Let’s kick off with some statistics: Part of W+K’s Nike #riskeverything campaign, Passion director Jon Saunders’ animated The Last Game took over seven months to make, involved over 300 people (including 101 artists and 25 animators), 3.6 million man-minutes were worked by the production team and the film comprises over 20k GB of data.
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And now to ease your way through the narrative here’s a synposis:
The Last Game stars some of the world’s greatest footballers on a mission to save football from the hands of a villainous mastermind, The Scientist.
The Scientist – a suave, smooth operating genius – has been analyzing the game for years. He is dismissive of the audacious risks that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar Jr. take on the pitch. His research, which includes the claim that Ibrahimovic’s overhead kicks have a 76 percent chance of missing, leads him to create The Clones, automatons programmed to remove all risk-taking and focus only on efficiency, decision-making and results.
Following the opening scene, where The Scientist introduces The Clones, we witness the dulling effect of their style of play on the world of football. Brilliant football ceases to exist and the game becomes almost extinct. With the real players now leading “normal” lives, Brasilian legend Ronaldo (O Fenómeno) decides enough is enough and goes on a mission to reignite the game with brilliant football from the re-assembled group of the world’s most brilliant players.
He rescues a dejected Zlatan from a bookstall outside a stadium, leaving copies of I AM ZLATAN behind. Cristiano Ronaldo, now relegated to life as a window mannequin, is snatched by his namesake from the SPORT-U-GAL shop window. Iniesta’s life as a farmer is over before you can say Magista. Neymar and David Luiz’s new careers as hairdressers are cut short as El Fenómeno nabs them, and Wayne Rooney’s stint as a fisherman washes up when he’s bundled into the back of a van.
Once together, O Fenómeno manages to convince the skeptical Players with a stirring speech about beating The Clones. To remove any doubts, the Brasilian legend reminds them of some of their own greatest moments as they walk the stairs of his secret location.
The world’s attention turns to the showdown between The Players and The Clones to determine the future of football.
