Thuggernaut Review
Thuggernaut is a 2020 animated short film animated and directed by Adam Dennington.
Dripping with about as much 80s nostalgia as one could hope for, Thuggernaut delivers a fun and atmospheric trip down memory lane.
The animation on display here is beautiful in both minimalism as well as direction, with moments that are reminiscent of classic 80s arcade games that surely gobbled up many a quarter back in the day. The references littered throughout are numerous and varied, obviously coming from someone with deep respect on top of admiration for the decade.
The score and sound by Ope Yusuf only heighten the great visuals on display throughout. It delivers something that feels perfectly at home, while also garnishing a sense of well executed originality.
The film while not heavy on plot (something very fitting for most video games of the era) delivers a lot of visual splendor. The motivating force for our protagonist is essentially just to make it out to an important date. What proceeds just so happens to be the hardest journey to a night at the bar anyone may ever need to face. What happens by the end is a fun subversion as well, something I won’t spoil here.
Reading up on the piece it appears as though Dennington has had this project in development for almost 4 years until completing it in December of 2020, which is quite an accomplishment. There is a great attention paid to the animation, and the art style is one that could be a reference to different animators of the time but personally I have nothing that I can personally point to having seen before. So, for my own knowledge it is uniquely original in many ways.
I really enjoyed this short film, the world building is excellent and completely visual driven, the story is a fun adventure, the aesthetic totally 80s dude. Dennington has done an excellent job with this film and it is definitely worth the time to check out.
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Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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