Josh Keown | Night Terror Novels 🧛🏻♂️’s review published on Letterboxd:
No dialogue.
- N/A (N/A)
Found on YouTube here.
An early British comedy short, Explosion of a Motor Car (or The Delights of Automobiling as it is sometimes known; a funnier title) employs the stop trick technique discovered by Georges Méliès to show exactly what the title would suggest - a motor car exploding in an exaggerated fashion.
Though it lacks the inventiveness and technical marvel of the French counterparts it is inspired by, Explosion of a Motor Car does have some things going for it. Firstly, it is actually shot outdoors and the third dimension to the set is appreciated. Also, as a comedy film it does achieve its purpose, as the explosion itself is cartoonishly funny, and the nonchalance with which the police officer collects the falling body parts is wry and right on the money.
VERDICT; One of the many, many, many British (and American) films to 'borrow' most of its ideas and techniques from earlier European pioneers. As such Explosion of a Motor Car feels a little too much like a retread of a well worn path, and ends up a middling affair.
That said, the comedy is spot on and does offer a few good chuckles; namely the police officer's unperturbed attitude and the excellent employment of comedic delay as the limbs go flying.
3/5 or 6/10