Gorillaz – Stylo (Music Video Review)

In an ode to Mad Max, the Gorillaz new video for their release “Stylo” is exciting, fast-paced and beautifully stylized. Although there is no hint of a plot, the Gorillaz were able to accomplish a thrilling five-minutes filled with car chases, gunfire and robotic/cartoon gorillas.

And Bruce Willis.

The video starts with a black 1969 Chevy Camaro, heavily damaged and covered in bullet-holes, barreling down a desert-lined highway. The song, which features Mos Def and Bobby Womack, starts to thump as the scene shows an obese police officer eating a dozen donuts by his squad car. At this point the Camaro speeds past the cop, who struggles to get into his car. The video turns to the driver of the Camaro, showing it to be filled with the cartoon members of the Gorillaz.

You may be wondering what the Gorillaz got themselves into. You will not get your answer. One can only assume that they robbed a bank since one of them is wearing a mask, and they are driving a getaway car. It really doesn’t matter though as the chase scene plays out just fine to the audience even if you have no clue what is going on. The production meeting for the video must have consisted of a short brainstorming session.

“Let’s have a car chase scene with a famous actor in it. Everybody good with that? Great, let’s go get lunch.”

But the video doesn’t need anything more because it works just as it is.

Whatever prefaced the start of the video must have started a Gorillaz disagreement. The cartoon Gorilla in the passenger seat is sulking with his face cupped in his hands. The small Gorilla in the back seat has a giant bullet hole in his head, but is still alive. The large green Gorilla, who is driving, is just trying to make a getaway. Once the police officer catches up with the speeding Camaro, the backseat Gorilla pulls out a shotgun and shoots it at the cop car, causing the cruiser to veer off the road and slam into a billboard. This gets the job done, but the other Gorillaz are not pleased with the shotgun wielding little guy.

At this point the car passes a bright red El Camino with a cigar-chomping Bruce Willis sitting in the driver’s seat. Willis pulls onto the road and speeds up to try and catch the group. Who knows if Willis is playing a tough cop — like his John McClane character in Die Hard — or is another bad guy. Either way, Willis plays the role he is comfortable with; the one where he is a badass. At one point he stares directly into the camera as if to say, “Yes, I’m Bruce Willis and I’m in this music video.”

Willis uses the souped-up dragster to meet up with the Gorillaz, where he pulls a .44 Magnum out and proceeds to shoot up the remaining parts of the windshield and side mirrors.

The last 30 seconds of the video makes the least amount of sense as the fat and injured police officer gets swallowed up by the smoke monster from LOST, and the Gorillaz drive their car off of a cliff and into the Ocean. The car then turns into a robotic shark, similar to a Transformer, and swims away.

The End.

Although very confusing, the video is a cinematic joy to watch and analyze. The Gorillaz, hopefully, will make some sort of sequel in order to fill in some of the plot gaps.

Posted on 03/8/10. Back To Blog - Tags: Bobby Womack, Bruce Willis, Gorillaz, Mos Def, Rock & Alternative, Winning

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