Video game wizard, and ultra-’90s teen Sarah (Isabelle Allen) is totally into the video game The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud, so imagine her fuckin’ surprise when she is zapped into said game courtesy of one of it’s characters, The Space Witch (Jason Maza) where she takes up residence in the body of the ship’s chef, Jake (Elliot James Langridge).
Now she must help Max (Scott Adkins) and Commander Rexy (Sally Collett) eliminate the threat of the outlandishly evil Revengor (John Hannah in a delightfully over-the-top role) and his henchwoman Shee (Lashana Lynch) and get back to Brooklyn circa 1990.
Max Cloud is nothing if not imaginative, and co-writer (along with Collett)/director Martin Owen manages to squeeze every bit of production value out of the production with some fun and clever choices.
The sets are colorful and fun (if limited), the actors all incredibly game (and actually funny… a true plus for a comedy, right cats n’ creeps?), the miniatures and effects old school and hand crafted, and the decision to render what would have been extra costly sequences as they would appear in the game is truly inspired.
Speaking to that, our heroines actions are controlled via her pal Cowboy (Franz Drameh) who controls the action via video game console back Brooklyn way… but she makes her own dialog choices in the game world. It can be a bit dodgy in the logic department if you think about it enough, but that’s the film’s rules and it sticks to them.
Another minor quibble is that while Adkins is great in his role, the character is a bit one note and easily gets the scene stolen out from under him by the other players.
So that’s the main event, but what of bonus material on this Blu-ray release from Well Go USA Entertainment? Umm, you get the film’s trailer, so that’s… something.
Full of heart, fun, and a healthy dollop of good ol’ nostalgia, Max Cloud is a great time in front of the boob tube, especially if you dug on Super Nintendo and more light sci-fi fare like the ’70s Buck Rogers series.
