Mute

Dir: Duncan Jones

2018

**

I really like Duncan Jones. 2009’s film Moon was amazing, Source Code was very clever, his 2002 film Whistle is one of the best short sci-fi movies ever made in my opinion and I even thought War Craft was good when everyone else slated it. However, I think he’s made a big mistake with 2018’s Mute, a film that he has stated as his dream project. Mute is an idea Jones has had for quite some time, indeed, he approached Sam Rockwell about it well before Moon was even written. It has remained in development hell for over a decade, Jones made Moon especially for Rockwell and then had the idea of making Mute in the distant future, as a sort of sequel, and part two of a sci-fi trilogy that would all happen in the same universe at the same time. Mute is suggested as a ‘spiritual sequel’ to Moon and Rockwell’s character does indeed feature, although not within the film’s main story. This was probably Jones’ first mistake. Moon is a film that really didn’t need a sequel, plus, the futurescape of Moon is totally different to that seen in Mute. Moon was obviously set on the moon but the technology seen is miles away from what is seen in Mute. You could explain it off, but the reality is that they aren’t of a similar sci-fi feel, they don’t work together and Mute cheapens Moon. The truth is that Mute – which is clearly meant as a tribute to the great sci-fi pictures of the past – is a mish-mash of ideas pinched from the pockets of the great sci-fi pictures of the past. It’s Philip K. Dick but without the ideas, it’s Blade Runner but without the style, it’s The Fifth Element but without the fun. It’s just about any great sci-fi film you can think of but without the bit that made them great. The story is incoherent and never really grabs the attention. Alexander Skarsgard’s mute character is mute for no real reason and makes for a dull leading role. The story revolves around him looking for his girlfriend who has gone missing. She hints at a secret just before she vanishes and the rest of the film sees the mute following various nonsensical clues to solve the mystery and discover said secret, with anti-climactic results. The plot is full of red herrings and pointless diversions which only goes towards making the big problem with Mute even more obvious: there is nothing for the audience to care about. Half an hour in and I had absolutely no interest in what happened to the characters or what they did next. There really was no mystery, he would either find his girlfriend or he wouldn’t, either way, I wasn’t interested. The visuals were also nothing special, there was no stand out scene or anything really that the film could be remembered for, other than looking like a cheap Blade Runner knock-off. I liked the food delivery drones, but that was about it as far as my like for this vision of the future goes. I think the lowest point was when the mute visited Dominic Monaghan’s character in his hotel suite. Monaghan (complete with bad German accent) is dressed as a disheveled geisha and has clearly been interrupted from having sex with a couple of sex robots. The film takes place in Germany, so the whole geisha thing is clearly a reference to Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner, and the sex robots come from a number of sources, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Heavy Metal Magazine being the first that come to mind. If feels more like a tragic spoof than it does a tribute, Monaghan’s character isn’t the least bit funny or interesting, it’s just a horrible scene. The direction is strange, the composition is stranger, with loads of odd scenes being shot from really far away one minutes and way too close the next. The editing is dreadful also, with reference made at one point to a scene that supposedly just happened, that actually happened two days previously in the story. I would say the continuity was a big problem, but it is the least of the film’s problems and I also didn’t really care by this point. However, there are elements of it that I did like. There are a few little odd scenes that stood out for me, I think their effect are somewhat serendipitous but I liked them. The best thing about Mute though is Paul Rudd. His character is the film’s would-be villain, not totally obvious as a bad guy, but unpredictable and hot tempered, giving the film the only spark of intrigue and suspense which it so desperately needed. Justin Theroux is also very good, although his character is muddled and written badly. Weirdly, Rudd and Theroux’s characters are supposedly based on Trapper John and Hawkeye from M*A*S*H (played by Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland) but only in that they are both friends and ex-military medical doctors. There is a glimmer of Trapper John and Hawkeye in one scene but it’s almost ruined by the fact that they are the films bad guys. The conclusion is odd, not altogether horrible as it gets a little intriguing – not through good writing but because the story goes off in an unexpected tangent. It’s puzzling that this has come from such a talented director such as Jones. Mute is over a decade in the making, so you really have to wonder how it started and what on earth happened during its development. The cynic in me thinks it premiered on a popular streaming channel – rather than appear in cinemas – for good reason, although I’m glad I didn’t venture outside of my house and slippers in order to watch it.