Crimes of the Future

As another 21st century art object, not a "movie" which is an early 20th century concept, this delivers everything the brand name (David Cronenberg) promises. Plus it's pretty high-brow. Superior production values but I really think it'a more of a moving painting. When everyone has 4K video projection it could play silently on a wall, slowly changing from pale, wan faces to exotic biomorphics to visceral, pulsating fantasias. If you want date night (unless your date is Amy Taubin) forget it.

I just remembered what this kinda, sorta reminded me of. Quintet, Robert Altman's arty, dystopic from 1979. That wintry society was pre-occupied with the stylized rituals of the titular board game. And everyone was cloaked and draped against the cold with hats and hoods. Similar end-of-world feel.

I was really excited to see this movie, and while I enjoyed the movie, I was ultimately left dissatisfied, because Cronenberg is capable of making better films. This movie basically explores a lot of the same themes as Crash, eXistenZ (did i spell that right?) and Dead Ringers, and sort of throws them together. I think it was miles beyond what eXistenZ was, but not as good as Dead Ringers, and nowhere near as good as Crash.

The pros: Acting is great, Scott Speedman was surprisingly really good in his performance, concept of the film is great

The mehs: Soundtrack, I feel like you could slap any of Howard Shore's Cronenberg soundtracks onto this one, and it wouldn't matter, it's there, it probably doesn't need to be though, for me it doesn't add anything, which makes me wonder if I would have enjoyed this move more if it didn't have a soundtrack...and I think I would. I think maybe going for something ambient over orchestral would have worked better as well, but I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. People have been talking about how gross some of the stuff is in the movie, but in all honesty, after watching it, I feel like Cronenberg and or the production company pays people to talk about how hard it is to watch, to build hype. Pretty tame in the gross out department if you ask me, which is fine, because I think all of the surgical stuff that's happening was delivered at a very appropriate level, not off putting to watch.

The cons: the costume design is hokey, Viggo Mortensen's ninja poncho hoodie thing looks silly, the set design is really boring, the design of the various apparatuses that characters are connected to (the autopsy machine, the eating chair thing, the bed) all look like cheap plastic crap, and I don't think that was intentional, the way they're presented is as elaborate pieces of technology, but they look cheap and idiotic, and it really killed any engagement that I had, it kept reminding me that I was watching a movie with bad props, I'm glad he used props instead of CGI, but these just look like crap. The props and makeup in Naked Lunch worked, these look like they were props that were discarded from Naked Lunch's props department because they weren't good enough to use. Lastly the final con of the film is the script, the entire plot is fantastic, it's well thought out, but when you're dealing with complex themes and subject matter, why would you write a script that tries to explain what's going on like a 3 year old is watching the movie? The script is patronizing to the viewer, and I felt cheated when I listened to the dialogue. Characters don't need to explain to the audience what's happening when we're already watching it, most of the dialogue is a narration of the plot and the themes, and it's irritating to sit through.

65/100

My expectations for the film were completely off. The trailer made me think that the film was going to be one way, but turned out it was the opposite.

While it wasn't as I expected it was still a decent film. It was artistic, dark, twisted, and intriguing. The story had an interesting concept. "Surgery is the new sex". With that in my mind now it really opens a new visual to the film.

The performance was very well done. It's been awhile since I've seen Viggo Mortensen in a film. He was excellent and I enjoyed his performance. Having only seen Léa Seydoux in "James Bond" previously, I thought she did an excellent job as well opposite Viggo. Continuing with the acting performances, this is perhaps the first film that I enjoyed Kristen Stewart's performance. Just her shyness and dark persona made her likeable.

The film does lose a lot interest because it becomes too slow at times and drags on more than it needs to a certain moments. While a slower pace is key to the film it's just too slow.

Overall, there is some good intriguing moments to the film that I struggle to convey into words. A twisted art story involving slicing and dicing the body. Honestly, it was worth seeing in theatres, but I would've preferred to see it on a cheap night.

Thank you for reading my review. I hope it helps you a little in making a decision. Until next time.... Enjoy the show!

This movie starts out great, with an awesomely dark opening scene to set the mood. It's really weird immediately and reaches high levels of grossness, but I surprisingly dug it. In many movies set in the future, it really isn't much different except for the technology and a few aesthetics. But here, we see a really interesting depiction of where humanity ends up, some of which I find scarily possible.

Unfortunately, it's extremely dull with just the slightest hint of a story and doesn't amount to anything. By the end I was checked out, or else I might've been furious at how it ends. I think many people will think this is one of the worst movies they've seen. (1 viewing, 6/8/2022)

"crimes of the future" is an efficient film, it does a lot with little, without big sets and gigantic practical effects, everything is very simple but very convincing, the scenery compositions are dirty with a dark photograph, always looking for an intrinsic degradation, the effects practical are good, the few CGI are weak, but the sound editing is magnificent, always looking for sounds that seek the viewer's discomfort, another positive point is the performances, the duo Vigo mortise and Léa Seydoux are very good, Viggo manages to show all the pain and anguish of her character with her body and vocal posture, Kristen is another highlight, making an anxious and paranoid character the actress delivers a very good performance, despite her little screen time, but the best point here, I bring the classic and brilliant Canadian director, david cronenberg, is his script, which, despite being a little confusing, has as its main premise the limit of art, its contradictions and subversive appreciations, its criminal lity, and with that it makes a self-reflection of its own filmography, the film is also a critique of state bureaucracy and government intervention in art, all on a derogatory dystopian futuristic science fiction plan. The feature has some problems, the biggest one is perhaps the subtexts that are open and not always completed. We don't have the best version of Cronenberg here, but his style remains authorial and inviting. Grade 7/10.