A lesser director might have been averse to leaving the phrase “an endless, abrasive experience” teed up for a critic, but Soderbergh is the still the king of the tight 90.
Loved the throwback score.
What makes this feel particularly toothless (veneers aside) is that it imagines the Trump figure as an Earth fleeing two-time electoral loser with a diminishing mandate, rather than, you know, the opposite. The release was delayed, so it was always going to be a roll of the dice, I guess.
I sort of loved the intermittent use of Bladerunner-theatrical-cut-style voice over, as clunky as it was. Excellent critter design, as always.
Opening few minutes make the Oldboy hallway scene look downright tasteful. The carotid artery budget on this thing must have been nuts.
As with Bertrand Russell's Paradox, ("does the set of all sets that don't contain themselves contain itself?"), it can be a fun diversion to consider whether a system can be critiqued from within itself. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019), a film based on a video game spinoff from the multi-tentacled Pokémon game/media/playing card conglomerate, places us in the ostensibly utopic Ryme City, the dream society of ailing social planner and UHNWI Howard Clifford. Clifford Enterprises runs the city and wields a…