Mute is a neo-noir science fiction film from Duncan Jones, known
for Moon and Source Code – two great sci-fi movies. Set in 2035 Berlin, it follows Leo (Alexander
Skarsgård), a man left mute by a childhood accident and an Amish upbringing, as
he scours the city’s darkest streets and corners for the missing Naadirah (Seyneb
Saleh), the love of his life. His search
soon gets him entangled with gangsters, prostitutes, and deplorable AWOL US Army
surgeons (Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux), leading him to uncover Naadirah’s
secrets.
I was very interested of watching
Mute because: a.) I really enjoyed Duncan
Jones’ previous films (yes, even the critically panned film adaptation of Warcraft),
and I expected to en joy this movie as well; and b.) this is supposedly a “spiritual
sequel” to Moon. However, it turns out Mute is not really a sequel in the technical sense of the
word. But it does establish that the
two movies share a universe. Scattered
across the movie are GERTY and Lunar Industries Easter eggs. And this one scene, a news footage of the Sam
Bell clones (Sam Rockwell cameo) testifying in court is shown.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is less exciting than that few seconds’ worth of Moon reference. There
is something to like about its attempt to be a legitimate film noir that just
happens to be set on a futuristic cyberpunk world. However, the narrative is completely cluttered
and unimaginative, lacks consistent substance and thrills, and feels pointless
in the end. Furthermore, though it
achieves some stylistic highs from combining film noir with scifi, other movies
have already done this before and had much better results.
Mute isn’t exactly an awful movie.
It’s visually polished and the performances are good – especially from Paul
Rudd and Justin Theroux, who seem to be having fun with their characters. It’s an okay watch. But you would expect something more from the filmamaker that brought you Moon. Hence,
this movie comes off as disappointingly inconsequential.
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