Ridley Scott's new movie opens this Friday — critics just handed it a score from the bottom 10 of his entire career
Ridley Scott is 88 years old, releases movies at a pace that should be studied by cardiologists, and remains constitutionally incapable of taking a year off.
This Friday, August 28, he's back with The Dog Stars — a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Jacob Elordi as a grieving pilot surviving a flu-ravaged America with his dog and one heavily armed ex-Marine neighbor (Josh Brolin). Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney and Benedict Wong round out a cast so stacked it feels illegal.
The critics, however, have taken one look at all of that and gone: hm.
The number
As review embargos lifted, Rotten Tomatoes posted the film's opening Tomatometer: 42% from the first 36 reviews. If that holds, it lands among the ten worst-rated films of Ridley Scott's entire career — a career that contains roughly thirty movies, Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and also, in fairness, a few things we've all agreed not to bring up at dinner.
The reviews themselves are the kind you read through your fingers. RogerEbert.com's critic marveled that it takes real effort to make a post-apocalyptic survival movie this dull. The AV Club called it messy and one of Scott's "worst misfires" — while conceding it's not even his darkest film, which is somehow the meanest part.
The vibes were rocky from day one
Fun context: the movie's own set nearly lost Josh Brolin on day one. He told Empire — via Deadline — that Scott's no-rehearsal, all-anecdotes style freaked him out so badly he called his agent that same night:
"Something's really wrong, and I've got to get the f*ck out of here."
His agent talked him down, Scott showed him the day's footage, and Brolin ended up describing the shoot as wildly, almost dangerously creative — one of the most satisfying projects he's done. So the man who was there loved it and the people watching it are lukewarm. Cinema!
Also worth remembering: Elordi wasn't even the original lead — Paul Mescal was Scott's first pick before Beatles-biopic scheduling pulled him out. Somewhere, Paul is reading these reviews on a tour bus, feeling things.
Should you go anyway?
Look — it's an adaptation of Peter Heller's genuinely beloved 2012 novel, scripted by Mark L. Smith, the guy who wrote The Revenant. It has a dog. It has Jacob Elordi flying a small plane through the end of the world. It's also opening opposite The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, two billion-dollar juggernauts still parked in theaters, which is the box-office equivalent of scheduling your birthday party against a royal wedding.
A 42% Ridley Scott movie is still a Ridley Scott movie, and history says some of those age into cult classics while the reviews age into embarrassing tweets. Friday will tell. Bring the popcorn; possibly bring the book.
