Movie review: "Mute"

dir. by Duncan Jones
written by Michael Robert Johnson and Duncan Jones
Duncan Jones has, allegedly, been trying to get Mute made for some decade and a half. Presented as a sequel of sorts to his excellent 2009 sci-fi film Moon, this new film represents Jones's return to science fiction after the critical failure of his video game adaptation Warcraft. Given the pedigree of Jones's previous work, it's not hard to expect that this would show him regaining his footing after that brief stumble, but it's also a relatively safe career move. That it was Netflix who ultimately distributed it could indicate that it was too challenging for the traditional studios, but it could also simply indicate that the project wasn't coming together.

Netflix's willingness to let filmmakers do whatever they like allows for ambitious projects to gain a mainstream pedigree, but it also means they have a low standard of quality. In Jones's case, there's a reason the major studios wouldn't touch this: if Mute is a passion project, it's hard to see where the passion is directed, as this is a droning, persistently generic neo-noir project, and while it's admirably committed to its scattershot ideas, those ideas are overwhelmingly derivative, gracelessly grafting a Blade Runner ripoff aesthetic to a tediously creaky mystery. The downfall of Netflix's approach, it would appear, is that there's nobody to tell a filmmaker when their efforts just aren't working.

Movie review: "Alien: Covenant"

dir. by Ridley Scott
When Ridley Scott first returned to the long-decaying Alien franchise with Prometheus, the results were controversial, and the film itself suffered from numerous script deficiencies in spite of its ambition and intriguing thematic questions. As a prequel to Alien, Prometheus wasn't especially serviceable, containing very few references to the film it was allegedly attempting to add context to. However, despite eventually devolving into dumb thriller territory, it was a film with a clear vision, even if it failed to resolve any of its philosophical questions, and a sequel ought to have refined the film's rough edges and added more clarity to Scott's vision.

Instead, Alien: Covenant sees the director halfheartedly rehashing his 1979 original while forgetting what made that movie special, and even his attempts to continue the philosophical musings of Prometheus come across as half-formed doodles above all else. Covenant doubles down on its predecessor's script issues while refusing to answer any of its questions, and while Scott retains some of his astonishing visual sensibility, it's embellished by bad CGI and pandering visual references to the original. The result is an asinine slasher film with a shaky thematic core, and it's yet another nail in the franchise's coffin.

Star Trek Beyond movie review

dir. by Justin Lin
The latest entry in the popular-but-divisive Star Trek reboot film series has been praised as a return to form after 2013's controversial Star Trek Into Darkness, and in many ways it's the closest these films have come to the tone and format of the original TV show. However, despite its many charming character moments and thoughtful tangents, Star Trek Beyond continues down the action-oriented route that this reboot series has become notorious for, and for all its moments-and there are plenty-its by-the-numbers plot and poorly-shot action never make this latest entry exciting enough to justify the wasted potential of its deeper elements.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie review

BEST NEW FEATURE

dir. by J.J. Abrams

It's every bit as good as everyone had hoped. 

The Martian movie review

dir. by Ridley Scott

BEST NEW FEATURE
Ridley Scott's return to form isn't quite the intense thrill ride that was expected, but as a crowd-pleaser on an epic scale, it's nothing short of wonderful.

Tomorrowland movie review

Brad Bird's Tomorrowland seemed promising from all the previews, and it's clear that he has a vision, but in just about every area, this vision is compromised by its own muddled screenplay.

Ex Machina movie review

BEST NEW FEATURE
Writer Alex Garland's directorial debut Ex Machina has finally arrived here after weeks of waiting, and thankfully it's a triumph of intelligent sci-fi in spite of its faults.