Short Film “Portal: No Escape” is Awesome
Despite the fact that Valve said they had no interest in making a film in the Portal universe, independent film maker Dan Trachtenberg went ahead and made his own.
A woman wakes up in a poorly lit room, wearing a blood stained hospital gown. She finds out that she has a chip installed in the back of her neck, and has no idea where she is or how she got there. She then spends an undisclosed amount of time pacing the room and studying her surroundings and the routines of her captors before she discovers an Aperture Sciences hand held portal device and attempts her escape.
While fans have been making short films, and even full length movies, set in the universes of their favourite series and games, their efforts often come short in terms of talent and funding and end up as little more than cheesy tribute pieces. Portal: No Escape, however, stands out from the rest because it is actually quite good.
The short film has all the hallmarks of a carefully thought out thriller. The pacing is excellent, with quick cuts back and forth while the ambient music slowly builds up. The lighting and the sound are equally suitable, and the special effects are as good if not better than a lot of what we see in Hollywood movies these days. Maybe the budget for this project wasn’t as high as most studio movies, but the team made good use of.
Also, there are some genuinely cool action sequences that play out in the later half of the film. Some portal jumping combat and acrobatics is always appreciated.
Clocking in at just under 7 minutes, this is a short film that fans of the series will not want to miss.
In other news, be sure to check out our Hands-On Review of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Will the Classic FPS ever grow old?
