Review of Mute (2016) by Pj B — 09 Dec 2018

I love Duncan Jones. Moon is awesome, Source Code is awesome, and his dad is David Bowie (also I didn't watch World of Warcraft which I've heard is necessary for me to maintain my appreciation of him).

I love not-too-distant-future sci fi where everything looks like Blade Runner. Just like anyone with a soul, I love Paul Rudd. So of course I love this film, right? Unfortunately, no. Having a mute protagonist isn't always a bad idea, but it does run the risk of having other characters come across as far more interesting, as is the case here.

Paul Rudd is so likable that the script forces him to do awkwardly awful things periodically in order to maintain the role of skeezy kind-of-antihero-kind-of-villain. And the way they treat the female lead is really disrespectful.

None of which is entirely unforgivable if the film just had more fun and energy. Very disappointing. The cyberpunk aesthetic looks great though.