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Articles

''End Game'' - Imagine Films / Corran Addison

First, in a word, let me give you my review of the kayak video industry as a whole: tedious. Personally I blame MTV, which has given birth and credence to "The Formula". The basic idea here is: shoot some kayak (fill in the blank) video, get some pseudo-pop "aggro" tunes that are just obscure enough (or maybe not), spice it up with meaningless athlete comments and some "lifestyle" shots, mix it all together and publish, film, edit, publish, repeat ad nauseam. For that reason, I don't review kayak videos; this is my first one. Why now, you ask? Because "End Game" purports to be a deviation from The Formula. It has been described to me as a buddy film, a travelogue or even something approximating "Endless Summer" which I guess I'll have to go watch now. If I had to describe this video, it would be a self-portrait of Corran Addison as he funds a worldwide kayak vacation by making people watch - a glory quest.

So, I am not the best person in the world to review a kayak video. I don't own many of them, and I don't watch them that much because in my opinion once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. My credentials as film reviewer aren't much better, but I did spend 7 years in art school, took enough courses in philosophy to minor, and work as a freelance writer. So take THAT Roger Ebert!

WHAT WENT WRONG

If this is a character film, the characters never interact. If Arnd Schaeftlein is supposed to be to Corran as Danny Glover is to Mel Gibson, it comes off about as successfully as if someone re-wrote "Lethal Weapon" such that Glover's only line were "Sho' fire mista Gibson! I's a shootin' as fast as I can!" Ditto Julie Dion, and the rest are a blur of forgettable names and faces (not because of who they are, but how much screen time they get). Who are these people? What's their motivation? Are they reciting a script or being interviewed? It doesn't seem to matter much. So in that regard, End Game doesn't give enough effort to storyline basics such as plot, character development, conflict resolution, etc. to escape The Formula.

Visually, I wasn't always entirely engaged by what was being presented on the screen. Too much time is devoted to what is essentially commuting and running shuttle. Not that commuting can't be made fascinating • it just isn't particularly interesting in this case. I applaud Corran for trying to extend his scope to go beyond the river, but he never convincingly connects what happens off the river to what happens on the river. We just have to take his word that these are the same people. The countries aren't made any more real than if they'd just been looked up on a globe. Corran also takes a "More is more" approach to just about everything, and I always find this aesthetic about as appealing as a Las Vegas hooker (um... that is to say 'not very'). Build up to something, or hold something out as being the most important or you commit the worst sins in modern media: overcommunication and confusion.

So there wasn't much insight into people, places or ideas. There wasn't much said about kayaking other than it happens and here are some people doing it. Now, granted, they are doing it much better than the average kayaker, but I've seen people kayak better than me. Actually, that's not entirely fair, he does take a chapter to explain that people do actually get hurt. So there's that.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The highlight of this film for me is Corran's narration. Corran is a very well read and articulate person. He's also the first person I've ever heard use the word 'palimpsest' accurately and appropriately in casual conversation. The verbal descriptions are truly wonderful at times. Unfortunately, about halfway through the film, the poetic style he uses at the beginning deteriorates into a perfunctory description of what's going on. At his best, Corran paints much more interesting pictures with his words than with his video camera, at worst he regurgitates "Fear and Loathing" for the zillionth time. Hunter S. Thompson has gotten past Vegas, why can't the rest of the world?

Hawaii Sur Rhone looks pretty cool. There are a handful of shots in there that have interesting technical runs, especially the waterfall that seems to launch boaters into a barrel-roll every time. Those two things alone might make this video worth owning. I also liked the brief look at "on the fly" kayak modification (check out the screenshots on the CAKE review link).

Finally, I think this is the right idea and the right direction for kayak videos to go. A few years ago, it was enough to just watch someone kayaking because there was very little media for kayakers. Now there's Scott Lindgren, Lunch Video Magazine... just go to whitewatervideo.com and you can see that no one is hurting for choices anymore. Kayaking deserves a deeper look, and Corran is at least willing to try to get to the next level of kayak video here.

SUMMARY

While the average kayaker reading this review might think, "Damn dude! Take it easy on the guy, it's just a kayak video". I'm not personally willing to dismiss Corran as just a kayak video maker like that. He clearly has the potential, willingness and means to make something more than just a kayak video, and he has set a higher goal for himself, so I'm going to take him seriously. No one gets better as an artist by being given nothing more than polite approval - there has to be a meaningful critique for progress to happen. As a formalistic Kayak Video, End Game is fine and gives me the headaches I always get from fast edits and pop music. And I like to watch home videos of people I consider friends, so it was fun for me in that sense also, but End Game reaches far beyond its grasp as a storytelling vehicle.

I have to put one very strong caveat on this review - in case I have not made this clear, I am not a person who generally enjoys kayak videos. If you are the kind of person that likes kayak videos, chances are you will disagree with me and that you'll really like End Game. And I can honestly say that it's better than most of the kayak videos I've seen both in production value and paddling. So, with that in mind, should you buy it? Yes, if you have a annual budget devoted to kayak videos, this is definitely the one to buy. Otherwise just waste your money on Chili Cheese Fritos like me.

Fortunately, this is just one person's pretentious opinion. There are others who thought it was an excellent film:

CAKE

Freestyle Kayaker

P.S. - One yellow dishwashing glove?

See full product details in the Playak Buyers Guide

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