Reviewed by Aaron Haynes

I've always had a habit of thinking about Andres De La Hoz the online persona whenever I watch movies by Andres De La Hoz the director. Of Minds And Darkness, A Call to Arms, Dead Heart in a Dead World, and even Sniper@ADLH and Cycles had me analyzing the experience from a somewhat distant perspective, looking for the directorial and stylistic techniques so laboriously preached in the manifesto, the reviews, the detailed rants about why a particular movie sucked. No matter how well-made the film was, no matter how cool the concept behind the story presented itself, I never really connected with an Andres film on that purely instinctive level I've come to associate with the most entertaining and engaging films I've ever seen. The implication I'm getting at here should be obvious: SATANIK not only achieves that distinction, but does so in such a way that during the first three attempts at writing this review, I was at a complete loss for words as to how I could describe what I had just experienced. SATANIK is Andres's best work to date, a virtuoso masterpiece that combines the cinematic sensibilities of old Andres films like ACTA and DHIADW with the sarcastically funny style of new Andres films like Sniper@ADLH and Cycles. What results surpasses the best elements of either, becoming not only an Andres film that I strongly connected with, but quite possibly the most emotive and engaging 3DMM film of all time.

When you think of black humor in 3DMM, few names come up: Jeremy Dick, Dave Smith, Jeff Ching....not exactly the paragons of intelligent writing in my opinion (though I admired many elements of Jake, Dave Smith's last work, which had little comic relief at all). SATANIK takes all previous forms of darkly funny stories and crushes them without any effort whatsoever. The film is so viciously cruel it's exhilarating. Andres pulls absolutely no punches and tones down nothing in this cheerfully disturbing tale of deplorable acts committed by shameless masters of immorality. When Satanik describes how he raped a blind old lady on the way back from the park to his girlfriend, she replies, "Sounds delicious." There's not even a hint of apologetic tone at any stage of the movie -- it celebrates the decadent desires of its characters and applauds them when they act on their increasingly violent impulses. But rather than dwell on the cruelty committed by Satanik and Dana for its own sake, Andres consistently uses as a way to simply establish the nature of their characters, as well as the growing rift between them and the Inspector, who always seems like he's afraid to acknowledge Satanik's actions because he's afraid of giving into impulses of his own.

The rivalry between the characters of Satanik and the Inspector is established not by a gradual realization, but by Andres repeatedly stating it as an understood fact. When Satanik sees the Inspector on TV for the first time, he contemplates, "Looks like I have a new nemesis." But even as their ongoing conflict is mentioned in the most blatant of ways, the two characters have more chemistry and subtlety to the way they interact than any other rivals in 3DMM history. They're polar opposites of each other -- not in that Satanik is cruel and violent and the Inspector is good and moral, but in that Satanik follows through on his desires and does exactly what he wants and the Inspector does not. When they speak for the first time, more than halfway through the movie, Andres uses a diametric splitscreen to pit their images against each other. Notice that the background of Satanik's panel is a solid color, while the Inspector's is cluttered with windows and a wall made of shaded props. Their conversation reveals why we connect with their battle so strongly: If I may be permitted to make a reference to another film about opposing personalities, Satanik is free in all the ways the Inspector is not.

The style of direction here is absolutely phenomenal. Andres clearly had a blast playing with different storytelling styles, using the moving panel effect we've seen from the unfinished version of the intro in ways so imaginative, that reinforce the action happening onscreen so well that I was absolutely blown away. But it doesn't end there. It'd be easy to create a moving panel gimmick and call SATANIK a comic book movie. Andres pushes the parallels between the medium of movies and comic books to the point where you're not sure which one you're watching. One scene detailing Satanik's escape from a prison in India is told in the form of an early TV program dance number. There's a mini-featurette on Satanik's history, narrated by Satanik himself. Satanik steps out of character for a minute to address the audience about a certain aspect of Andres's direction. I was reminded of JDR Revival's sideways stabs at the fact that it knew it was a movie, but what Andres does is much more difficult and meaningful to the film's style as a whole. SATANIK feels alive at every single moment, and constantly invents new ways to give us more information about the stylized world these characters inhabit.

It'd be nothing without its performances. Jaymond turns in his best role ever as the man himself, using an excitable faux French accent and rapid shifts in tone to bring Satanik to life. I've never been more absorbed in a character than I was listening to Satanik ramble offhand about the nature of impulses and other layers of reality that become clear when you've seen the film. He's a horrible, lowlife bastard, but he's also a lover and a philosopher. It's quite a complex character that never seems to inspire hatred no matter what he does. Jon Barton as the Inspector stole my heart -- his character starts off a bit pathetic and stiff, and becomes increasingly more sympathetic as he starts being honest with himself, partially due to the torment and sadistic proddings of Satanik. On first watch I thought he provided the moral center of the film, but then I realized that while he essentially has a good heart, he's conflicted about what he should be doing and why he should be doing it. The conclusion the two characters arrive at at the end of the film highlights everything that's gone before in terms of their personalities, but I'll come back to that later. Jaymond does another fantastic role as Nina, the Inspector's love interest. Already having one major female voice role on his resume, Jay surpasses his work as Motoko tenfold, giving genuine warmth and depth to Nina. I never once thought of it as a guy playing a girl's voice; Jaymond simply becomes the character, which is a serious feat to accomplish even for professional voice actors. Snatch does a great turn as Dana, minus a few rather wooden-sounding lines (there's one point where she should have a lot of emotion in her voice and sounds like she's reading from a cue card). There's not a single character that didn't come to life in some way -- even Jeff's try at playing an exaggerated character-type works in a comical sort of way.

From the most iconic landmarks of Italy to the often shoddy looking cube scenery of many building interiors, Andres has done a more than competent job of making SATANIK's world feel alive. The film is peppered with references and abandoned ideas recycled into more practical forms; taking a cue from Cycles, Andres has again used one film idea to absorb and implement another, using Travis's character switcher app to insert Satanik into a forgotten action film from his 3DMM Folder release. The mention of Jason Ruiz's abandoned film Jackson in the credits confirmed a suspicion I had about a lifted shot in the mayor's office early in the movie. And while it's dealt with in a way far more mature than any 3DMM film before it, there's an awful lot of gratuitous nudity here. With each instance, I found it funnier and funnier the way Andres inserted nudity just for the sake of it screaming "HELLO, I AM NUDITY", and still feeling relevant to the lives Satanik and Dana live.

So, after 30 engaging, powerful, energetically charged minutes, how does the most entertaining buildup in 3DMM history ultimately resolve itself? By giving us the greatest ending in 3DMM history, setting the bar for future film endings so high that I don't know if it'll ever be topped. Satanik's character delivers an 11th hour monologue that gives me chills when I think about it, and the film ends not on a shocking revelation or an iconic pullaway shot, but with a simple rationalization that will make you smile, shake your head, and feel stunned all at the same time. It wraps up so beautifully and junctions with the rest of the experience in such a powerful way that I was transfixed for over an hour afterwards. Andres has created one of the most amazing, original works I've ever seen in my entire life, nevermind 3DMM. If this is truly the end of Andres De La Hoz's 3DMM career, I feel like he's more than earned it. Congratulations, man.

By the way: Be sure you stay tuned after the credits.

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