How to Save the World

Tom Saville's swansong is debatable. Between Space Station Alpha, The Knights Of Camelot and a few scattered birthday movies for communist chums, arguably Powerplay cannot fit the equation thanks to Tom's worthy partners. Space Station Alpha is a movie so badly underrated that to be fair it's never recieved the treatment it so richly deserves, thanks to it's careful editing, plot devices and build-up of immaculate tension. The Knights Of Camelot also stands proud, boasting epic HMC design, fantastic humour and a scattered division of intrigue. However, thanks to both movies' failings (Knights had plot holes bigger than your average golf course, and again SSA's narrative convoluites itself all too often), Tom's fans are greatly divided. You've got to admire a director for not changing this. Tom's made two movies he's immensely proud of and, even if reception is mixed, both films are the movies he set out to make. So it's never been clear what exactly stands out in Tom's career. How To Save The World more than anything else capitalises on his success, and acts as a fitting climax to his retirement.

Speaking strongly as a fan, I stepped over the failings of Tom's work more often than the average angry cookie and chose the path of the optimist: the director portrayed as precisely this so fittingly in EP City. Where many may have argued Knights had been shallow, Tom seems to have an interest in one thing: pure unadulterated entertainment. Fun without permission, eager to get the wheel spinning, Tom's love for quirky comedy and an eclectic character mix makes for a Python-esque surrealist approach hardly ever explored in comedy. Other weapons are more commonly used of course, Sgt. Steve has its typically ott audience specific comedy (which involves anything from embarrassing fallen celebrities to sodomy coverage) et al of Ruiz's work, while Orcus' Confused movies tend to stylistically tell stories, using comedy as a lucid tone rather than a direct path to greatness. The Knights however, have no goals nor ambitions other than to deliver a bucket of wit the only way the British know how. Mild swearing, ludicrous pitches and elaborate characters that ring true of British silliness and a disposition the rest of thw world seems anxious to accept. This may all be utterly preposterous, to which I say

Riffing directly off Tom's radio shows (and not he's careful to add, a sequel), HTSTW is short, sweet and altogether action-less while being utterly adorable. some will load, watch and immediately rant on where exactly HTSTW ever intended to head, but you can easily defend the so called second outing by suggesting HTSTW's charm rests in it's pratfallings and to say a bold word, directionless state. And who cares, this is a Knights movie. Those looking for relative depth can go and oogle Satanik or Redux's political agenda, but the best thing about HTSTW is that it plays out in much the same way animated comedy might. Look at it this way, those of you asking for a narrative mindbender, do you watch Spongebob and look for direct references to the Japanese economy? No? well then such an army of rubbish points can be directed elsewhere. The same goes for Knights in fact. It's interesting to ask yourself what viewers were hoping for other than splendid action comedy. and HTSTW is just that, proving it's jokes to often prove funnier than Knights, provoking the same laughs in five minutes Knights took twenty to upheave. Merlin's titular label is a highlight, as well as a character montage that lovingly build on existing characters. Sadly there are minor things wrong with it. Some said the problem with Knights was that there was too much talking, sometimes expository, and not enough actual action. If this is the case then HTSTW is undoubtedly going to limit it's appeal. On top of this, the whole mood of the movie sometimes feels like a cash-in more than a stand-alone number. If however you're a fan of Tom's work to the extreme that you're looking at this as a tearful farewell, then such gripes can be dismissed as elementary.

Ironically, the die hards will take longer to bid farewell than HTSTW's runtime, but at the end of the day it's cute, it's catchy and it's rewatchable. Even if it does lack substance, the point of the Knights movies were to prove that this is irrelevant compared to sly humour and general cuddly stupidity. Ladies and Gentlemen, Thomas Saville has left the building.