Reviewed by Aaron Haynes

Shallow, stylish work of art, dark-themed social commentary, or glorified music video? After watching this for the first time since it was released back in 2002, I think my vote goes for all three. Dead Heart in a Dead World has been a point of contention among several reviewers and regular viewers alike since it came out -- does it have a story to tell or doesn't it? Since I read Andres's explanation before I watched the movie, I didn't really get a chance to decide for myself what it meant, but looking back at it now, I think there are a lot of elements here that tip the scales in his favor. This is a powerhouse of a short movie, very concept-based, atmospheric, and above all, highly engrossing and entertaining.

When it comes to the visual style, detractors of the film as a whole fall into two camps: silent, or dumb. Presented in that ultra-narrow widescreen that so many people seem to hate (I've always been pretty impartial about it, but it works great here), we're given rows of empty, lifeless buildings that seemingly can't even be bothered to stand straight up most of the time. There isn't a trace of color to be found. The shot of the belltower is still one of my favorite shots from a 3DMM film; the sound rings out over the ruined city, but no one is left to hear it. You get the impression it'd be raining, but even the clouds are thinking, "Why bother."

There's a blur of movement. It's tricky to make out what's happening, but something is running on all fours across the landscape. A humanoid in steel-grey armor steps out onto the street, apparently scanning for life. He/She has orders to bring the creature back to Central Headquarters, alive or dead. There's a marked contrast between the animation here....the hand-made creature is frantic, high-energy, and vicious. The Hunter is a default actor, calculated and deliberate. When their first battle is over, there's no question as to who the Dead Heart implicated in the title is.

The creature escapes, and we see the ghostly looking old man we got a glimpse of earlier. The Hunter follows him for information about the creature. This is one of the few technical issues I felt hurt the film. The dialogue, voice-acted by Mike Pfister, is marred by some poor sound choices; the music drowns him out, and I only caught a few key phrases. If you go through the scenes in the toolbox, you'll pick up a bit about the creature's background, but the info is actually kind of irrelevant....from the imagery onscreen, you realize that the creature simply went berserk and started murdering people left and right. The old man's final line, "We all show our dark side eventually. But I guess you wouldn't--" is cut off by the creature's attack, but its intended meaning is clear enough if you think about it.

The direction is above and beyond most other efforts at this sort of thing, and during the chase sequence it's at least as good as any action scene from the most recent big name films. Some of the angles and camerawork here are just mindblowing. The music is well-chosen and expertly synced. Quieter moments of the film are backed by somber, ambient sounding tracks, and when it unexpectedly explodes into high gear, so does the title track. In fact, in at least point of the song, a verse actually foretells what happens soon afterward in the movie. The whole thing is polished to a slick, atmospheric shine, so even if you don't get it, you're practically guaranteed to not get bored.

When the ending comes, it adds an extra layer to the creature's personality and suitably wraps up the story -- what we have here is a very abstract concept animated into a short, almost music-video-esque film that tells all that needs to be told. The title is Dead Heart in a Dead World, but the character the film is most interested in is very much alive, and possibly the only thing left in the world it inhabits who can claim that. It's a short musing about a murderous, violent creature having the only scrap of emotion left to the world's name; frankly, who cares what happens after the ending. Andres has told all he needs to tell.

Critical Score: 89/100.
Personal Score: 100/100.