Member review

Clue is a 1985 film based on the popular board game Cluedo, known as Clue in America. For those who are not familiar with the game, players walk around a large house trying to solve a murder. They have to figure out who the killer is, which weapon was used and in which room it happened. The movie takes this concept and adds some creative licence to make it adaptable to film and some slapstick humour to make it appealing and easy to watch. The film starts off with all of the main characters/suspects being introduced as they enter an unfamiliar mansion. Everyone is assigned a codename identical to the characters in the game are given time for to show their personality. This can be confusing if you are familiar with the board game as the characters in the film are not colour coded as they are in the game and I found that some characters seemed better suited for a different pseudonym. After this the motive for the characters arriving at the mansion, and for them becoming possible murderers, are introduced and the killing promptly starts. In order for the film to be appropriate to all, this is rarely shown in any detail and is undercut by the film’s effective use of slapstick comedy and fairly clever humour. The film soon goes beyond the singular killing in the board game as more bodies are added and the story progresses. I like this as, although they are restricted by the boundaries of the board game, they show that they are willing to make changes in order to make the story better. One of the most interesting aspects of the film is its three alternative endings. This would have made some fans see the film multiple times in the cinema to view all 3 endings. Furthermore, this would have made the film difficult to ruin for others as you would not necessarily be able to tell others the ending to the version that they watch. The inclusion of 3 equally probable endings does have its drawbacks though, as it means that you can’t really guess the ending as you would be able to do in many other films in the mystery genre. Altogether, having 3 different endings is an impractical but interesting concept, especially as it is common for films nowadays to record multiple unused endings so that none of the cast and crew can leak spoilers online before the film’s release. It is worth mentioning that I personally, don’t tend to like films made before 2000. I’m not sure if it is the slow pacing, the special effects or the dated references and style, but a pre 21st century film has to be pretty good for me to like it. That said, I enjoyed Clue a lot more than I thought I would, despite its age. I found the comedy strange at first as it seemed to undermine the seriousness of the murders, but it soon grew on me and I ended up liking the film a lot more because of it. I find that many dramas after The Dark Knight tend to take themselves a bit too seriously, so it is nice when you find a film that is self-aware of how bizarre the situation is. Superheroes can be as gritty as they want but they tend to forget that they are still grown men running around in costumes. One thing that didn’t age well are certain references to communism, gender and sexuality. Many of these have gone the way of the ‘Don’t Mention the War’ skit and come across as more awkward than funny. The choice of the homosexual character to be the buffoon in many scenarios is a great example. You can understand that this was the common stereotype in films and TV at the time, but would still be heavily offensive if done today. Overall, I thought that Clue held up to modern films very well. The comedy is still pretty funny, the pacing was quite fast and the story was engaging. It adapted the board game well, without being restricted by it but was let down by some references that didn’t age well. Ultimately worth a watch but viewers should bear in mind the time that it was made in.