"I'm Starting To Feel Like Myself..."
Oh nepotism, how we love you. It is regrettable that after losing track in recent years when it comes to replicating the real quality of his earlier projects such as Blade Runner and Alien, director Ridley Scott has somewhat diminished in terms of reputation, particularly when examining his recent work such as Exodus: Gods and Kings, Robin Hood and The Counsellor. Yes, The Martian was pretty solid and a welcome return to some kind of form, yet it is still rather disheartening to think films as radical as Blade Runner may indeed never break out onto the big screen ever again. In the meantime however, Ridley's knack of tackling sci-fi genre conventions has seemingly passed on through the gene pool and onto Luke Scott, whose directorial debut in the form of Morgan, no, not a documentary on Morgan Freeman, is the canvas to showcase whether the son has even half of his father's early talent. Part Ex-Machina, part Terminator, Morgan has the necessary blueprints to regard itself as a work of science fiction, yet its' ridiculous plot and complete lack of subtlety, particularly in its' shambles of a final act, means Morgan is a lukewarm start to the ventures of baby Scott.
Although Morgan boats an extensive amount of talent in terms of its' casting, with Kate Mara, Toby Jones, Paul Giamatti and Brian Cox all managing to squeeze in to the films' 100 minute run-time, The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy takes the titular role of the synthetic-based humanoid in her stride, pulling out a performance that if served by a sharper and tighter script, may have been something of better consequence. Although the film does hark back to classics of the genre, some even made by father, Ridley, Morgan fails on some level by not entirely deciding on what it really wants to be, much like its' titular character. Is it a horror? Is it an action thriller? Is it a bit of both? Who knows, and with the fast-paced editing of the latter act of the film not allowing one frame to settle, you leave the cinema with not only a head-rush bit with a sense of something that could have been better served if not for a more careful design. The main talking point of the movie may indeed be the final revelation, yet for anyone with a brain cell, it can only be regarded as wholly predictable, so much so that it shouldn't even be regarded as a full 360 degree twist. Maybe a 40? Anyhow, Morgan isn't the decades' Blade Runner and although guided by the no-how of his father, Luke Scott's debut is unfortunately one to forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment