Fifty Percent Grey

A soldier awakens, probably from battle, and faces a television screen. It says he is to be congratulated and that he is dead and welcome to hell. What follows is bloody and violent as he tries to off himself. He is a striking figure who is damned for eternity.

Though this film is more clever than impressive, its blending of styles and the texture of the movie in general should have beat out the God awful "For the Birds" for the Oscar. The animation is first rate and the gorestick is classy as hell. The movie would be like a cross between Chuck Jones and Sam Rami if only the soldier looked like Bruce Campbell.

Although the content may seem a little harsh to some viewers I found it to be quite amusing. The concept of your final reward being the same regardless of your actions on earth (or in that very after life) strikes me as a creepy kind of practical joke by the cosmos. Perhaps he was an evil person in life and was in hell from the very beginning. This is simply the fates way of adding insult to injury (or irony to eternity in this case.) I can think of nothing worse than an eternity of nothingness and confusion (except of course for having to sit through an eternity of academy awards shows.)

Heaven -> Purgatory -> Hell.

An interesting concept. Feels rather Matrix and video game inspired. Why is there no Horror Genre attached to this title, as I definitely think it fits the category?

A good little slice of existential despair, but overall it feels like a curiosity rather than a must-see short.

This film was a nominee for the Oscar for Best Animated Short for 2002. The film that won that year was FOR THE BIRDS--a film I enjoyed much more than FIFTY PERCENT GREY. While FIFTY was a nice film to look at graphically, the story didn't catch my attention. Plus, it was awfully depressing and unsatisfying. Now I am NOT saying that films or short films must be funny and sweet like FOR THE BIRDS (heck, I like a dark film as much as the next person), but here it just didn't catch my attention and the film didn't seem particularly noteworthy. Perhaps it was a slow year for the Oscars or perhaps I just don't see it the way others do (and this is very, very possible). It's just that the final punchline didn't seem all that funny or interesting. Sorry.