Mute (2018)

Honestly, this movie could have been so much better. It was entirely too slow, and when it had a chance to have a Walking Tall moment, it didn't even show the fight.

This is my first review on imdb. The cinematography in this piece is on point. The characters and roles unexpected, which though some people have criticised in their reviews, in my opinion was a true plus.The performances were convincingly over the top, and really made this film shine.Though the budget for this film may not have been "blade runner size," the actings truly compensated, and more.Several people have written in their reviews that it doesn't make sense, the story line doesn't go anywhere, etc. Simply untrue.If the speed or pace don't seem to make sense, you just need to pay closer attention. I switched on the subtitles to that I wouldn't have to go back and forth too much.If it was in a theatre, I might have lost myself at a few points and not been able to piece it all together in the end. However, watching this from Netflix and being able to pause, reflect, and continue, there was nothing left unexplained, unless intentionally.There were tiny little teasers tastefully sprinkled through this film. There were cringeworthy moments, so sweetly short that before you could turn away from the screen, would be over.I had to write this review because if you were not to watch this film, you truly would be missing out on something.Films like these are hard to come by, and pick out through all the garbage that floats at the surface of Netflix.Nice work by them, and I hope they continue developing unlikely storylines and scenarios such as this one.

When I use the word weird, it doesn't necessarily mean weird-bad, coz I also see people use weird-beautiful, weird-crazy and they mean it in a positive way. For me it's just weird-weird leaning on the not so positive side of the scale. I am not sure if the people behind this film want to be classified as avant-garde but somehow stopped in the middle of the delivery , like someone who is delivering a wedding cake but claims to have a bumpy road as an excuse for a botched cake. With Paul Rudd portraying the thug as best as he could and Matthias Schoenaerts in the title role as the Mute, theirs is an oddball combination like spaghetti served with cranberry sauce, either one is very hungry or very experimental to give it a two thumbs up. If you're an insomniac - this film will act as your medicine for the night.

Shortly after he wowed cinema-going audiences with his independent debut feature Moon back in 2009, director Duncan Jones talked about his next project, a 'spiritual sequel' to his breakthrough film about a mute man searching for his lost love. Of course, this didn't exactly go to plan, as he followed Moon with the entertaining Source Code in 2011 and big-budget misfire Warcraft: The Beginning in 2016. Jones' stock had fallen, but strength of his debut meant that his next film would always invite interest. After years trying to get his idea onto the screen, Mute finally arrives on Netflix, the kind of platform that would allow Jones to follow through on his unique ideas without the pressure of having to please an audience who had just coughed up £10 to see the film.The result is a bigger disappointment than Warcraft, mainly because his 2016 effort already had the video-game adaptation stigma attached to it so expectations were understandably reserved. Mute is strange, but not in a good way. It spends over 2 hours telling two loosely connected stories which, when they finally cross over, will no doubt inspire "is that it?" reactions for those who try to remain patient with it. The film starts with an accident involving a young boy in the water. His Amish parents refuse to have the surgery that would allow him to speak, so the boy, named Leo, grows up physically scarred and unable to speak. Unfortunately for him, the technology of the future relies heavily on voice commands, so the imposing lug (played by Alexander Skarsgard) finds it difficult to connect to other people and his surroundings, all except his girlfriend, the beautiful and blue-haired Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh).A lot of time is spent developing their relationship as one of tenderness and genuine affection, but it is clear that Naadirah has a secret. This is the kind of the film where a character says "I love you, but you don't know me," and keeps a straight face. One night, Leo shows up at the Berlin nightclub in which they both work, only to find her missing. Fearing the worst, the hulking mute sets about uncovering the truth for himself, encountering sleazy brothels and dangerous gangsters along with way. Meanwhile, disgraced American surgeon 'Cactus' Bill (Paul Rudd) runs a black market clinic for the criminal underworld, as he waits for the arrival of forged documents that will allow him and his young daughter to leave Germany. The shifty Bill, a melting pot of anger, bitterness and shame, clearly has something to hide, and so does his creepy friend Duck (Justin Theroux). Could it be related to Naddirah's disappearance?One of Mute's main issues is that it takes a hell of a long time to get going, taking a whole hour to reveal where it's taking you, and by which point you'll have likely lost interest. The stories of Leo's quest to find Naddirah and the illegal shenanigans of Bill and Duck feel like they belong in two completely different movies, with the tones differing so significantly that it disrupts the film's flow and atmosphere. Rudd, as a sort of evil version of his moustachioed Brian Fantana character from Anchorman, feels miscast at first before settling down and eventually stealing the film. The biggest disappointment of all is the sense of the world-building. This is a longtime passion project for Jones and the idea has likely lingered in his mind for years, but the world he has created feels shockingly hollow. It feels like an attempt to replicate Blade Runner, but it's really put to shame by last year's sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 masterpiece, and the visuals are so unengaging that they hinder the plot rather than moving it forward. There is a hint of a good movie buried in there somewhere, so this is precisely why I'll still go into Jones' next movie with high hopes.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com