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Looker
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
Well it's NOT cyberpunk, despite what the promotional material might suggest, but certainly echoes some of those themes.
Actually, that's not what I'm thinking when I'm watching this. What I'm thinking is WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF THIS MOVIE BEFORE!?
In the first 5 minutes of Looker I knew I was in for something special because it opens up with a terribly cheesy perfume commercial before cutting to one of the models for those commercials being questioned why on earth she would want plastic surgery when she looks beautiful already, citing that she wasn't "perfect". We time-lapse past her surgery and follow her home where apparently we aren't the only ones and she's stalked and killed in her apartment in a scene that is legitimately tense.
The rest of the movie follows her plastic surgeon named, OkayIAdmitIDontKnow, as after a police investigation he follows one of his patients home only to witness her get killed in a similar fashion. He discovers more than one of them have a company printout for desired facial changes to the millimeter and the rest of the movie follows his trip into the darkside of the corporate monster known as Dot Matrix.
While nothing is ever explicitly said about any of the topics the movie presents, it criticizes superficial cosmetic surgery and presents commercial marketing in perhaps the most amusingly cynical of views imaginable.
Dot Matrix is developing a zombie commercial. You know, the kind of marketing drek so bad it melts your brain and all you want to do is buy the product? Yeah, that fun stuff. Well, part of that plan involves focus testing their commercials so hard that they're literally adjusting their models' appearances to the millimeter to keep your eyes on the brand and once their models are "perfect", they're slotted into a 3D camera so that they can be recreated digitally to reliably perform to the standards their computer spits out for them.
Actually, it's that same just-barely-beyond-the-realm-of-possibility sci-fi that made Jurassic Park work so well, and hey, Looker ALSO happens to be a Michael Crichton story. HMMMM...
I've got my complaints. As always, but they're pretty sparse here. Some eggs here. Some slowdown there. I don't know any of the characters names after having seen it and one guy who I was certain was secretly a bad guy just up and disappears after a mere two scenes. What's the deal with that? The one hospital assistant with a mustache who says, "You do her and I'll take her out"? TAKE HER OUT? AS IN KILL HER? You lead me on, movie!
Also have to mention the limp romantic subplot which only really serves to undercut the otherwise fantastic ending where... oh boy I'm gonna use a spoiler box for once!
Looking up this movie now, WHY HAS IT GOT SUCH BAD REVIEWS?
6.1 on iMDB?
29% on Rotten Tomatoes? Are you kidding me?
That's less than half the score of The Hunger Games! You people are MAD!
Final Verdict: [Pretty Good]
REWATCH UPDATE 8/15/22:
I have nothing of substance to add, it's still a good movie, I'm just going to dock it half a point as I adjust my rating process.
Final Verdict: [Good]
Looker
Sci-Fi / English / 1981
WHY'D I WATCH IT?
One of the few movies that might come up if you dig a little deeper into 80s cyberpunk movies.
WHAT'D I THINK? *SPOILERS*Well it's NOT cyberpunk, despite what the promotional material might suggest, but certainly echoes some of those themes.
Actually, that's not what I'm thinking when I'm watching this. What I'm thinking is WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF THIS MOVIE BEFORE!?
In the first 5 minutes of Looker I knew I was in for something special because it opens up with a terribly cheesy perfume commercial before cutting to one of the models for those commercials being questioned why on earth she would want plastic surgery when she looks beautiful already, citing that she wasn't "perfect". We time-lapse past her surgery and follow her home where apparently we aren't the only ones and she's stalked and killed in her apartment in a scene that is legitimately tense.
The rest of the movie follows her plastic surgeon named, OkayIAdmitIDontKnow, as after a police investigation he follows one of his patients home only to witness her get killed in a similar fashion. He discovers more than one of them have a company printout for desired facial changes to the millimeter and the rest of the movie follows his trip into the darkside of the corporate monster known as Dot Matrix.
While nothing is ever explicitly said about any of the topics the movie presents, it criticizes superficial cosmetic surgery and presents commercial marketing in perhaps the most amusingly cynical of views imaginable.
Dot Matrix is developing a zombie commercial. You know, the kind of marketing drek so bad it melts your brain and all you want to do is buy the product? Yeah, that fun stuff. Well, part of that plan involves focus testing their commercials so hard that they're literally adjusting their models' appearances to the millimeter to keep your eyes on the brand and once their models are "perfect", they're slotted into a 3D camera so that they can be recreated digitally to reliably perform to the standards their computer spits out for them.
Actually, it's that same just-barely-beyond-the-realm-of-possibility sci-fi that made Jurassic Park work so well, and hey, Looker ALSO happens to be a Michael Crichton story. HMMMM...
I've got my complaints. As always, but they're pretty sparse here. Some eggs here. Some slowdown there. I don't know any of the characters names after having seen it and one guy who I was certain was secretly a bad guy just up and disappears after a mere two scenes. What's the deal with that? The one hospital assistant with a mustache who says, "You do her and I'll take her out"? TAKE HER OUT? AS IN KILL HER? You lead me on, movie!
Also have to mention the limp romantic subplot which only really serves to undercut the otherwise fantastic ending where... oh boy I'm gonna use a spoiler box for once!
WARNING: "Looker" spoilers below
The main bad guy gets blasted through the collarbone and while he falls down dead and bleeding, they overlay an upbeat cheesy ad for "Spurt" toothpaste. It's BRILLIANT.
Looking up this movie now, WHY HAS IT GOT SUCH BAD REVIEWS?
6.1 on iMDB?
29% on Rotten Tomatoes? Are you kidding me?
That's less than half the score of The Hunger Games! You people are MAD!
Final Verdict: [Pretty Good]
REWATCH UPDATE 8/15/22:
I have nothing of substance to add, it's still a good movie, I'm just going to dock it half a point as I adjust my rating process.
Final Verdict: [Good]