[Netflix] Mute, new from Duncan Jones

pixelburp

A trailer popped up for this, its release on Netflix coming on February 23. Wasn't aware this had actually been acquired by the service; I believe this had been a bit of a passion project of Jones' for a while now, so good to see it completed. Jones has a solid CV, even if his work since 'Moon' hasn't quite hit the same heights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma8te7ywEio

Fysh

Hmm, Netflix is a smart move - of his previous films I loved Moon, was quite disappointed by Source Code and skipped Warcraft entirely. If this were a cinema release, I'd be giving it a serious dose of hairy eyeball before I put cash down for it - but since I already have a Netflix subscription (and a home projector) I can get a reasonably big-screen viewing option without being out of pocket if it ends up being disappointing.

pixelburp

Doesn't seem to be reviewing well at the moment, which is a shame. I was looking forward to this given the pedigree, but seems like Netflix has released another flashy dud. Will still check it out to form my own thoughts, but disappointing the talk is negative thus far.

maximoose

Yeah, absolutely trashed by the Guardian

Was curiously optimistic despite the poor trailer, will still give it a watch.

conorhal

maximoose wrote: »

Yeah, absolutely trashed by the Guardian

Was curiously optimistic despite the poor trailer, will still give it a watch.

That's a shame.

I saw the review on Screenrant:
'Where Mute struggles is when it comes to using its Noir-influenced future world to explore meaningful science-fiction issues, and/or weave substantial social and political commentary into the tapestry of its narrative.'

and thought that you could say the same, word for word when takling about it's other sci-fi noir offering Altered Carbon. That show looks great also and it starts with a bang, but sadly it's a routine murder mystery which wears a detective noir suit badly and it's science fiction is a mere pretty diorama for a poorly acted and executed action series.

Fysh

conorhal wrote: »

That's a shame.

I saw the review on Screenrant:
'Where Mute struggles is when it comes to using its Noir-influenced future world to explore meaningful science-fiction issues, and/or weave substantial social and political commentary into the tapestry of its narrative.'

and thought that you could say the same, word for word when takling about it's other sci-fi noir offering Altered Carbon. That show looks great also and it starts with a bang, but sadly it's a routine murder mystery which wears a detective noir suit badly and it's science fiction is a mere pretty diorama for a poorly acted and executed action series.

Horses for courses, admittedly, but 7 episodes in I'm pleasantly surprised by the balancing act that AC has managed between flashy action and examining at least some of the repercussions of its core ideas. It's not the deepest or hardest SF in the world, but tbh it's extremely rare for a TV series, much less a film, to manage the equivalent depth of conceptual examination that hard SF novels manage.

I'd forgotten this was out today - I don't really have a reliabld handle on the Graun's film reviewers so am not parti ularly inclined to trust them at their word. I'll probably watch this over the weekend and report back, but it's sounding like Moon may have been an aberration for Jones' filmic output...

Agent Coulson

Jones’ Futuristic Bowie Tribute Feels Like An Amish ‘Blade Runner’ Spin-Off

How could you not want to see this.

Slydice

It's out. Anyone watch it?

It's got middling enough ratings on IMDB and RT.

Occono

Yeah, did there.

I enjoyed more than the poorest reviews, but it definitely was a let down. Some odd editing choices for sure.

I understand Cactus trying to sweep his friend's pedophilia under the rug, that's how **** gets buried in real life.
But cutting to Duck riding the car like that was odd. Narratively...Duck seems kind of insane? He gets Leo wrapped into it for kicks and he almost taunts Cactus about taking Josie at the end but then he's trying to get Leo to apologise,
it makes less sense the more I think about it. And showing Nadirah's perspective to explain her death is kind of poor narratively. But I was engaged with it,
but I can see liking it less the more I think about it, I'm really suckered in by movies that I WANT to like.

Fysh

I watched it last night, then read that Guardian review - the film is flawed in several ways, but that review is a good example of the "IT MUST BE AWESOME OR APPALLING, THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND", which is made worse by the reviewer's evident fondness for needlessly hyperbolic adverbs.

The film looks good, though it is basically Berlin In The Blade Runner 2049 Future. Paul Rudd & Justin Theroux put in good performances (Rudd channeling a lot of Jason Lee in My Name Is Earl, Theroux looking a fair bit like Marco in Die Hard), and Robert Sheehan & Noel Clarke put in a good turns in small supporting roles.

The narrative is...a bit muddled, at points. There are a couple of bits that felt like bad storytelling -

the out-of-nowhere rewind to show us Cactus killing Naadirah's kidnapping and the POV bit of her death, but also the opening sequence establishing Leo's background

, which is a pity as there are some nice touches in the film. The biggest problem it has is Skarsgard - the role has no dialogue and therefore relies on facial and bodily expression, and Skarsgard is not a good enough actor to pull this off (though perhaps he wasn't given much to work with). Even the best actor wouldn't be able to turn the brief screentime shared between Leo and Naadirah into something truly compelling, which is bad in terms of plot propulsion, but a better performance in Leo's role could at least have made for a character that was engaging to watch. And because we get Leo's quest story intertwined with the story of Cactus and Duck, it runs for longer than is necessary (with the bloat being, oddly, around Leo's not-especially-interesting story, despite him being the protagonist).

Overall I would say it's a flawed film, averaging a 5-6/10 because it flits back and forth between being better and worse than that score. If you can, watch it on a projector or as large a screen as you have, the visuals and design are its strongest elements. The score by Clint Mansell was okay but disappointingly unmemorable (unlike Moon's fantastic score). Put it this way - flawed though it is, it didn't make me want to turn it off within 10 minutes the way Cloverfield Paradox did...

If it ever got a non-Netfllix release, I bet a enterprising faneditor could take scissors to it and craft a better version of the same story. At this point, I wonder if Jones actually needs either a writing partner or a bolshier editor to work with...

Drumpot

Going to watch this soon. Trailer looks just down my alley and I loved moon.

pixelburp

Having started the thread, in the end I totally forgot to check this out. Did so over the weekend and ... well, it was a big let down.

A bit of an incomprehensible mess; not in the sense that the narrative or plot made no sense, more that it felt like a competing jumble of half-formed ideas, concepts or settings that never came together into anything compelling, all packaged together with some occasionally jarring editing to further the discomfort. In general, it left the movie feeling a bit irrelevant, making me wonder what the point of it all was. Paul Rudd was certainly the standout character here, the actor successfully playing against type as a blackmarket surgeon with anger issues, but this template never grew out into anything more interesting or complicated than that napkin sketch. Even so, that was still more than the ostensible lead character fared; the mute, amish Leo traipsed around Berlin with little charisma and thin motivation, if not justification for his existence: an Amish man living in a cyberpunk city is a pretty intriguing viewpoint to write a story, yet the film did absolutely nothing with this; indeed, Leo quickly adapted to most technologies when forced to do so - even the humble gear-stick didn't pose too much trouble. Certainly the visuals and aesthetics of this future Berlin made it an attractive film to watch - albeit one that wore its influences brazenly on its sleeve - but again, the world-building felt muddled and a bit half-baked. A very disappointing film to watch, given it was known to be a passion project Duncan Jones wanted to make ever since 'Moon'.

Drumpot

I watched it last week. I don’t disagree with the reviews or the negative feedback.

But, it’s one of those movies I look back more fondly then I actually enjoyed while watching. Part of that is that I love the trailer soundtrack ( twelve titans - pilgrimage).

I loved the Rudd - Theroux characters and interaction. For me it was the best part of the story. I wasn’t overly enamoured with the main focus of the movie (two lovers) so wasn’t as invested emotionally when that element of the story sorts itself out.

But I enjoyed the bits of the world we saw and as I said I liked some of the more insidious characters lurking throughout before their true character was revealed.

It most certainly didn’t have the same emotional punch that Moon had for me. But none the less I can’t help but remember the movie fondly for a reason I really can’t quite understand.