Mandy

Eine halluzinogene Grindhouse-Revenge-Schlächterei mit einem verliebten Herz, das von der Dunkelheit des Weltalls verschlungen wird. Im Hinblick auf die billigen Filter und das zweitklassige Budget ist der Film überraschend überwältigend und sein Konzept hält zusammen. Die Laune ist für ein Festival auch ziemlich erfrischend. Das Highlight ist – wie könnte dem auch anders sein – der saufende Cage in einer weißen Unterhose und einem orangefarbenen T-Shirt mit einem Tiger. [Cannes] (14.05.2018)

It's like Jodorowsky fathered a child with Panos's daddy George. Definitely a distinctive film, visually impressive, from a man with a vision. Interesting color palette, functionally applied filters, but at least in the first half (which many here criticize, but I liked it better) brimming with atmosphere and remarkable visual ideas, all underscored by a unique soundtrack. The second half is grindhouse carnage, uncompromisingly straightforward and simple, but still retaining a visual identity. The half-deranged Cage is a casting triumph, Riseborough has something magical in his intriguing, deadpan face, and Roache is a charismatic villain but also a woefully comic figure, and this is not an easy thing to grasp as an actor. Mandy is a remarkable film, it's not for everyone, certainly not for the mainstream, but it beats with the heart of a filmmaker who’s not bland and loves to tell simple stories through atmospheric imagery. PS: I enjoyed it even more on a second screening. This film is so out of step with 99% of filmmaking, and yet it's not stupid; hats off to it. I'm not surprised by the worldwide enthusiastic critical response (currently 8.2 on Metacritic) and I’m happy for Cosmatos from the bottom of my heart. (16.09.2018)

Of course… who else should star in this movie if not Nicolas Cage. He is currently the only Hollywood actor who turned acting into a completely extravagant experience. If he is in pain, physically or mentally, you’ll simply feel it too. And since he keeps appearing in films which are outside the norm, you can count on Nicolas Cage being in complete mental and physical pain. When it came to the execution of the movie, I was quite upset. The first half was mostly for show. The director played with purple filters and half the time I couldn’t even see what was going on in a scene. But the important thing is that it is glamorous. The second half of the movie was hardcore, though. That’s actually when the dark side of Nicolas comes to life together in a surreal ride full of such shit you won’t believe your eyes. An unbelievable crazy trip. Again, one of those films that try to shock you creatively and it is pretty successful in doing that. (03.11.2018)

Oh, no, not this. Again, one of those films that critics praise to the skies but is literally painful for the average viewer. Nicolas Cage is a dead actor for me, this guy won't be in a good movie anymore and he certainly can't act. The strange pink and red filter covering the financial shortcomings was annoying, absolutely nothing happens for an hour, and if by some miracle you are still awake after an hour and not completely disgusted, you won't find much satisfaction in the second one either. I suffered, I went crazy, this is not for me. 35% (16.09.2018)

Panos Cosmatos exorcises the genre demons of his childhood (his father is the director of Rambo II and Cobra) with a trash revenge story transformed into a mystical psychotropic epic. The film completely fulfils Alejandro Jodorowsky’s dictate "I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs". Nicolas Cage is promoted to the role of a visual artifact in an airbrushed scene from the side of a van brought to life. Nevertheless, proclamations that Cage has reached the maximum level of madness in his acting are rather overwrought – in this respect, the second Ghost Rider still holds the lead. (04.07.2018)

Seltsam. Sehr seltsam. Die bunte, hypnotische Atmosphäre, welche von Jóhannssons beunruhigender Musik begleitet wird, hat mir gefallen. Was aber die Mystik, die plapperhaften Monologe und Dialoge, die überflüssige Länge und das Warten auf die Vergeltung am Ende (die schließlich das Langweiligste im Film war) betrifft, da hat mich Mandy enttäuscht. Dabei habe ich von dem Film eigentlich nichts erwartet. (30.07.2020)

Well, how to approach this? On the one hand, we have impressive formal confidence that warrants praise. All those colour filters, sound deformations and blurry visuals look a bit cheap and become boring after a while, but they do build a sufficiently thick atmosphere to overcome the initial monotonous pace and WTF dialogues. The insane villains felt annoying rather than terrifying and the logic is something nobody thought too much about, but that’s not what this is about; this is a film about Nicolas Cage coming out of a hallucinogenic haze wielding a home-made mace to massacre religious fanatics with a smile on his face, and this is something that’s fits perfectly not only Cage, whose performance is flawless, but also Cosmatos, someone who doesn’t do routine and presents a chase after cult-nuts as an authentic road to hell, and he deserves all my sympathy for that. For the time being, 70%, and I’m keeping the fourth * for next time. (30.10.2018)

Die Essenz dessen, was der Filmzuschauer von einer Mitternachtsvorführung auf einem Festival erwartet und normalerweise nicht bekommt. Ein unglaublich intensives Gemetzel, maßgeschneidert für Horrorfans. Und dazu noch mit Herz gedreht. Und der beste Nicolas Cage seit langem. Nachdem man sich in der ersten Hälfte darüber wundert, welch sparsame und zurückhaltende Leistung Cage zeigt, führt er einen in der zweiten Hälfte in die Irre und präsentiert eine seiner wildesten Kreationen seiner Karriere. Hut ab vor Regisseur Cosmatos, dass er das alles so führen konnte. Ich werde seine zukünftigen Regieprojekte aufmerksamer verfolgen. Und nicht zuletzt Hut ab vor der Musik des kürzlich verstorbenen Jóhann Jóhannsson - ein großartiger Abschied. Mandy ist ein absoluter Hammer! (30.06.2018)

Panos Cosmatos hat endlich ein geeignetes Thema für seine eigenwilligen und visuell extravagant LSD-Experimente gefunden - einen Albtraum eines Holzfällers auf schlechten Drogen mit brutal blutigen Orgien, Motorsägen und Höllenmotorradfahrern. Die erste einleitende Hälfte und ihr außergewöhnlich entspanntes Tempo werden nur durch halluzinogene Passagen und dämonisch psychedelische Musik von Jóhann Jóhannsson gerettet, aber dann beginnt ein derart sektiererischer Trash-Metal-Angriff, dass es schwer ist, ihm nicht zu erliegen, auch wenn Widerstandsfähigkeit gegenüber extremer Gewalt eine Voraussetzung ist. Nicolas Cages wahnsinnige Leistung fällt in die Kategorie des schuldigen Vergnügens auf einem Trip. Mandy ist ein grausamer und böser Film, aber genauso markant und eigenwillig. (30.06.2018)

A Ken Russell for the 21st century, Cosmatos is my nightmare come true. I was stunned by the film in the first ten minutes and could physically feel my pupils dilate while watching it. Ignore the bored yawns of impatient kids gorging themselves on meatloaf, Cage, and retro, this is the flashback to the 80s you want to have. Foggy, surreal, dangerous, and strangely distant. Except I have to figure out why the folks from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival asked me back then to translate some subjects through the lens of a Dungeons & Dragons player, heh. (08.01.2019)

I'm sure that the co-production Mandy starring Nicolas Cage, but brilliantly supported by Linus Roache, isn’t going to be for everyone. In truth, though, this is one of the best Cage movies in a long time. It's simply great because of how different it is, how it goes to the core, how well made it is. I was literally staring at every second of the film, and I was mesmerized. (19.04.2019)