateurish. The sound lacks the punch needed for the level of energy displayed in the film and some of the editing needed to be a lot snappier. Some shots sort of felt like they pointed the camera screamed action and then went "Yep got it" and moved on. The story wasn't brilliant but I think it would have held up if the production value was a bit better.