In 2007, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth introduced the novel concept of the adult fairytale to the world of contemporary cinema. The film was an achievement in visual storytelling. The enchanted world which the film’s young protagonist escaped to was fully realized in all of its’ bizarre and often disturbing magnificence. Whether you enjoyed it or not, it was an incredibly well-made movie and therefore an accomplishment.
Jamin Winans’ Ink is a sincere attempt at a new offering to the adult fairytale genre. The story describes two factions of creatures who come to us in our sleep and give us our dreams. The creatures who give us good dreams are human in appearance whereas the nightmare creatures, or Incubus, are marred by both physical deformations and large video screens which float in front of their heads and magnify every facial gesture. I cannot fault the filmmakers for their ambition but the production is unable to overcome its’ low budget, poor acting and one-dimensional moralizing.
With all the faults I have just listed for this movie, it may surprise you to learn that my least favorite aspect of it is the score. The music is so incredibly bland and obvious that it would detract from the impact of the film even if it were used in a subtle and appropriate manner. Unfortunately it is overwhelmingly prominent during the large majority of the movie’s runtime. This dull monotony paired with the flat visuals made me frequently want to turn the movie off. If it were not for this review, I likely would not have made it through the 105 minute runtime.
The film is filled with many quick cuts which are likely meant to indicate to the audience that they are watching an action scene. These moments are further described by the addition of some extra electronic percussion in the music. I was grateful that these visual and auditory clues were there because without them I would have no idea that what I was watching was, in fact, meant to be action. The majority of the film suffers from a ‘one-note’ quality which eliminates any potential emotional impact which the story could deliver. Due to this, many moments which were meant to be received in a specific way had me literally rolling my eyes.
Ink does offer some interesting visual ideas but there are too many faults surrounding them to allow any impact. I stated earlier in this review that I cannot fault the filmmakers for being ambitious. I still stand by this statement but I would like to amend that I can fault them for being overambitious. I am glad that they tried to make an effects movie on an independent budget and I truly wish that they were more successful. Perhaps if they had focused their vision to better match their constraints, they would’ve been able to make a much better movie.
Ink is available on Netflix Watch Instantly
