Whew! It’s nice to finally be able to put this puppy to bed. I wasn’t really keeping track of time; I’ve been at this for almost two months now!
Thirty four movies (I’m not counting 1492, the one I didn’t see, of course): A couple classics, a few really good ones, and a whole lot of mediocrity. But the Scott version of “mediocre” is, at worst, certainly watchable. As stupid as I found Deja Vu to be, if you switch your brain off it functions as a perfectly good time killer.
In terms of my opinion of the brothers (and son), I’m pretty much in the same place that I left off. Alien and Blade Runner are the only two from the list that I unreservedly love. Kingdom Of Heaven is pretty damn close. But the rest of their movies; They just don’t have the type of polish to them that I like. Whether it’s the script, or the editing, or the music, there always seems to be at least some element that makes me feel like I’m watching a rough cut, rather than an actual movie. This perception is supported by the fact that Ridley has come out with Director’s Cuts of several of his movies, and often to great benefit.
If the Scotts were painters, I would think of them as the type that like to splash bits of color on a blank canvas to see what patterns form. They both shoot a shitload of coverage, and the real narrative seems to come together in the editing room, rather than being pre-planned out ahead of time.
Both Tony and Ridley got their artistic sides out of their system early on, and now are simply commercial in sensibility. That’s not necessarily bad; Body Of Lies is a really fun movie. But you’re left thinking “This is from the director of Blade Runner?!”.
Ridley is working on a pair of prequel films to Alien, which I am pretty excited to see. Tony will continue making violent crime thrillers, which are usually fun. Jake Scott’s making a comeback this year, and Jordan Scott’s debut should be out soon.
I don’t always love their movies, but I do appreciate their unique voices. Long may they direct.