'Escape the Undertaker', review: another lazy Netflix attempt at interactive cinema

Escape from the Undertaker , by Ben Simms, take up the witness of Black Mirror with its classic interactive chapter Bandersnatch without having them all with you. Despite its good intentions, the Netflix movie does not create an interesting enough atmosphere to simulate the game between the audience and the story. Perhaps it is because Escape from the Undertaker seems more interested in the perception of the options to choose than in telling a story.

If Bandersnatch was criticized for the having a simple central story that privileged the options, Escape the Undertaker makes the opposite mistake. Each option seems much more intricate and complicated than the original argument , so the The result is a sort of combination of cheating cliches. Of course, it is a game of possibilities and as such, the Netflix movie is built to allow the viewer to build their own story.

Now, that the infinite ramifications in the decisions are more interesting than the main idea can be a problem . And it is to the extent that Simms must analyze how to solve the fact that the argument is not entirely solid. In an age of video game players who conceive the interactive as interesting versions of a single theme, Escape from the Undertaker tastes little.

However, also It is a risky bet by Netflix in what appears to be a journey towards a series of similar projects. And on this occasion, at least it is evident that the intention is much more refined than in the Black Mirror chapter and at least, broader. What makes Escape The Undertaker a product that meets expectations, at least on the basics.

‘Escape the Undertaker’, over and over the same story

From the series Surviving is the challenge of 2019, the platform giant has tried to create the conditions for the interactive in a progressive way. And although it has not had all the foreseeable success, it is clear that the intention encompasses something else.

With a video game expansion service in the future, Netflix seeks to cover several points at once. The interactive capacity of your productions may be one of the most interesting for what you hope to achieve in the future.

In fact, Escape from the Undertaker becomes more complex as the range increases . Not only is the story more substantial despite its flaws, but it includes several WWE wrestlers. The dot allows the setting and plot to take a kind of metafictional version that can make interaction easier.

After all, a good part of the protagonists, characters and subplots of the Netflix movie are related with a certain fantastic air. But beyond that, the director’s intention to integrate the particularities of the world of struggle into the premise is also well-known.

The result is a curious combination that can allow the viewer’s desire to explore the different possibilities to be a overall experience. Actually, little stories are built to be probabilities, decisions, and context capsules . So the prospective player will have to go back and forth between all the lines to complete the total experience.

Does something of this magnitude work and does it involve a considerable amount of time for the viewer? It does so as the story explodes its highest points. Escape from the Undertaker stars the Lucha libre stable The New Day made up of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E. Which, by itself , it is an attractive adventure for fans.

It is also expanding the universe of the popular Undertaker character in whose “domains” the action takes place. Every part of the Netflix movie is designed to experience supernatural powers. Also to travel this small world of regulars to the WWE phenomenon . The careful setting, and the intentional B-movie quality, gives Escape from the Undertaker his best moments.

But the real problem in Escapes the Undertaker lies in the fact of how the central structure is built. The story progresses slowly, and by the time the viewer can decide which option to take, part of the film has passed. If the duration of the segments is added to that, in the end the experience can last more than four hours.

Is it possible that a viewer is so interested in following the increasingly flimsy story for that many weather? The question is repeated as the options become very similar to each other. Or that in the end, the potential viewer must watch the interactive movie at least three times . Can Escape the Undertaker sustain such an investment of effort? The answer is more complicated than it sounds.

Of course, comparisons between Survival is the challenge , a chapter of Black Mirror and Escape from the Undertaker are crazy. In the end, the Netflix movie is an obvious byproduct of WWE and as such is meant to amuse. Do it without major complications. But what might work in a ring or on a special show in a movie is tedious and long. In particular, as it is clear that when assembling the general parts, the intention of Escape the Undertaker is to show a wider experience .

In the end, Escape the Undertaker is a fun idea but with complicated execution problems. Not only does it seem incomplete, but it is aimed at WWE fans. And although the rest of the public can enjoy the experience, it is likely that they will not have the possibility to find its most interesting nuances.