I'll be perfectly frank: I did not like this film, and did not find it particularly funny. However, I wouldn't want to review it as such, since that would be boring and I am quite certain it's a brilliant satire, if that makes any sense. Too many satires are dismissed as being exactly what they satirize (Natural Born Killers mistaken to be too "violent" just makes me shake my head). "Idiocracy" is so dumb to the core in its humour that at one point I just realised this HAD to be a satire of studios, contemporary society and trailer trash culture.
The basic set-up caught my attention the minute the universal logo appeared and a narrator explained the Darwinism-gone-wrong process that prompted a world filled with idiots. Survival of the fittest has never implied survival of the smartest; it is simply a question of who procreates at the most rapid speed. In humans, this is typically the below average intelligent people such as rednecks, the less educated, trashy celebrities, et al, and as a result over many generations the intelligent alleles have all been replaced by dumb ones.
There is satire even in this. Too many films employ narrators who explain absolutely everything even when it is already clear to the viewer. The new idiocratic world speaks a language that is derived from Valley girl speech, inner city slang and slack-jawed hillbilly. Starbucks has become synonymous with handjobs. In all seriousness, if you thought Blade Runner, Children of Men or other bleak Orwellian science fictions showed terrifying visions of the future, you are in for one hell of a nightmare. The scariest thing is that it could theoretically happen, and to an extent this natural selection process is already occurring in our species.
It is in a way a pity that Fox orphaned this project, no trailers, no nothing, for that just displays their misunderstanding of the film's nature. Although I didn't find "Idiocracy" to be hugely entertaining, it moved so earnestly at such a brisk and condensed pace that ultimately it is an altogether harmless film.
6 out of 10
The basic set-up caught my attention the minute the universal logo appeared and a narrator explained the Darwinism-gone-wrong process that prompted a world filled with idiots. Survival of the fittest has never implied survival of the smartest; it is simply a question of who procreates at the most rapid speed. In humans, this is typically the below average intelligent people such as rednecks, the less educated, trashy celebrities, et al, and as a result over many generations the intelligent alleles have all been replaced by dumb ones.
There is satire even in this. Too many films employ narrators who explain absolutely everything even when it is already clear to the viewer. The new idiocratic world speaks a language that is derived from Valley girl speech, inner city slang and slack-jawed hillbilly. Starbucks has become synonymous with handjobs. In all seriousness, if you thought Blade Runner, Children of Men or other bleak Orwellian science fictions showed terrifying visions of the future, you are in for one hell of a nightmare. The scariest thing is that it could theoretically happen, and to an extent this natural selection process is already occurring in our species.
It is in a way a pity that Fox orphaned this project, no trailers, no nothing, for that just displays their misunderstanding of the film's nature. Although I didn't find "Idiocracy" to be hugely entertaining, it moved so earnestly at such a brisk and condensed pace that ultimately it is an altogether harmless film.
6 out of 10