Watch the Anthem prequel short film Conviction from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp

Neill Blomkamp! A director so visionary, that he has an extra L in his name to prove it. He’s the fella that made an alien prawn apartheid film in the form of District 9, introduced the world to the idea of assassin Afrikaaners in exo-suits with Elysium and the less said about Chappie, the better. Seriously, why would anyone want Die Antwoord in their movie?

You already had everything in place to create the perfect spiritual successor to Short Circuit, including Hugh Jackman in a mullet. That movie could have been perfect were it not for that awful duo. Anyway, while Blomkamp may be hit or miss with his movies, there’s no denying that the man knows how to actually make a good-looking film. Kervyn has actually mentioned this before, highlighting the fact that Blomkamp is a genius behind the camera, but the last person you want actually writing the script for a flick.

Heck, give him somebody’s else material, and Blomkamp can create something magical. Like this glorified trailer slash short film for Anthem which is named after the best Splinter Cell game, Conviction:

Even if the game turns out to be entirely okay, Anthem still has one ace up its sleeve in comparison to that other hybrid RPG loot ‘n shooter which rhymes with Endlessly Poo (I’m kidding I still love you Bungie): Actual proper lore. If the recent demo was any indication, Anthem wants to share its legends and myths with players.

It wants to build a solid foundation of story with which to create new adventures within its universe. Tales which actually make sense and contain information, instead of being vague waves of the hand that sprout gibberish in an effort to sound all mystical and smart and stuff. That’s something that I can appreciate, and while I doubt we’ll ever see Hollywood thrust a $250 million blockbuster budget into the hands of EA and Bioware to bring Anthem to the big screen, I’m more than happy to see smaller projects like this crop up from time to time.

Anthem is out today for EA Access Origin members, or at least I think so because when you need an Excel spreadsheet to understand who gets what and when, that’s not usually a good sign for a game.

Last Updated: February 15, 2019