From Moon to Source Code, and Warcraft to Mute, Duncan Jones has long since proven himself a leading light as both an intelligent sci-fi filmmaker and a director who knows a thing or two about bringing a unique artistic sensibility to ambitious, large-scale projects. And his latest, a long-gestating animated adaptation of 2000AD's Rogue Trooper sci-fi comic book series, looks set to prove the apotheosis of Jones' creative journey to date. Built using Epic Games' cutting edge Unreal Engine 5, Rogue Trooper sees Aneurin Barnard (Doctor Who) star as a lone survivor super soldier on a mission for vengeance
accompanied, naturally, by a sentient gun, backpack, and helmet imbued with his dead fellow squaddies' personalities. If it sounds wild on paper, then you ain't seen nothin' yet. Just check out our exclusive first-look images from the movie below;
Lost soldiers traversing barren, toxic wastelands? Check. A great big hulking tank-of-the-future imposing itself on Rogue Trooper's Nu Earth setting? Check. A pair of Jemaine Clement and Matt Berry voiced looting baddies called Mr Brass and Mr Bland that delicately straddle the brow of the hill overlooking uncanny valley? Check. Yeah, we're thinking Jones is back
and not a moment too soon. For those unfamiliar with Dave Gibbons and Gerry Finley-Day's classic British comics, Rogue Trooper is set on the aforementioned Nu Earth, where war rages between the fascistic Norts and the democratic Southers. Barnard then plays Rogue, a Genetic Infantryman (GI, reddit?) engineered for battle in the planet's poisonous atmosphere who, per the movie's synopsis, "finds himself the sole survivor of an invasion force." Turns out his unit have been sold out by a traitor, which is where the sentient combat kit and vengeance quest all come in. It's heady, surreal, eye-poppingly creative stuff
aka the perfect source material for a new Jones joint.
Alongside our first look at the film, Rebellion and Liberty Films have also given us a peek behind the curtain at the innovative facial performance capture wizardry that helped bring Jemaine Clement and Matt Berry to Nu-Earth;
With cutting-edge tech being used to turn comic panels into cinematic spectacle, Jones at the helm, and a stacked ensemble that elsewhere includes deep breath Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden, Daryl McCormack, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Alice Lowe, Asa Butterfield, and Sean Bean, Rogue Trooper's long journey to the big screen is nearly at its end. Consider us signed up, seated, and locked in for another trip into the unique mind of Duncan Jones, coming to a cinema near you very soon.