Blink Twice

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Blink Twice is a psychological thriller directed by Zoë Kravitz in her directorial debut. In this feature a waitress, Frida, gets noticed by tech billionaire, Slater King at a function she is working at. After a sudden invitation to go to Slater's private island, Frida and her best friend, Jess, find themselves in a world unlike anything they've ever known. However, a life of luxury can't hide the darker secrets that exist on this island forever...

 

I really just tumbled into the story of this film, it is so inviting at first. The sheer opulence we slowly stumble into after seeing the dilapidated work and accommodation of Frida is a marvel. The island Slater owns feels unreal, it is a fantasy of the highest order. Everything is available, and there is a cornucopia of abundance laid out before our cast of characters. Yet, Kravitz's film does a great job of making us feel unsettled steadily, from bizarre housekeepers, to the snakes littering the island, right down to the gift bag room. I love that this movie really works to keep you guessing, you wonder if what is going on at the island is even supernatural at times, it can be tough to pin down exactly where the threat is coming from. I also adored the character of Slater King as an antagonist. The Jeffrey Epstein island parallel is easy enough to grasp, but I also really found something in his fragile fake apologies and pleading. This is the sort of male celebrity persona who tries to dominate others with no remorse and is more scared of losing their lifestyle than their own decency, it made for a compelling adversary. The film steadily ramps up a bit throughout, the final act has this incredible act of both solidarity, cunning and retaliation that I found satisfying as an audience member. Blink Twice builds some interesting twists and a tense atmosphere, while holding you in the clutches of a quite colourful and eclectic cast of characters.

 

Kravitz has set out to make something really visually amazing here. The shots are these expansive wides that will leave you stunned, the whole film feels like it captures the splendour of wealth very well. I also loved the gentle pans and tracking shots that added fuel to the tension of a horrific reveal. The editing is sharp and moves at a deliberate pace, setting something steady or frantic depending on the moment. The score is seriously chilling and will have you on edge, I also couldn't get enough of the soundtrack. The soundtrack had some grooving tracks that added to the party atmosphere of the island.

 

Naomi Ackie, who played Frida, is a wonderful protagonist who certainly gives Tatum a run for his money; Ackie's way of portraying fear while simultaneously trying to hide is an arresting performance to watch. Alia Shawkat, who played Jess, is such a fun-spirited best friend persona to pair against Ackie; seeing Shawkat steadily become the one easing out of the fun and frivolities was a very compelling point of the film. Christian Slater, who played Vic, felt like he was made for this film; Slater's unsettling and controlling demeanour worked well for the corporate CFO type. Adria Arjona, who played Sarah, feels like a celebrity powerhouse in the first half of the film; Arjona goes on to be the classic kick-ass horror flick heroine by film end. Trew Mullen, who played Heather, is absolutely hilarious as the film's primary stoner role; Mullen really is the heart of a lot of the party scenes, and she sets the energy levels constantly. Geena Davis, who played Stacy, has found herself a really quirky and comedic role in this; Davis is a lot of fun as Tatum's eccentric assistant/manager. Kyle MacLachlan, who played Rich, might not be in this film very much but is a scene stealer for what little he has; MacLachlan breezes through scenes with a significant amount of charismatic presence.

 

However, the best performance came from Channing Tatum, who played Slater. When first he appears on the screen, we see Tatum delivering something very familiar to us: a celebrity apology. Slater King is a man reformed, once a celebrity who took things too far, now he has found therapy and seclusion and is healing as a man. Indeed, when he first appears to Ackie's Frida, this seems a very chivalrous individual; he's courteous and larger than life. Tatum presents a man who knows how to work a room, holds a kind wit and invites you into his way of the world. On the island he continues to hold this easy chemistry with Ackie, they're drawn together and the way he works in with his inner circle is nice too. But there is a clear power structure here, and he holds it firmly, with others entirely subservient to Slater or fearful of him. There is something fragile in him that is already broken, the sharp pieces of that break is all we get to see, but it fuels a phenomenal third act breakdown. Tatum's reveal of just how insincere his character's apologies go is demented and my favourite scene of the whole thing. I miss seeing Channing Tatum in frequent leading roles, that just proves how much we need a comeback.

Blink Twice starts fast, and it wants to get moving at a rapid pace, we tread through introductions and the inciting incident so that we may get to the island very quickly. From that point we settle into a gentler rhythm that contrasts greatly with that rushed, if not exhilarating start. I also felt like this film struggles with perspective issues, this film is made by Zoë Kravitz, so it isn't always the most grounded affair. The poor vs. rich themes in the first two acts are somewhat shallow, and the way the wealthier characters talk are very particular and far removed from what an audience would realistically relate to. The tilt in theme between the second and third acts was really sudden. Blink Twice feels like a division of poor and rich sort of film for a significant portion of the runtime. However, the move to it being about the abuse of women and men wielding power irresponsibly felt quite sudden. The theme itself is excellent and once the film works itself out this really lands, but until that point there is a real stark shift. The way characters talk no longer holds much subtlety in terms of theme, and it just feels like a bit of weight has been taken out of that tense tone at first. The final reveal/outcome of the film is very justified, but it is harsh, I wasn't sure the darker message at the end fit the otherwise empowering moment of escape. It was an end scene that jumped the shark and went a little over the top.

Simon Rex, who played Cody, was a bit of an oddball but never really made much of a mark on a scene; Rex always appears abruptly into a scene, but sadly you forget about him not long after arrival. Haley Joel Osment, who played Tom, feels like the odd man out at times; Osment is a bit of a side player who is here to seem aloof and like a comedic presence in the wider group. Liz Caribel, who played Camilla, is one of the core actresses who struggles to make an impression; Caribel's big turn into righteous anger feels a bit two-dimensional in the moment. Levon Hawke, who played Lucas, has a significant role that just seems to sit there and look pretty; Hawke doesn't lend himself to a scene and just seems more happy to be there than anything else. Cris Costa, who played Stan, is a very generic gruff security guard type; Costa's work as a stoic henchman doesn't result in a significantly interesting performance.

 

Zoë Kravitz has made one of the better thrillers of 2024 in what is an absolutely stunning directorial debut. I would give Blink Twice a 7.5/10.

Alien: Romulus

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Alien: Romulus is the seventh Alien film (ninth if you count the vs Predator films) and is set in between Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens. Within this feature, Rain, a young colonist on a Weyland-Yutani mining world, seeks her escape to an independent planet free of corporate control. When her salvager friends unveil a spaceship and a plan to harvest cryo-pods from a nearby wreck, there seems to be hope. But none of the crew are prepared for the horrors awaiting them on the abandoned space station.

This is a film that is for horror fans, it's for science-fiction fans and it's an incredibly sincere love letter to the fans of the Alien franchise. What this film understands is that the series isn't about explaining the monster as the last two entries have stumbled through, rather this is about building an atmosphere, a building tension that something dark and terrible is impending. From the moment we entered the space station Romulus, the whole tone shifted. There was a colder quality to the setting, and the emptiness of those halls left a sense of foreboding in the air. Steadily this film blends in that monstrous other, the Xenomorph through every stage of evolution, placing our heroes in peril that leaves us questioning who will actually make it out of this mess. The main brother/sister dynamic of Rain and her adopted android brother, Andy, is perhaps the most charming part about the film. These two lean on one another, even if Rain can be indifferent or if Andy is faulty. This is a relationship built on trust and even love, like you'd see in siblings. Watching this relationship become corrupted over the course of the film is an emotional sucker punch, and one of those deft narrative moments that send this film sailing leagues ahead of past instalments. The rest of the salvagers are a fascinating crew as well, they aren't all likeable people, but they aren't inherently bad. They are desperate and come from bad lives, now finding themselves in a life and death situation that is consuming them whole. The film also positions the megacorporation of Weyland-Yutani as a central antagonist, even in a decaying android husk the vicious qualities of the company are being dished out to our heroes. This is a quintessential Alien film that honours what has come before while building a thrilling new experience for a brand-new audience.

This is visually the most impressive Alien has looked since 1986. The cinematography is really special, playing with tight corners, focus slightly off-centre and extreme close-ups to evoke powerful scares; action is also caught in a thrilling manner that showcases movement well. The visual effects are next level; the design of the creatures, the space station and especially the spacecraft flight had my jaw dropped. Benjamin Wallfisch does the score for this film, and it rocks, the music sets in and leaves you feeling frozen with the chill of a scene.

 

Cailee Spaeny, who played Rain, finds a great protagonist in her desperate horror heroine; her scene work with Jonsson is phenomenal and my top reason to see this film. Archie Renaux, who played Tyler, feels like the level-headed and charismatic leader type; Renaux does a good job in maintaining a refreshing moral presence that leaves us feeling hope. Isabela Merced, who played Kay, is the more charming and innocent type of character in this; Merced gets to revel in playing the 'scream queen' who often finds herself in the most perilous situations. Spike Fearn, who played Bjorn, feels like the token jerk with a heavy chip on his shoulder; his antagonistic attitude makes him one you will love to hate. Daniel Betts, who played Rook, managed to provide a great performance underneath an ugly visual effect; Betts' has an unsettling cold delivery that feels in pace with Holm's brilliant original portrayal.

However, the best performance came from David Jonsson, who played Andy. There must be something about the android roles I feel, a great actor can evoke some powerful stuff while appearing emotionless at times. Jonsson in this is so sweet with his dorky Dad jokes and moments of affection for his adopted sister Rain. Jonsson does a lot of work making his character non-confrontational and very passive, he's vulnerable at first. This is not the bold android with peak performance and an ulterior motive like Fassbender or Holm. This is a figure you really root for and hope to see a bright new day with his sister. Watching the switch flick in Jonsson as his role becomes more calculating and cold is fascinating. It shows an incredible range in his ability to perform, and it makes the ultimate reunion scene all the sweeter. Andy is a character who functions in the world of protagonist and antagonist, with Jonsson being more than capable for either.

The things I disliked in Alien: Romulus are more things I felt as being very tired film tropes or negative signs in terms of the direction of Hollywood. The final act of the film had a terrible final fifteen to twenty minutes, in which a monstrous pregnancy trope makes a real beast out of a woman carrying a child. This was everywhere in the 70s/80s horror scene and seriously feels like a played out plot point. It's a bit misogynistic and goes beyond the realms of pushing the body horror envelope. The fact Fede Alvarez has done this here and in Don't Breathe feels a bit uncomfortable and makes me wonder how much studios leash his scripts in. I also really disliked Ian Holm's Rook being digitally reconstructed and puppeteered around. Rook was well written and well performed in this, don't get me wrong, but he was in almost the whole film as a poor CGI effect. The only poor CGI effect of the film. Ian Holm is dead, and it was like watching a corpse do ballet, unsettling and more than a little wrong. I also thought the zero gravity moment in which Rain spiral and dances through acid blood was a bit of a corny end to a major confrontation.

Aileen Wu, who played Navarro, feels the least experienced of the cast and seems set up just to go out; her stoic nature meant her role didn't feel like it had too many facets to it.

One of the best entries we have had in the series since the first two, a must-watch for Alien fans. I would give Alien: Romulus an 8/10.

Borderlands

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Borderlands is an adaptation of the video game series of the same name. In this film, we follow Lilith, a bounty hunter who is tasked by a weapons mogul to recover his daughter. This young girl is widely sought after, as it is said she holds the key to unlocking the mysterious vault located on the planet Pandora.

There is something very surface level here available for fans of the games. There's a light aesthetic that evokes the world and takes you to settings, characters or weapons you can visually recognise and appreciate.

 

Cate Blanchett, who played Lilith, makes for a fine protagonist for this film; Blanchett's experienced hand turns this old bounty hunter with a chip on her shoulder into something worth watching. Benjamin Byron Davis, who played Marcus, brings something that feels authentic from the games to life; Davis really has fun with this gun merchant and his light background presence was a joy.

However, the best performance came from Jack Black, who voiced Claptrap. This is the sort of performance work where it felt like Black was having fun in the recording booth. He only had to commit to the role on the page in front of him and not the rest of this wider production. For this reason and because of Black's own frequent bursts of exuberance, alongside his history of voice acting, we get one of the better roles in the film. Claptrap is the strongest source of humour, often with a very dry type of wit and a bemoaning approach to line delivery. Black really gets the wild range of emotional outcry Claptrap has and really toys with that throughout. Claptrap might not be the biggest pull for this film, but Jack Black makes this one of the most source accurate and fun roles in the line-up.

I struggle to see any good intention behind the making of this film, it is the most soulless blockbuster I have seen in a long time. It has no sense of audience, I don't really understand who the creators expected to be watching this. The film is often led by heavy helpings of exposition, first through narration, then delivered by performers within a multitude of scenes and then finally in a late-stage third act flashback sequence. The film references the characters and their histories with one another almost as soon as the film kicks off; this made me wonder if the hope was to appeal more to the video game fan base. Yet the characters and the world are written extremely different to what one has experienced in the video game world so that audience isn't being reached either. The whole film is a loose romp around the planet finding secret keys and then open the secret vault type of story, so it is very bare and plain storytelling. Our protagonists are a terrible mix of personalities, with barely a charismatic player in the bunch. There also seems to be a real "I'm getting too old for this shit" slant on the film, with a number of protagonists being aged up for no real added value to the plot. Lilith as a protagonist is played well by Blanchett, but her arc towards hero isn't very earned and just seems to happen because the film pushes it to happen. The antagonist for the film is so boring; Atlas postulates and gives long explanations, but he doesn't feel like a heavy presence within the film. There are no points within the film where it feels like the story is moving with purpose, even all the way up to the final scene.

The visual style of the film is really poor, the filming often pushes too close or sits in a way that you feel like you're in a sound stage and not within the world of the film. I thought the visual effects were frightfully bad, be that CGI tentacles, Siren powers or the imposition of Atlas' head over another performer. The score for this movie was boring and evoked no strong emotion, even in an action scene. The soundtrack was the real surprise, something that the Borderlands series has always excelled at falls flat here. They even used a song by The Heavy, but in a way that felt like it had no reverence or understanding on how to place music.

Kevin Hart, who played Roland, really doesn't have the leading man presence required of this heroic soldier role; more than that, Hart just doesn't have the physicality to portray a soldier. Edgar Ramírez, who played Atlas, gives some incredibly flat line delivery; he doesn't even really grandstand or ham it up as the villain, resulting in something quite dull. Jamie Lee Curtis, who played Tannis, really feels off the mark as this quirky scientist; Curtis really takes to playing a neurodiverse role like a blunt tool and seems to barely have an understanding of what she's portraying. Ariana Greenblatt, who played Tiny Tina, is a fine up-and-coming actress who clearly would have done well with better direction; Greenblatt just plays at crazy here, which results in a very over the top performance. Florian Munteanu, who played Krieg, just feels too restrained in what should be the wildest role of the film; Munteanu is just here to be a physical role and struggles to find a character. Janina Gavankar, who played Knoxx, is just here to play at the stereotypical henchman; Gavankar's third act change of heart is really corny and entirely out of left field. Gina Gershon, who played Moxxi, just doesn't feel like the glamorous and sexy bar proprietor she is portraying; Gershon falls victim to a role that comes off as dull due to the line work being clogged with exposition. Haley Bennett, who played Lilith's Mum, is a third act role that is meant to surprise but actually lends nothing to the film; Bennett fails to lend an emotional beat to Lilith's backstory through her role.

We're right back to making lifeless husks for video game to film adaptations. I would give Borderlands a 0.5/10.

Trap

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Trap follows Cooper, your typical family man suburban Dad who takes his daughter to a concert of her favourite artist, Lady Raven. However, almost immediately things feel off as the concert is steadily revealed to be a trap for the notorious serial killer: The Butcher.

I have to say the first act of this film is M. Night Shyamalan at his absolute best, the set-up is sweet and you genuinely enjoy the father/daughter bond on display. This feels like a very everyday situation, a father chaperoning his child to a big event and as an audience we're led in nicely. At the same time, a concert is a unique setting for a film, and it's where the action happens for half of the plot, so all the unique qualities of being placed in this pop star adrenaline-fuelled venue really gets to be explored. Even watching all the slight odd points as Cooper realises the extent of police presence and then later the trap itself is a nice way to introduce the storyline.

M. Night Shyamalan has a fun camera style at play here that works quite well for his film. The whole thing is pushed to the max with these unsettling close ups. Long hanging moments where you are held in place by the range of subtle facial expressions and long intense stares lends a very disarming quality to the whole thing. The soundtrack to the film is also quite good, M. Night's daughter Saleka performs as the headlining pop star throughout and it places you in the setting remarkably well.

Ariel Donoghue, who played Riley, really feels like this young girl who is entirely caught up in the concert thrill; I loved the genuine connection built up between her and Hartnett. Jonathan Langdon, who played Jamie, is a bit of a sleeper hit for this film; Langdon is incredibly funny and lends a levity the film really benefits from. 

However, the best performance came from Josh Hartnett, who played Cooper. This is the real triumph of the film I kinda feel; Hartnett has been playing roles that haven't really been commanding of his full range for a while now. But this was a very impressive protagonist role in which he got to lead well. His turn as the charismatic Dad who only wants the best for his daughter is the sort of thing that wins us over while we wait for the turn. Even the bits where it feels like he's just casually wearing this persona to get ahead makes for some hilarious scenes. Yet when he is finally allowed to drop the mask, when the desperation breaks him you get to see Hartnett go entirely unhinged. His turn at being cold and calculating, but also rageful and vengeful is extremely well realised. Trap might not be the best film ever but it shows how well Hartnett can do with a dull script.

The thing this film cannot escape is that it is made by M. Night Shyamalan and I wish that didn't necessarily mean a bad thing. As a director he tends to land on these films that are built to ultimately surprise you, but the twist is kind of baked into this one: we know Cooper is the bad guy trying not to get caught while maintaining his good guy Dad persona. While I loved the first act we wandered into some strange side characters that really lead to conversations and moments that have no weight on anything at all. The entire second half fails in which Cooper's world unravels and we get strange apparitions of his mother, a pretty poor OCD representation and the longest and dullest cat and mouse sequence of the year. The worst part of Trap is how paper thin the nepotism at the heart of it all is. M. Night pushes his daughter as this pop star character into frame, which works when she's functioning in that role. But suddenly she is fed more and more screen time as things progress, including a pretty rough Instagram Live scene that felt poorly scripted. The whole film felt distracted and like it was more predominantly motivated to promote Saleka and not the story it was trying to tell.

Saleka Shyamalan, who played Lady Raven, might have had a good singing voice but she couldn't act to save herself; Shyamalan really struggled her way through dialogue intensive scenes. Alison Pill, who played Rachel, felt like a pretty stereotypical suburban housewife role with little for pill to engage with; I was especially disappointed by the complete lack of chemistry between her and Hartnett. Hayley Mills, who played Dr. Josephine Grant, looked like a strong breeze would knock her down; Mills certainly didn't feel like she had the presence of an FBI psychiatric external aide. Marnie McPhail, who played Jody's Mum, is weirdly intense from the go; McPhail just tries to hard to push herself into a scene and it feels a bit forced.

I actually am tired of these M. Night Shyamalan movies being so poorly written, cast and directed. I would give Trap a 4/10.