Mutafukaz

You know what people love? Wakfu.

You know what people thought was cool if wiggy? Mind Game.

So what do you get when you have Ankama (the studio behind Wakfu) and Studio 4°C do an animated movie?

You (might) get something like Mutafukaz. (Yeah, don't try to sound it out in front of polite company...)

Trailer:

As for the movie's themes, one of the movie's directors, Guillaume "Run" Renard (who also wrote the indie comic this movie's based on), had this to say:

According to this, there's no real release date for this, but it'll be premiering at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2017 this Tuesday evening. So major props to anyone going to Annecy tomorrow night.

edited 13th Jun '17 2:55:32 PM by TargetmasterJoe

Man the GTA San Andreas anime is looking so good right now.

So, that's basically GTA meets Lascars meets Les Triplettes de Belleville. Interesting. I'll give the manga/comic/BD (whatever the original work is) a try if I have the occasion.

edited 14th Jun '17 12:50:41 PM by Julep

Good lord this show takes Animesque to a whole new level. This screams anime to me and I love that (Obviously makes sense because it's made by an anime company)

I'm really hyped for this

"Los Angeles through the eyes of a frenchman grown up on american television and anime".

Nice pitch.

Sounds like our generation.

Is this going to go theatrical?

Eh... it looks... impressive and- that's all I got.

So I'm back from this (and boy, good luck to find a theater that projects it. >.>)

I can't compare it to the comic since I haven't read it, but it was… interesting. Indeed, this looked like a 90 minute gangsta rap music video with all the clichés you can find in it (including very little female presence), but damn if it wasn't gorgeous. It used directing techniques and visual effects not often find in animation, though some of it felt a tad gratuitous − like those weird taglines in the style of cheesy B-movies from the eighties that would pop up out of nowhere. And also that weird 10 second skit with a scantily clad girl dancing that has nothing to do with anything.

The story isn't awfully original − it's a classic "you are what you do" tale − but well told and well paced overall. Except for this exposition sequence on the Super Luchadores that felt out of place. I also wish more focus was put on Luna's character arc, which felt very rushed. But I must admit I laughed in the epilogue. The Evil Overlord has moved his base to the moon and launches spaceships to invade the Earth. Lino's reaction? "Oh… Okay."

More than the story though, the film really shine with its atmosphere. You can just feel how hot, dirty and stiffling Dark Meat City in every single frame, and the soundtrack supports that perfectly.

I also must say the choice of Orelsan and Gringe to voice Lino and Vinz in French is surprisingly appropriate, since their rap is focused a lot on the "loser desperately looking for a purpose in life."

edited 24th May '18 12:49:31 PM by Lyendith

Lilewise it was difficult for me to find a theatre that screened this. This is a shame, this film was produced in 2016 I think (at least it was present in the 2017 Annecy festival); it is only available in France, its home country, now in 2018 and we are struggling to find screenings. I think it's a shame animated movies that are not American are so hard to watch in French theatres.

I have just watched a video about Tekkonkinkreet (aka Amer Béton to the French) produced by the same Studio 4°C; and the street scenes look quite similar.

(I watched that movie a few years ago, but didn't notice that while watchig Mutafukaz).

edited 9th Jun '18 1:15:14 PM by gropcbf

The film's director actually evokes it and the difficulty of producing this kind of film in this documentary(ish)…

(there are English subs)

Around 10:10, he notes that an animation film that's a) for adults and b) mixing multiple genres, is sure to make distributors reel back instantly.

edited 10th Jun '18 1:30:39 PM by Lyendith

In an unexpected turn of events, Mutafukaz's North American distribution rights have been picked up by GKIDS and as such will have an English dub.

(For the uninitiated, GKIDS is an American film distributor who are known for picking up animated indie movies like every movie by Cartoon Saloon and others like Ernest & Celestine and My Life as a Zucchini. They're also the license holder for all Studio Ghibli movies past and present.)

Furthermore, the movie's being known as MFKZ, so we now have a way of referring to this movie in polite company!

Sorry if I am being disrespectful, but why would a distributor know as GKIDS want to carry this movie, given the company's name? I suppose it is good news that the film got picked up for American distribution, but still. Hopefully, they won't do any edits like the Weinsteins or 4kids did.

Edited by Buzzinator on Jul 26th 2018 at 8:23:08 AM

You're fine, the films they licence are uncut and brutal. It's just that we associate "kids" with censorship, completely normal.

Looks fun but I can't tell if it will be competent. If it pops up on Netflix or Prime Video and has good reviews, I'll give it a look.

I coincidentally found this movie on an anime streaming site, which made me want to watch it again for the hell of it… The subtitles seem to be the official ones, but I wonder, did they keep all the profanity in the English dub?

For anyone interested, Mutafukaz/MFKZ is now available on Netflix in the US as of December 25th. I plan to watch it myself sometime.