Author: Trafficblast

Sometimes a sci-fi movie just barely misses the mark. Maybe it didn’t hit quite the right tone, or it failed to provide satisfying answers to the thought-provoking questions it proposed. There are plenty of science fiction films that we enjoy despite their flaws, because there’s some good in them, too. And then there’s Mute.

From Netflix and Duncan Jones, Mute promised to be a return to form for the director and writer behind the instant classic 2009 mind-bender Moon (and, more recently, the less-than-classic Warcraft). Unfortunately, Mute is a cartoonish, nonsensical, tone-deaf, derivative, outrageously awful nightmare without a single redeeming quality. Bummer, right?

From beginning to end, Mute is simply hard to watch. It starts when a young Amish boy named Leo suffers a terrible boating accident that leaves his vocal cords permanently shredded. As an adult, Leo (Alexander Skarsgard) has emigrated to Germany. A brief fly-by on a newspaper clipping clumsily tells us that the German chancellor invited American Amish to relocate there en masse to bring a sense of “tradition” back to the country, and that’s all the explanation we ever get for that.

After several early scenes of drippy, melodramatic flirting that would make Tommy Wiseau cringe, Leo sets out on a mission to find his missing girlfriend, a blue-haired cocktail waitress named Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh, whose acting is ridiculously, terribly over the top). Meanwhile, Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd, sporting an absurdly huge handlebar mustache) is an AWOL American soldier who does under-the-table surgeries for the mob in the hopes of getting papers for him and his daughter to return home. His friend Duck Teddington (Justin Theroux in an insanely bad wig) is also around, for reasons that become horrifyingly clear as the movie progresses.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Leo being Amish has absolutely no bearing on the story whatsoever, and so boils down to a pointless, distracting, silly quirk. He works as a bartender, where he doesn’t hesitate to skillfully beat up drunk guys who hit on Naadirah. He uses technology, albeit reluctantly. In other words, he could have been any random schmuck and the only thing about him they’d need to change is his suspenders.

Leo being mute doesn’t really affect the story either; it just makes many scenes unnecessarily long as we wait for him to scribble his side of each conversation on a notepad. His lack of speech carries no thematic weight, and it never even hinders him plot-wise. It does have one positive effect, though, at least for Skarsgard: He doesn’t have to say any of the lines in this terrible script.

Here’s a small sampling of actual lines from this movie, all from relatively early on since the entire thing is like this and at a certain point you have to stop transcribing every single thing that every single character says:

• “That’s a real sexy hood ornament you’ve got dancing up there tonight.”

• “If my mom tried to stop me talking, I would f*** her up. And she’s in a wheelchair.”

• “He doesn’t need words. He’s kind. Why wouldn’t I love him?”

• “School girls, babe. Itty bitty titties and smooth little p***ies. Then they grow up.”

That last is said with a big sigh by Justin Theroux’s character, a pediatric surgeon who’s also a pedophile. The line is accompanied by an actual upskirt shot of a nearby school girl, the camera lingering on her behind as she bends over to pick up a bowling ball.

Mute treats Duck’s preference for young girls as a joke for the movie’s first half, like Matthew McConaughey’s famous quote in Dazed and Confused about how high school girls always stay the same age, no matter how old you get. Except Theroux’s character is literally filming pre-pubescent young girls in their underwear at his practice. The only thing that will make your stomach turn more than that fact is the flippant way the movie plays these scenes, almost as if it’s supposed to be funny.

Halfway through, this subplot seems like it’s about to take a major turn. Cactus–who has a young daughter–confronts Duck about his pedophilia, telling him firmly that he has just got to cut it out. Then they go to the mall, where they get drunk and steal some peanuts, like the previous scene never happened. As they leave, Cactus screams a homophobic slur at a security guard who confronts them.

Go ahead and re-read those sentences a couple more times and let them sink in. Now consider for a second that the entire movie is this bad. The biggest mystery is how Jones convinced these actors to go along with any of it.

Mute‘s futuristic setting itself has some promise, but it’s utterly squandered. The movie doesn’t have a single original idea, simply ripping shamelessly from great sci-fi and cyberpunk films that have come before it. Flying cars? Grungy neon? Sexy robots? Drones? A seedy city underbelly populated by prostitutes in crazy pseudo-futuristic outfits? Check, check, and check–although Mute could have easily been set in the present, or even in the past, since not one of these shallow sci-fi trappings has a single tangible effect on the story.

As Mute‘s plodding, meandering two-hour length comes to a close across multiple increasingly nonsensical climactic showdowns, nothing else will strike you so much as the baffling, swirling, inexplicable, disgusting mess of it all. Nothing anyone in this movie does makes a shred of sense, either logically or emotionally. Every single character is a one-dimensional caricature with no redeeming qualities. The effects look cheap. The score is forgettable. It’s casually offensive, vulgar, gross, and mean for absolutely no reason. And it’s unabashedly unaware–or uncaring–of the fact that you shouldn’t play scenes about pedophiliac pediatricians and domestic abuse with the same weightless flippancy as a joke about robot strippers or a less-than-subtle cameo from Moon‘s Sam Rockwell.

And by the way, the fact that Mute and Moon apparently take place in the same “universe” doesn’t make Mute any better (although this movie’s existence may retroactively make Moon seem worse).

Mute is a bad joke about itself, the movie version of a Weird Al Yankovic song (an “Amish Paradise” sequel set in the future?), only if the filmmaker wasn’t aware it was supposed to be a parody. It’s like Mute underwent so many rewrites that the scenes and characters no longer match up–or like it’s a first draft that never underwent a single edit, though considering how long Jones was trying to get this made–12 years!–the former seems more likely. At least now we have an idea why he had such a hard time.

Square Enix’s big role-playing game Final Fantasy XV is coming to PC on March 6, but you won’t have to wait that long to check out the newest edition of the title. A free demo for Final Fantasy XV will launch on PC through Steam, Origin, and the Microsoft Store on February 26. The demo spans the full first chapter, including the tutorial and multiple quests.

In a blog post, Square Enix said the demo is also a way for players to find out how well the game runs on their rig and test out the game’s various graphics options. Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XV’s PC requirements back in January–see them here. Square Enix already released a benchmark tool to help you evaluate your PC’s ability to run the game.

In other news, people who buy Final Fantasy XV for PC on Steam by the end of April will receive the Half-Life Pack. This comes with a Gordon Freeman costume, including his famous crowbar, which you can use as a weapon in the RPG.

March 6 is a big day for Final Fantasy XV, as it’s also the date that the game’s Royal Edition comes to PS4 and Xbox One. As announced previously, this comes with the base game, the four major DLC packs from the season pass, and new DLC launching with the PC edition.

Final Fantasy XV was originally released in November 2016 for PS4 and Xbox One. It was a commercial and critical success, but despite that, game director Hajime Tabata has told fans not to expect a full sequel starring Noctis and his friends again.

The PlayStation Network, the online service that powers PlayStation products, is running into some problems right now. The PSN’s official Status page shows that “Gaming And Social” elements of the service are experiencing some hiccups currently.

“You may have some difficulty launching games, applications, or online features,” reads a line from the page. “Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, and we thank you for your patience.”

The service interruption is affecting PlayStation 4 alone, the page says. All other PSN services, including Account Management, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Music, are working normally, the support page says.

We’ll report back with more details on this latest PSN service interruption as new details become available. It is unclear how widespread the issues may be or how long the interruption will last. As always, your mileage may vary. Keep checking back for more.

Rhode Island state representative Robert Nardolillo has proposed legislation in the Ocean State that seeks to add an extra tax on violent video games. In a news release this week, the Republican lawmaker said the funds from this tax would go towards mental health and counselling resources. This legislation would put an additional 10 percent sales tax on video games sold in Rhode Island that carry an M-for-Mature or higher rating from the ESRB.

Rhode Island’s sales tax rate is 7 percent, meaning $60 games actually cost $64.20. With the extra 10 percent, an M-rated game like Grand Theft Auto V would cost $70.20. That’s a good amount extra. Nardolillo says the revenue from this tax would be put into a “special account” to be dispersed to school districts for the purposes of funding counselling, mental health programs, and “other conflict resolution activities.”

“Our goal is to make every school in Rhode Island a safe and calm place for students to learn,” Nardolillo said in a news release. “By offering children resources to manage their aggression today, we can ensure a more peaceful tomorrow.”

Nardolillo’s proposed legislation comes just days after the horrific high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. In the wake of the tragedy, President Trump said he’s heard people say “the level of violence in video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”

Nardolillo went on to say, without citing any specific study or data, that “there is evidence that children exposed to violent video games at a young age tend to act more aggressively than those who are not.” He added: “This bill would give schools the additional resources needed to help students deal with that aggression in a positive way.”

Some argue there is assuredly a link between playing violent video games and increased levels of aggressive behaviour, while others maintain that games themselves don’t cause violence, but are rather one prominent risk factor for violent real-world behaviour.

This is not the first time a politician has called for an excise tax on specific video games. After the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, a lawmaker from the state proposed a similar tax in 2013. Also that year, a state representative from Missouri proposed a sales tax on games rated M and above. In both cases, the funds would have gone towards mental health programs. However, the bills never became law.

Blizzard today released a cryptic teaser for Overwatch that some believe could be in reference to a new hero named “Emre Sarioglu.” The teaser takes the form of a declassified After-Action report for something called “Operation White Dome.”

As explained in the text below, Operation White Dome took place on the outskirts of Istanbul, Turkey and involved captain Ana Amari (a current Overwatch character) being deployed to “deal with a remaining pocket of omnic resistance.” Also on this excursion were Overwatch characters Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and “Private First Class Emre Sariogulu.” That last name is the most notable one, it seems, as it could be a new Overwatch character.

Overwatch launched back in 2016 with a roster of 21 characters, with five more coming after launch. Moira, the newest post-release hero, was added to the game in November 2017.

Overwatch’s Lunar New Year event, Year of the Dog, is currently underway until March 5. This year’s event includes many new skins, emotes, and more for the game’s loot boxes, as well as changes to the Capture the Flag mode, a new competitive mode, and a new map called Ayutthaya.

Super Mario Odyssey‘s presentation is undeniably charming. The upcoming adventure is brimming with vibrant visuals that’ll likely cement a smile on your face.

Aside from its colorful environments, one of the game’s most delightful aspects are the optional outfits Mario can wear. From outfits that are themed around the worlds you visit to ones that are direct homages to Mario’s history, there’s an abundance of fun costumes to throw on.

In time for Super Mario Odyssey‘s new content update, we’ve gathered all the new outfits that are included in it. To give you a look at all the new outfits as well as all of the outfits in the base game, we’ve gathered them all here.

Click ahead to take a look, and be sure to check back often as we update this feature with even more DLC outfits. If you’re curious how to find some of the best of what you see in this feature, check out our guide on how to get the best costumes.

Super Mario Odyssey is out now for Nintendo Switch. It’s the latest installment of Nintendo’s tenured franchise starring the lovable Italian plumber. You once again control Mario as he works to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. But this time around, he has the help of a new hat sidekick named Cappy, who he can throw at certain objects or enemies to temporarily possess them and use their unique abilities.

Check out our full review of Super Mario Odyssey, and for more about the game, check out our roundup article containing features, gameplay videos, and everything you need to know about Super Mario Odyssey. You can also check out our roundup containing tips, guides, and things we wish we knew.