Why Zone 414 Should Be Worth Your Time. I haven’t even hit publish on this review yet and already I’m taking heat for the future tense version of this post. JUDGE ME FOR MY ACTIONS – NOT MY PRESUMED FAULTS! Let me be me! I CRY FREEDOM!!!! Or something. But all that to say, some are really hating on Zone 414 already, and I quite enjoyed it. And there are some really distinct reasons why. 1. Guy Pearce. 2. Blade Runner Vibes 3. ROBOTS! 4. Oh, and there were a few interesting philosophically and ethical questions posed here as well… Okay, so maybe almost 100% of my justification for posting this movie is number 4. But why don’t we talk it through, and if you want to pan it after I’m done, feel free. But I rather enjoyed it.
Guy Pearce begins and ends in my universe as Leonard in Memento. One of the greatest movies of all time… no discussions will be had on this front. He also played in the mind-shatteringly good, Hurt Locker. But more recently he rocked it in Mare of Easttown, (which did well during last night’s Emmy’s.) and more importantly, killed it in the Spinning Man… which I had a lot of fun interviewing the original book author about. But it also brings us Matilda Lutz, who was a whirlwind in the crazy Female version of Revenant, entitled Revenge. And the duo here do a great job together. Are they Harrison Ford and Sean Young? No. (Which, I’m watching right now in the background.) Not by a long shot. Hell, they aren’t even Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas from Blade Runner 2049. “Within cells interlinked.” But not everything needs to be Denis Villeneuve levels of good. Trust me on this one.
Zone 414 Walkthrough
“I hear the future, like a voice. And it says… all these men will perish alone, and those that help them.”
We begin by learning that Zone 414 is the only location wherein androids are allowed to freely interact with humans. And when the daughter of the creator of these ultra-realistic, lifelike humanoids, goes missing, he hires private investigator David Carmichael to find her and bring her back. David and Jane, a one-of-a-kind creation, team up in order to find her and bring her back home to her father.
But when they learn that she was dead by hanging, the question on the table is, was she hanged? Or did she hang herself in an act of suicide. She had been acting out like she was an android in defiance of her father… the creator of robots… his daughter acting out as one? That really is rich. Or… is she one? Could it be that the creator of robots made himself a super lifelike one, that took her own life? It gets kind of shadowy down this hall of mirrors if you go too far.
Regardless, David is pretty certain that she was murdered, solely because there was no chair, or anything to stand on. So the duo begin looking into who would want Marlon Veidt’s, the creator of the robots, daughter dead. And after a stop or two, they come to the realization that Marlon Veidt’s brother, Joseph Veidt, had a penchant for murdering androids. Not only murdering them, but cutting them up, and saving portions of each murder in order to cobble the pieces together into a single “work of art.” Joseph admits as much to David, knowing that David is powerless to do anything to stop him. There is too much at stake to let the public know about the possibility of danger within 414. And as a result, David will not be heard by anyone.
So when Joseph uses a master remote control against Jane, and freezes her against her wishes, he let’s David know that he plans to take her brain as the latest portion of his “creation.” But then she breaks loose from the remote control, because she is too advanced to be controlled, and beats him bloody. And when David gives her the choice to murder Joseph, she takes it. And after a few behind the scenes negotiations, David and Jane leave Zone 414 together. The end.
Wait, WHAT?!?
How is that ending even possible? Well, first off, let’s state the obvious. Joseph was caught destroying androids, and piecing them back together again by Marlon’s daughter. Joseph wasn’t a fan of his fun getting out into the world, or maybe even back to his brother, so she had to die, and he had to look like a suicide. But he messed that bit up.
Now, how was that ending, the two of them leaving 414 possible? We already know that David said that he would be implicated for the murder of Joseph. It’s his gun after all (Androids can’t kill humans?) and has his prints all over it. But sure enough, he walks out of 414 (where Androids cannot go) with Jane?! How.
So, apparently Zone 414 was an immoral playground for the rich. We knew that. But it was even more than that… it was a sandbox for Marlon Veidt’s brother Joseph’s horrifying sadism. Could it be that that was its only purpose? And could it be that Marlon built 414 simply to closet his insane brother’s tendencies? And David now knew all of this. We already know that Marlon could not have anything about 414 getting out to the public, it would be way too risky for his android program. That is why they struck a deal. David got the girl, and Marlon got his silence. But how did Jane countermand the android remote? We already know that Jane was different. Borderline self-aware, if not fully self- aware. She was able to do, and think, things that other androids were not capable of.
Thoughts on Zone 414
After just finishing watching Blade Runner and 2049 over again – I have to say, nothing compares to the glory that those two movies bring to the cinematic universe. Blade Runner was not immediately a cult status film when it first came out. It was long, dark, and there were too many competitors that year: Das Boot, E.T., An Officer and a Gentleman, Poltergeist, Tron, Annie, and on and on the list goes. But it transcended time and place like no other movie ever has. The Art Direction is just stupefyingly good. Acting brilliant. The screenplay was fantastic, and the hidden gems and details were brilliant. But should Zone 414 even be compared to Blade Runner? I mean, definitely not! Please! And yet, it deals with androids… so we should! Just please don’t.
Zone 414 brought some interesting thoughts to the table – like the state of loneliness in the world today and our modern need for compliant companionship. Why is that? And that is a literal question… it isn’t rhetorical at all. Maybe because when we become accustomed to getting what we want, when we want it, the foibles, and free will of others becomes particularly annoying? Which, is about as sad an insight as possible. And yet, here we are. Interesting all the same.
Edited by: CY