I saw the trailer for Mute and thought it looked pretty good. I haven't seen Alexander Skarsgard in much since True Blood and Paul Rudd's always an easy excuse to watch a movie.
I saw Mute and thought it was pretty good. Not great, but effective, unique and, at times, surprising. Overall, it was another solid little movie from Duncan Jones. I really loved that it's exploring the futuristic universe of Moon (and possibly Source Code, for all I know).
The primary criticism I've seen for this film is the same one I'm seeing leveled at a lot of decent movies these days: It wasn't great/new, so it was bad. There are many criticisms that I disagree with yet still accept because people's contrary opinions are usually valid. Not in this case. Just because this isn't the "new Blade Runner" or it didn't redefine the sci-fi genre does not make it terrible by default.
There are legit criticisms. I can't argue that the movie's pacing and tone are all over the place.
A Silent Protagonist doesn't work for a lot of audience members, so most people were not fans of Leo. While I agree, that type of character fits a lot better in video games for whatever reason, I couldn't help but empathize with Leo. I thought Skarsgard was appropriately cast here as this Gentle Giant figure. Leo felt like a cross between Alain Delon in Le Samourai and Ron Perlman in City of Lost Children.
The director, Duncan Jones, is also getting grilled for this apparent "failure" of a film. People are disappointed he didn't become the next big director after his beloved sleeper hit Moon. With this, Moon and Source Code, I actually think Jones has found a decent niche to work in for now. They are all sci-fi mysteries which are fairly unambitious and mostly self-contained. I haven't seen Warcraft, but I know it's the one time Jones was given the reins of a big-budget epic like everyone thought he should have and it appears to be his most poorly received film.
The real MVP of this movie, and the unfortunate casualty of its poor reception, is Paul Rudd. He turns in one of his best performances yet as Cactus Bill, walking the line between comic relief and dead seriousness all the way. Him and his complex relationship with Justin Theroux's character Duck takes the film to places that films set in this genre rarely go, places both unexpected and disturbing.
This movie's biggest drawback is being released in such close proximity to Blade Runner 2049 and Netflix's own Altered Carbon. Due to the timing, Mute just looks like it had a cyberpunk makeover for a cheap cash grab. And that might be, but that's not to say it doesn't work. How else would we get a hilarious scene of Leo being forced to tail a flying car through a city in a regular car on the ground, among others?
Film I don't see the problem (WARNING: Ranty)
I saw the trailer for Mute and thought it looked pretty good. I haven't seen Alexander Skarsgard in much since True Blood and Paul Rudd's always an easy excuse to watch a movie.
I saw Mute and thought it was pretty good. Not great, but effective, unique and, at times, surprising. Overall, it was another solid little movie from Duncan Jones. I really loved that it's exploring the futuristic universe of Moon (and possibly Source Code, for all I know).
The primary criticism I've seen for this film is the same one I'm seeing leveled at a lot of decent movies these days: It wasn't great/new, so it was bad. There are many criticisms that I disagree with yet still accept because people's contrary opinions are usually valid. Not in this case. Just because this isn't the "new Blade Runner" or it didn't redefine the sci-fi genre does not make it terrible by default.
There are legit criticisms. I can't argue that the movie's pacing and tone are all over the place.
A Silent Protagonist doesn't work for a lot of audience members, so most people were not fans of Leo. While I agree, that type of character fits a lot better in video games for whatever reason, I couldn't help but empathize with Leo. I thought Skarsgard was appropriately cast here as this Gentle Giant figure. Leo felt like a cross between Alain Delon in Le Samourai and Ron Perlman in City of Lost Children.
The director, Duncan Jones, is also getting grilled for this apparent "failure" of a film. People are disappointed he didn't become the next big director after his beloved sleeper hit Moon. With this, Moon and Source Code, I actually think Jones has found a decent niche to work in for now. They are all sci-fi mysteries which are fairly unambitious and mostly self-contained. I haven't seen Warcraft, but I know it's the one time Jones was given the reins of a big-budget epic like everyone thought he should have and it appears to be his most poorly received film.
The real MVP of this movie, and the unfortunate casualty of its poor reception, is Paul Rudd. He turns in one of his best performances yet as Cactus Bill, walking the line between comic relief and dead seriousness all the way. Him and his complex relationship with Justin Theroux's character Duck takes the film to places that films set in this genre rarely go, places both unexpected and disturbing.
This movie's biggest drawback is being released in such close proximity to Blade Runner 2049 and Netflix's own Altered Carbon. Due to the timing, Mute just looks like it had a cyberpunk makeover for a cheap cash grab. And that might be, but that's not to say it doesn't work. How else would we get a hilarious scene of Leo being forced to tail a flying car through a city in a regular car on the ground, among others?