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| Review by Lily Fierro |
Directed by Paul Goodwin
Featuring Dan Abnett, Karen Berger, Brian Bolland, D’Israeli, Will Dennis,
Andy Diggle, Ian Edginton, Gary Erskine, Carlos Ezquerra, Henry Flint, Jock,
Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Alan Grant, Paul Gravett, John Higgins, Pat Mills,
Cam Kennedy, Peter Milligan, Grant Morrison, Kevin O'Neill, Bryan Talbot,
Chris Weston, Rob Williams, Steve Yeowell
Warning: Much to my own embarrassment, I must admit I have not read any of
2000AD. Yes, it is part of a canon I’m still tackling, but alas, I have yet to get to it. I promise I’ll get to it soon....
For the past four years, I have attended the Independent Film Festival of Boston to see a marathon of films across a week. Ranging from personal narrative features to experimental films, IFFBoston offers an extended tasting of films covering a wide range of plots, topics, and themes.
Undoubtedly, over the years, plenty of narrative films have remained in my mind as stars of the festival, but the films that have a warm and fuzzy place in my heart are the documentaries, specifically ones focused on a specific person or a specific project
. Downeast, Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters, and
The Overnighters were all documentaries that I recall with great fondness if I had to name a few.
Why documentaries?
Sure, there’s a plethora of documentaries out there that exist to make people aware of “serious” world problems; I the greatly fear and largely spite these “cause documentaries” that merely touch on some controversial topic in order to provoke some sense of pathos and ethos without ever fully explaining the context and the complexities of the topic. Those are not the documentaries I am speaking about.
The best documentaries can accomplish one of two things:
- Balance interviews and nuanced footage to develop an intimate story and study of characters while deftly conveying statements about life with small gestures and quiet moments OR
- Shed light on a person/place/thing with a thorough and engaging study of the central topic through the characters involved
Consequently, during the impressively diverse lineup for IFFBoston 2015, I was thrilled to see a documentary on the iconic series,
2000AD.
As warned before, I have not read any of the series, and went into the film as naively as possible. As a result, I hoped to see the film to learn more about the series’ creators and in turn better understand
2000AD’s context and the series itself.
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD documents the origin, history, and arc of the beloved and revered comic book series
2000AD. It begins with a beautiful opening animation of some of the panels of
2000AD and then launches into a fascinating segment on the culture of England in the late 70s.
Sadly, these first two parts, totaling in 15 minutes of the 100 minute film, stand as the strongest parts.
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