Must we take e-sports seriously? While this might not rank any higher than golf on the scale of athletics prowess, at least golfers get out of the cart once in a while. I suppose this is more like race car driving, but race car driving is … how shall I put this? Difficult. There’s a lot more to it than a standard commute.
I hear you say, “But Frog, isn’t that true of e-sports, too? That if you’re really good at it, there’s a lot more to it … especially in mano a mano battles?” Well, sure. But I’m not prepared to be that generous at the moment. Friendly Fire is about an international competition over a first-person shooter game called Project Xandata. Now, and I am being 100% serious here, wouldn’t you rather see a live action version of first-person shooter gaming than three guys sitting in chairs?
E-sports athletes have agents!? Really? And they can make a living doing this? Really? I suppose if nothing else, I’ve learned a few things from this film. As we begin this modern Bad News Bears tribute band, the pic opens with Team Isla (the Philippines national Project Xandata team) down a “man.” Their showboaty diva has signed with, I dunno, Croatia? Uganda? Barbados? Does it really matter?
Hazel (Loisa Andalio) is a kid from a broken home working in an internet café. Thanks to the tutelage of her jailbird brother, “Zel” is really good at Project Xandata. Hold up. Isn’t the point of video games that they fade in popularity? Have you ever seen a Pac-Man or Asteroids tournament? How long has Project Xandata got? Nevermind. One night, Hazel takes out Team Isla all by herself and the next day, there’s an agent at her door.
Can Zel get her act together to play video games professionally? Why are we rooting for this? Shouldn’t we
be focused on the mom or the brother? What’s that? Mom’s an unsupportive alcoholic who takes Hazel’s winnings? And the brother gets out of jail where he had perfected brooding to an art form? Say, can one get paid for brooding? If you can make money playing video games, there ought to be a market for brooding, knowwhatI’msayin’?
The underdog story and the fights-against-misogyny story are classics for good reasons. Everyone loves an underdog, and the world is still man-heavy no matter what MAGA tells you. So it’s easy to root for Hazel. And, yet, I’m watching people cheer on people playing video games. There has to be a better way to spend your time, no?
There once was a game called Zel
Who played that Xandata so well
That they made her a pro
And she now gets to go
To the e-sporting circle of Hell
Not Rated, 105 Minutes
Director: Mikhail Red
Writer: Paul Soriano, Mark Victor
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: E-athletes?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Your grandfather who thinks Atari was space age
