Droneman

Kryštof Hádek as the Ingenious Droneman Don Quixote de la Bickle and Jiří Mádl as Skymaster Twerp in a film by Petr Zelenka and his friends: Who’s the Bigger Dick Here? It's an interesting portrayal of how the sense of justice is now often perceived as something that ties its owner to naivety, helplessness, and effectively stupidity. However, to make it more believable, the characters shouldn't be mere caricatures, and the whole thing shouldn't give the impression that the USS Abraham Lincoln is maneuvering in the small Czech pond. I'll leave Mádl's further cretinous variation of spoken expression without comment; the creators wanted it that way, but next time, I’d kindly ask for subtitles for him, just like for Russian and English. (08/27/2024)

Despite current Czech cinema failing miserably at catching up with European standards, a piece of work happens to stand out once in a while, with at least its own face and something to say. And Droneman is exactly one of them. The movie steps out on a risky slope (that is, anywhere but the mainstream) with Kryštof Hádek in a classic “out there” role and Jiří Mádl who has an amusing lisp, and features a bit of everything—be it social satire, quirky comedy or political thriller. How could I not let myself enjoy such a colourful combination of genres in our dull landscape? And what about you? [LFŠ 2020] (08/24/2020)

Just seeing that a new Peter Zelenka film is coming to theaters is enough for me, that's all I care about and I know I'm going to see it. At most I'll allow myself one trailer, but no more; I don't read interviews, I don't check up on anything, I want to be surprised.... and then I'm surprised every time. Droneman is another proof of how great a world-class filmmaker Petr Zelenka is. He takes a subject that touches him deeply, mixes reality with ingenious fiction, and creates a world that literally draws the viewer in and then lets them watch and make up their own minds. Droneman is just that – believable and yet surprising. A Czech film, but with a world view and scope,which it simply isn't afraid of. Petr Zelenka doesn't compromise and makes the film the way he wants to make it, and if the audience is on the same wavelength, they will enjoy this grim, ugly story about the fact that when it comes to down to it you actually have only two choices (which Lenka.Vílka beautifully captured in her comment). The story is as deadly serious as it is absurd, as bleak as it is hopeful, as full of exclamation points as it is of question marks. In the theater, I felt sorry for the audience, who were amused by "Madl talks weird" and "Hádek is weird", grasping at every hint of a joke (actually a pretty cynical smirk) so they could finally laugh again, and walking away shaking their heads at the closing credits. Too bad. The film deals, among other things, with the fact that the Czech courts can't handle the world's problems because they haven't grown into it yet. And it's the same with Droneman – it won't appeal to immature viewers. Too bad and good for them at the same time. (02/21/2020)

An ambitious Czech film that tries to break out of the mold and present something quite unusual for our region. I fully appreciate such a bold move, but the result remains quite mixed for me. The idea of incorporating U.S. politics from the Bush era into a local film was intriguing, but I could have envisioned a more refined execution. Kryštof Hádek and Jiří Mádl, excel, and thanks to them, Droneman didn't fall into the dubious realm of mediocrity. I also liked that it was difficult to predict which direction director/writer Petr Zelenka would take; there were countless possible paths, so kudos for that. The climactic ending, with Dick Cheney arriving in Prague, had its moments, I'll admit. Overall... an interesting mix of genres, but one viewing was enough for me. For me, it’s 6/10. (03/12/2022)

Droneman is a very strange film, in a good and not so good way. I was definitely intrigued by the rather unorthodox premise by Czech standards, but its impact is (in my opinion) slightly loses in the execution, which offers both strong and bizarre scenes. I can understand the intentions of the makers, who wanted to portray (in)justice and (mis)use of technology, but at times it felt too chaotic and stilted. For example, I found it strange how easily Pavel could get to where he needed to go without anyone being taken aback by his dodgy looks, and the scenes with Veronika Khek Kubařová seemed completely unnecessary. The film is certainly not without courage to show things that are not spoken about out loud, but I had the impression that it could have been done better. (07/23/2020)