Review: 'Indie Game: The Movie'

Not too long ago film critic Roger Ebert came out with a written piece claiming video games are not art. This got the fans of the medium taking to the Internet to spew hate toward this established critic of culture. Now he of course has his own bias and probably not really educated in the medium to make that statement but it did start a dialogue.  As video games continue to grow becoming a 10 billion dollar industry and being around for now thirty-five years it has become one of the more influential forms of entertainment in the 21st century. The documentary Indie Game: The Movieis about a few people whose love of video games and need to create has intersected into their journey of making their own video games. Now these games are celebrated and talked about like the works of thrilling new authors or Avant garde film directors in this world. This film follows them as they try to bring their projects to the masses with all the hardships and joys that come along with the creative process.

Indie Game: The Movie follows the exploits of Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes as they develop their game, "Super Meat Boy". It also follows Phil Fish while he works on his game "Fez" and it also has moments with Jonathan Blow, the creator of the game "Braid" as he reflects on its success and what he was trying to communicate in his game. The film basically interviews the Edmund, Tommy and Phil as it shows their background and home life. It shows their love a games as all these guys grew up during the Nintendo era of 8 Bit gaming and how it influenced their lives and creations in gaming. These things are occasionally interrupted by Jonathan Blow going through his thoughts on his game and how the people and critics’ response to his game affected him.

In terms of film making this is film is very clear and high resolution. There is great cinematography of the throughout the film. The color is bright and the camera isn’t jittery and there are no unnecessary cuts and edits in this film. The filmmakers are completely invisible almost as if they aren’t there. It feels as you watch this that these people are talking directly to you. The film also has great use of typography throughout it that’s really pleasing to the eye if that is something you pay attention to.

So should you see Indie Game: the Movie? Well with it being a VOD release the answer could be "why not"? You can sit in your home and chill out and watch a bunch of folks try to make their creative dreams come true, while bantering on the merits and influence of Mario and Link.  If you ever wondered if games are art then this film makes the case that Ebert was wrong and that the world might be on the cusp of discovering new artistic treasures.