The moment I finished this film, I had plenty of thoughts, but overall, I knew I liked the movie. Then I went on to its IMDb profile to read the trivia, as I always do, and was stunned by its rating. I am not saying this is pure perfection by any means, but 5.5/10 seems awfully low. Yes, Mute has its problems, which I will address in just a second, but it also is an interesting premise done well with some great actors.

I might have the advantage of still not being too familiar with Alexander Skarsgård, so I wasn’t distracted by his past roles, as I still have to see his “big projects”, but I thought he was brilliant in this role. It’s always a testament to the actor’s ability to have them do a role with one major challenge/obstacle (in here, the challenge being his character couldn’t speak) and to see how they deal with it. And yes, in the first 10/15 minutes it felt weird for the main hero to be silent all the time, but you will get used to it, and a big part of it is Alexander’s performance and how expressive he is. I liked him in this role, I thought he had the physicality where needed, the tenderness in some other moments and most importantly, I believed him, he was mute his entire adult life.

Before explaining what I didn’t like, let me just give two more shootouts – one to Seyneb Saleh and the other to Paul Rudd. Let me start with Seyneb – since she’s a German actress, I’ve never seen her in anything before, but I thought she did the best she could with the little she had. You could tell from the few brief scenes everything about her character, how she cares about Alexander’s character, and yet, there was something else in her eyes, even before she said to him: “I need to tell you something.” I would 100% love to see her in some other movies.

Let’s talk about Paul Rudd. He stole this movie for me. It might be because I don’t think I have ever seen him play this character, but I liked the way he went about it. Even before I read the IMDb trivia, I immediately got reminded of the TV show M*A*S*H (1972 – 1983, even though most people might think of the original movie by the same name from 1970) and Hawkeye Pierce. But the main thing about his performance I adored until the very end of the movie, I wasn’t sure where he stands. His character to me is the closest we might have come to a complex villain in a while, where he isn’t this “evil dude twirling his moustache” because he’s got his moments, where he is genuinely good and likeable, but he also is evil. The more movies I watch, the more I love these grey characters, where they can be evil people, with some redeeming qualities, or vice versa, heroes, who are not 100% heroic all the time.

My biggest issue with this film might be a simple fact that it is trying to do too much. Respectively, the story isn’t that complex, but it feels like it is purposely told in such a complex way that you might get annoyed. I watched this film only a couple of days ago, and I can tell you I still remember liking it, but I would be lying if I told you I remember every single narrative decision/why it happened. It almost feels like Duncan Jones (someone, who I admire) is stuck in thinking “the more complex I make something, the better it will be.” No, that is not the reason we (or I) loved Moon (2009) or Source Code (2011). I love those films because they are great, straightforward movies with some big ideas, explored really well. Mute feels like Blade Runner (1982, my review here) inspired sci-fi, that wanted to be so different, it not only made its hero mute but decided to put a lot of filler into what could have been a really simple way of telling its story otherwise. And with no other reason.

That was a shame, as I have enjoyed the film, but even I found the longer it played, the less “in it” I was. And that pains me to say, as again, I love Duncan’s films, the way he thinks, and I still think, he is one of the most unique filmmakers we have today. I want him to succeed, and here, it felt like he was so close, yet, so far from his standard. For example, there is something I guess you could call a plot twist that serves almost no purpose other than to make our main character even more likeable…? I think I understood the message about “family” (but no the Fast & Furious one), but still, that reveal didn’t do much for me, I just said… “Ok…?”

Overall, Mute is a film I have enjoyed, despite its flaws. It feels like if Blade Runner had characters from M*A*S*H in it, where you don’t know, about the main villain, as you can see him from both sides, from being a total dick to standing up against bad people. I have enjoyed the performances and the general mood of the movie. I also thought the film could have been about 20 minutes shorter, leaner and more cut down because that would have improved it. If you are like me and have enjoyed Duncan’s movies so far, I would still give this a shot. Ignore the bad/low ratings, as Mute is not as bad as it might seem. I am looking forward to seeing what is next in store for Jones.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

The Grinch is definitely one of the better movies that came out of Illumination Entertainment. Yes, the studio behind the Despicable Me trilogy, that had also given us minions, and not just the annoying yellow creatures, that somehow became the template for all of your “cool” auntie’s memes (if you don’t believe me, google “Minion memes” and hate me later) but also the movie called Minions (2015), that is somehow slightly better rated than this movie…? Which I do find strange, as you can clearly tell by the animation (and partially by the “humour”) that they are done by the same studio, yet The Grinch at least tries to have a bit of heart to it, whereas Minions… is just a film, that’s one punchline joke. But on that some other time (hopefully never).

Don’t get me wrong, this movie isn’t miles better, not at all. It’s slightly better, as the voice casting is great (from the main character voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, to Rashida Jones and to top it all off, we have a narrator who is no other than Pharrell Williams) and as I have mentioned prior, it’s trying really hard to have a heart, and a feel good message towards the end. Unfortunately, this being a classic tale, you can obviously tell where everything is going, therefore we can only judge this movie based on the way it presents the story and… I don’t think there was anything new, that’s worth it in the long run.

What I mean by that, is it feels exactly the same as the How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) except this one is animated and there is a subplot with the little girl’s mom being overworked. That’s pretty much the difference. It feels weird seeing almost the same movie, except it’s 18 years later and now, it’s animated. And that just seems really lazy to me. It’s almost like the people behind this movie had a conversation about doing something different, just for it to fell apart halfway through and they ended up realizing the first idea someone’s nephew said that one time, that is how random this feels.

The Grinch is not bad movie by any means, it’s just really forgettable. How forgettable, you ask? Well, it has been a week or so since I have seen it, and I can’t honestly remember much of it. I remember watching it, I remember sometimes laughing a bit, I remember thinking Pharell’s voice is really pleasant and relaxing and I also remember thinking the ending was slightly better, than the rest of the movie. Originally, I have rated it 3.5* (or 7/10 on IMDb), but writing this review now, trying to scramble my brain for any one particular scene, funny, serious, or anything in between… I’ve got nothing. Nada. Zilch. I can’t remember a single scene that would stood out to me. So I had to something I sometimes do, re-rate the movie after a bit of time has passed. As this movie might not be as unfunny, or average as Minions, but that’s a really low bar to climb. It’s like being grateful for only catching the “good old COVID-19” and not the new strain of it. Sure, I guess it’s better, but I would rather have neither.

Overall, The Grinch is a movie to watch, if you have kids. They will probably fall in love with it, you can catch a break and everybody wins. Unfortunately for this film, I don’t have kids, so I can’t rate it from that perspective. And from the enjoyment point of view, this movie is just slightly above the absolute average, and I think the main reason is the (voice) talent behind it. This holiday season, you can definitely watch something much, much better. Like the movie I will review this Friday… 😉

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

After almost 2 years hearing about how amazing this movie is, I have finally find myself in a mood for a good horror movie, so the choice was obvious. And because of everything I’ve heard about it, I was a bit nervous to watch it, as my expectations were… lets’ say not low. But within the first 15 minutes, this movie showed me there is nothing to be afraid of… I mean, there is a plenty to be afraid of… I mean, it showed me I am in for a great movie.

A Quiet Place seems like a miracle of a film. It’s not part of any franchise (or at least it wasn’t), it’s relying on its audience to be quiet to actually enjoy it, there is minimum of dialogue, and yet, against all odds, it works perfectly. The main idea behind it might not be that original, but it’s executed so well and so precisely, it just works.

Let’s talk about the main actors – Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are to me the Hollywood’s “power couple” nobody really talks about, but it seems like when they collaborate, they are a force to be reckon with. It’s extraordinary, how much both of them can give us (performance wise) without almost any dialogue. But I can’t forget about the child actors, who, let’s face it, most of the time, are not the greatest actors. But this movie hit the jackpot somehow, as all of them were great, believable and knew exactly what they need to deliver.

Beware, SPOILERS are COMING!

I can’t help but think Bryan Woods and Scott Beck (the story writers) must be fans of one of the best game of the last decade, The Last of Us. Honestly, think about it, there are plenty of similarities:

• Monsters that are blind, but their hearing is excellent, so you need to be quiet, as they are really dangerous and hard to kill. The monsters head’s even look like Clicker’s head (monsters from The Last of Us, see for yourself below).

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YPuCtBbidrE/UvCf4IZRPZI/AAAAAAAAClk/sWrOT-_gm5U/s1600/Riverspoons_Clickers_Last_of_Us_05.jpg

• There is a dead child within first 20 minutes of the movie, just to show you this ain’t your typical horror movie.
• The overall apocalyptic feel, where certain scenes could’ve been taken from the actual game and put into this movie and nobody would’ve noticed anything.

Just to be clear, I am not accusing the writers of anything, as matter of fact, I applaud them. There is a saying in Hollywood that goes along the lines of “if you have to steal, steal from the very best” and whether Bryan and Scott have taken inspiration from this particular game, I don’t know. But even if they did, I see no problem with that. Plenty of movies, TV shows, games are just copies of copies, with new, or different twist to the story or characters, and plenty of them are great because of it. Let me just say, if creative people didn’t “borrow” ideas from other creative people, there wouldn’t be any art, as there is always an inspiration from somewhere. And as long as you can give it your own unique twist, people will forgive you.

A Quiet Place also doesn’t pull any punches and does things you wouldn’t expect (at least I didn’t) – the kid dying at the beginning I could kind of see, but John Krasinski’s character dying while sacrificing himself AND making amends with his daughter, who believes she’s responsible for her brother’s death, is a strong scene. And the very end, with Emily Blunt’s character learning that for the very first time, they might just have an upper hand on these monsters, and her just silently looking at her daughter, while reloading a shotgun, with the face that says “bring it!”… let’s just say that last scene definitely swayed me to give this the highest rating. I honestly didn’t expect to love this movie as much as I have.

Side note: As much as I enjoyed myself, I am still not convinced that we need a sequel, even though the ending is kind of asking for it. But John Krasinski pulled off a miracle once. Let’s see (hopefully sooner, rather than later, you hear me, COVID-19?) whether A Quiet Place Part II will be a worthy sequel, or whether it dies, quietly…

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

This is another movie review, where I need to mention the low IMDb ranking, which at the moment is 5.6/10. I honestly don’t understand those ratings sometimes, as it seems some people have problems accepting movies for what they are, as maybe they’ve expected some big epic movie, and instead of it, were given something completely different.

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is a movie with a really memorable title, for a start. 🙂 But importantly, it’s almost a meditation of a movie about one extraordinary person. We never know why he’s different, or how exactly he’s different, but he was the man who killed the original Hitler (because the other ones were body doubles, of course).

Plenty of times I am not ok with history being interpreted in “slightly different way” to say it lightly, as when you take a look around what’s happening now, where some people are actively trying to change history, or some people might have a different interpretation (that suits their particular needs) of what actually happened there and then, you get into some really weird branches of the internet where I’m not comfortable. But I didn’t mind this film toying with this idea, as it served purpose in this story AND because it wasn’t THE point of the story – the movie isn’t really about what the man has done, but what he couldn’t.

As he says it in the movie: “I just killed a guy. But I couldn’t kill the evil, that he’d already spread around the world.” (this is paraphrased). That’s the main point of this story – we see a guy (brilliant performance by Sam Elliott) who’s had a truly hard life – his only love died really young and even though he (might’ve) killed Hitler, at the end of day it didn’t change a thing, as you can kill a man, but you can’t kill the idea, the philosophy that man was spreading.

That is why he’s hesitating to take the job to take out the Bigfoot (yes, the title of the movie is literal) as he’s worried that it wouldn’t make a difference, that he’s old… But eventually he takes the job and in a weird way, that sets him free.

I really liked the feel of this film, where some parts felt like a pretty decent historical drama/thriller (him putting together the gun from the unusual components was a great scene, that wouldn’t get lost in a James Bond/Mission Impossible movie) and others felt like a swan song for one extraordinary man, who just wants to live an honest life and die an honest death, if there’s a such thing.

If you are going to give this movie a chance, and I strongly encourage you do, don’t expect anything over the top, even though the title might suggest that. Brace yourself for a heartfelt movie, that “flows” like a river – some sections will be a bit wilder, but overall it’s quiet and almost peaceful piece of cinema.

That’s all for this one? Did you see it? What did you think about? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke