By Nick Nitkowski 

It does my heart good to see people who originated on YouTube just having fun and eventually gaining a following in the millions and using their abilities to make a film that they’re passionate about. Granted, most of them took the easy road by making movies that cater to their established brand only for them to be terrible films. I’ve seen it many times with creators like Fred, Smosh, KSI, Shane Dawson, and Logan Paul. But once in a blue moon, we get creators that put their heart and soul into a project and it becomes a great movie like Michael and Danny Philippou, the minds behind “Talk to Me” and “Bring Her Back”. Now, the latest YouTube star, renowned for his gameplay content, Markiplier has caught the moviemaking bug and decided to adapt a 2022 indie game called “Iron Lung” for the big screen. The question is, will this video game adaptation sink to the bottom like so many other adaptations before it, or will it rise above the surface of the blood ocean of failures and succeed?

“Iron Lung” as I had mentioned is based off a 2022 video game of the same name, created by David Szymanski, where a convict must man a cramp and rustic submarine and explore an ocean of blood, but while exploring soon realizes that something else might be lurking within the blood ocean. Markiplier, whose real name is Mark Fischbach, writes and directs this adaptation as well as stars as the main character convict who is forced to man the submarine known as the Iron Lung. 

This is another one of those single location movies where the audience is with the main character in one location for the entirety of the film. It was only very recently when I mentioned this genre working in some cases and failing in others like the freshly released “Mercy”. However, where that one failed, where the film makes us watch the main character watch events unfold, this one actually succeeds by having enough intrigue and having us discover new things throughout the movie with the main character actually doing things and trying to figure things out. It never bored me, and it managed to keep me interested the whole time.

While there are other characters in the movie, mostly via voice acting, this is 100% Markiplier’s movie. As I had mentioned, he wrote, directed, and starred in the movie. The entire movie literally rested on Markiplier’s shoulders, and I must say that he did a really good job. I’ve seen a handful of his videos on YouTube, and I’ve definitely seen him yell, scream, rage-quit, and crack jokes, and he does this all in a way that makes everybody laugh. But I’ve never seen him act in anything before. Seeing this as his first performance in a film, I thought he did a great job. Nothing felt fake or forced when he was reacting to what was happening around him. He really carried this film well.

Overall, “Iron Lung” is a well-made video game adaptation that is clearly a passion project for YouTube star Markiplier. It may not have scares, but it does have intrigue. It has WTF moments, it has good acting, and it has blood, lots of it. This is an adaptation that is sure to satisfy not only fans of the indie game but also fans of the Markiplier and even fans of video games in general. The film intrigued me so much that I’m actually interested in checking out the actual game to see how it compares to the film. Or perhaps, I’ll watch Markiplier’s gameplay of “Iron Lung” on YouTube, which does exist. If I had to find any negatives towards the movie, I’d say that there was a moment in the middle of the film where the moment slowed down a bit, but it definitely picked back up soon after. But as the film stands as a whole, it was an adaptation that was a breath of fresh air in my Lungs because this film was Iron solid.

4 stars