Branded
Branded
R | 07 September 2012 (USA)
Branded Trailers

In a dystopian future, where corporate brands have created a disillusioned population, one man's effort to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy leads to an epic battle with hidden forces that control the world.

Reviews
Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
mhol111964-754-567942 This is a complete joke of a film. I will be spoiling it for some folks. First of all, the trailer is very misleading. It makes it look like a sci-fi blockbuster about a monster conspiracy behind marketing. For instance, in the trailer, you see these dragons and candy monsters and wraiths and a cool looking coca-cola monster, all of which can only be seen by our protagonist. This is an intriguing idea that could have worked and been made into a pretty awesome sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately what we have here is a poorly written, incoherent and remarkably dull propaganda snoozefest featuring a bland and uninteresting lead character and subplots that go absolutely nowhere.Nothing in this movie makes any sense whatsoever. Now matter how hard you try to interpret it, you will still be left puzzled.The story begins with our protagonist Misha as a child getting struck by lightning and being informed that things will be different for him. Years later, Misha is grown up and is working for a marketing campaign in Moscow. His boss has a niece named Abby. Misha and Abby fall in love and the remainder of the film is focused on their relationship. Misha's boss then gets a heart attack and then Misha leaves Moscow and becomes a farmer.Six years later, Misha has a dream that tells him to do something. Misha wakes up the next day and sacrifices a red cow which supposedly causes him to see things that no one else can see. Then, Misha returns to Moscow and learns that Abby was pregnant when he left and now has a six year old son. At Moscow, thee is a burger joint and a vegetarian Chinese buffet which are rivals. Misha can see creatures running the businesses. A candy monster runs the burger joint and a bunch of dragons run the Chinese buffet. Then advertising is banned. The end. None of the monsters show up until the last 10 minutes or so. Plus the CG effects are Nintendo 64 style. I just saved you 100 minutes. I do not recommend this film.
barcar93 The chief flaw to "Branded" is that it is slow and ponderous. Also, I developed little to no sympathy for the main character, Misha, although I tried hard to have some understanding of his dreams and goals. A quick synopsis might be:Poor kid, hit by lightning, finds success and fights alien invasion. OrStrange otherworldly forces manipulate humans for their own ends. "Invasions of the Body Snatchers" meets "Monsters Inc". The aliens-- cartoon-like in form--have a strange symbiotic relationship with the humans they inhabit. The aliens appear to thrive off the gluttony (or avarice, or other emotions) generated by the intense marketing efforts. What is the origin of Misa's "marketing talent?" Did it have anything to do with his being struck by lightning as a child? The answer to these questions are still somewhat unclear to me for some reason. Also, the attraction between Misha and Abby felt forced and unnatural. For a time, I thought that Bob and Abby were aliens recruiting Misha for nefarious purposes. So, in summary, I thought the film took too long to get to its point and the main characters Misha, Abby and Bob were not likable or heroic in any way.
mnrz57 I enjoyed the movie so much because it was revealing the darkness side of businesses, advertising and marketing. But what was more interesting about the movie was the fact that marketing is not only used to sell realistic products but also to sell a political belief or ideology. All in favor of the producers and not the consumers. In fact, consumers are brainwashed. I love the last plots of the movie that shows how calm and relaxing would be if advertising and marketing is limited only to announce the product. You might think that this is a boring and cliché movie that repeats the same story that every body heard but amazingly the director managed it very well and enjoying. To me this is very good movie to see at least once to know what really goes on behind the scene.
grandmahawk87 This film was a surprise and very thought-provoking. In the 21st century when the big brand corporations vie for a brain share, this is a cautionary tale, one of marketing gone completely over the top. Madmen of the future beware! Mostly set in Moscow and involving an emerging China, it looks low budget, but leaves you thinking long after the movie ends. May be headed for cult status. The ideas raised here are in direct opposition to current marketing, and seems absurd, but there is a lingering feeling that perhaps it could happen. I would say that this could be a great movie to screen for students of marketing. It reveals all the current advertising strategies as well as adding some crazy outcomes.