Synopsis: Desperate to take care of his pregnant wife before a terminal illness can take his life, Dodge Maynard accepts an offer to participate in a deadly game where he soon discovers that he's not the hunter – but the prey
Review: Odds are, you have probably heard about Quibi either through this site or the marketing blitz across TV and the Internet that touts this new streaming service as the short attention span rival to the Netflix and Disney+ platforms for traditional TV and movies. Quibi, which features programming with episodes that do not exceed 10 minutes in length, is designed to be consumed on phones and tablets with no app designed for TVs or laptops. That means if you live and die with your phone, this is the service that may be for you. Quibi is launching with a lot of reality and competition series, which may work in this new format, but how about traditional narrative storytelling? Quibi is calling these "movies in chapters" and the name is very fititng as these truly do feel like movies broken into easy consumable chapters, almost like those on a Blu-ray or DVD.
One of the marquee series debuting at launch is Most Dangerous Game starring Christoph Waltz and Liam Hemsworth. Inspired by the novel of the same name which has in turn been adapted into everything from THE HUNT and THE HUNGER GAMES to HARD TARGET and BATTLE ROYALE, this version of the story is designed perfectly to showcase what Quibi is capable of. Whether you watch it in landscape or portrait mode, the editing is customized to the layout of your screen rather than the old school method of "pan and scan" to fit widescreen fil to square TVs. Most Dangerous Game makes great use of the ten minute time limit with each chapter working as a self contained episode to futher the story along.
Over the four episodes made available for review, we meet Dodge Maynard (Liam Hemsworth) as he arrives at the office of Miles Sellers (Christoph Waltz). Sellers has a proposition for Dodge, who is in dire need of money to pay for his wife and unborn child as he is suffering from a terminal illness: survive a 24 hour hunt where he will be the prey. Dodge is initially resistant to the insane concept of being involved in such an enterprise, but he eventually agrees. In the first ten minute chapter, we get the offer and introduced to these two characters and the dynamic between them. It is practically a single ten minute scene of these two men talking and director Phil Abraham (Amazon Prime's Jack Ryan) manages to ratchet up the tension and leave you eager for the next episode.
But the balance Quibi strikes here is in making this feel both like a TV series and a movie. Rather than jump right into the action, the story flashes back to show us how Dodge arrived at this crossroads. We meet his wife (Sarah Gadon) and best friend (Zach Cherry) and see the state of his financial situation which mimics the depreciating setting of Detroit, Michigan. The development of the story, scripted by Scott Elder, Josh Harmon, Richard Connell and Nick Santora, feels cinematic and unfolds in carefully constructed episodes that continue the serialized story without needing to retread the narrative to catch up the viewer. But, make no mistake, you cannot just drop into Most Dangerous Game without having started at the beginning.
What I liked the most about Most Dangerous Game is that it takes inspiration from Richard Connell's original 1924 story but puts an updated twist on it. This isn't a wholly original take on the narrative and we have seen these kinds of chase movies before, but the serialized format makes it feel fresh and gives it an additional amount of urgency. In the half an hour worth of the story I have seen, we have not even gotten to the true action elements of the story and yet I am fully bought in to see what comes next. The least realistic thing Most Dangerous Game has presented thus far is that Christoph Waltz is a native of Michigan with that slight German accent looming in every line delivery.
Most Dangerous Game is a a series that works well as a traditional viewing experience binged upon the release of all episodes but the serialized release schedule offers a much different experience than what most services offer these days. While Quibi's platform was ideal for those on the go, it should still inject some novelty into our social distancing/quarantine lifestyle this days and give audiences something daily to look forward to. Most Dangerous Game is not the most unique take on the age old story but the high production values, top notch cast, and tensely edited chapters should keep people coming back for more.
Most Dangerous Game premieres chapters daily starting April 6th on Quibi.