Wicked: For Good

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Wicked: For Good is the sequel to Wicked (2024) and an adaptation of the final act of the Broadway musical of the same name. This feature is set years after Elphaba spirited away with the Grimmerie, and she is still fighting for the rights of the animals of Oz. Glinda has become a voice and puppet of the Wizard and Morrible's propaganda machine. There is considerable discord in Oz, and tensions are poised to boil over...

The second act of Wicked delves deeper into the themes of this take on the world of Oz. One of the big ones is how Elphaba is a force for good and justice. Within the very opening minutes of the film, we see our protagonist witch comes to the defence of some of the animals of Oz. Elphaba has been ostracised from her homeland in her efforts to do the right thing, and it's a very isolating struggle. Yet, across the film, she strives to do the right thing by Oz, making efforts to see it change for the better. At the same time, it's interesting to see this take on the Wizard and his main supporter, Madame Morrible, and how they govern Oz. It is a world where those in charge maintain control thinly, through lies and turning people against one another. Watching Glinda be placed as a puppet for this purpose is interesting, and the effect it has on the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba is quite tragic as well. Watching this strong bond from the first film be tested and strained is what I found most compelling in this sequel. The culmination in our leading protagonists eventually having to diverge from one another as they sing 'For Good' is quite a decent emotional beat.

Jon M. Chu is a director whom I often enjoy; one key reason being that the man knows how to capture a vivid colour palette. This film can pop with colour in one scene, swirl with firelight in another and dance in the shadows at other times. Chu showcases the point of musical film adaptation and takes the show to a new visual frontier with confidence. The special effects we see don't feel misused (except for that de-aged Goldblum shot). I loved the flight sequences with Elphaba, Glinda's bubble and the CGI animal creatures. While I don't think this film held songs that will stay with me afterwards, they carried strong weight for the moments they were performed. I also loved 'For Good' as I previously mentioned, but 'No Good Deed' is an easy crowd favourite.

Cynthia Erivo, who played Elphaba, is an incredible lead who plays the struggle of a land against her well; Erivo is so righteous and hurt across For Good which is a darker edge that serves well. Jeff Goldblum, who played The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is a bit more whimsical and comedic in this one; I think you get a good chance to see how he schemes and tries to manipulate others here. Michelle Yeoh, who played Madame Morrible, might struggle with the singing, but she dominates with her performance; Yeoh is a fearsome antagonist. Jonathan Bailey, who played Fiyero, is rather conflicted and brooding here; I enjoyed seeing Bailey choose to fight for his values over his status. Bowen Yang, who played Pfannee, clearly gets to adlib in his short time a bit more; Yang being allowed to flex his comedy makes an impact this time around.

However, the best performance came from Ariana Grande, who played Glinda. I feel like watching the Wicked films is like watching a surprising transformation when it comes to Grande. Already in the first film, I found she challenged my expectations quite a bit. But in the sequel, I would say she commands the screen for most of the feature. Here, Glinda plays to the crowd; she is a bright, charismatic force used to keep the Wizard in power. I often found myself impressed with the little breaks in the facade that Grande delivered, those vulnerable moments of regret Glinda carried with her. It has to be said that Grande and Erivo together are wonderful; the dynamic they share only serves to lift this movie up at every turn. I also loved the moments of heartbreak for Glinda, Grande plays Fiyero abandoning her and parting ways with Elphaba forever in such a tragic way. I found some serious satisfaction and elation at the ending. Grande's Glinda becomes a sort of symbol for hope and change for the better. This role has been phenomenal for Ariana Grande, and I don't think I could possibly underestimate her as an actress going forward.

This film never really stops feeling quite busy, and even downright scattered at times. In all honesty, a lot of the issues in the second act of the show are blown up larger than ever here. The way this story tries to dart around The Wizard of Oz and weave it all together actually serves to make the whole thing confusing. There are whole scenes that just don't really work because of this. Time jumps around in this movie quite a bit, between the two films and across this movie too. The result is a film that just doesn't always have pacing working for it. I really struggled with some of the major romance storylines in this feature; putting Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero into a love triangle just infantilised the quality of the story. I also think the Boq, Nessarose and Glinda thing got a bit long in the tooth and is a subplot that struggles at the best of times.

The music as a whole works, as I mentioned previously, but the songs won't stay with you for long after the film, beyond a couple of major players. What I really couldn't stand were the two new original songs developed for this film. Both come off as quite out of place and only serve to push out the film longer than it needs to be.

Ethan Slater, who played Boq, is a performer who just feels like an afterthought; I didn't much care for Slater's transition into the Tin Man at all. Marissa Bode, who played Nessarose, really lets herself down in this sequel; Bode's role had no harder edge to it, which is the one thing that really feels lacking. Colman Domingo, who voiced The Cowardly Lion, isn't really a role we needed to serve time as a character; Domingo is entirely unimpressionable as the Lion. Bronwyn James, who played Shenshen, is still stuck in the background; the need for her to play entourage has been and gone by this point. Scarlett Spears, who played Young Galinda, just doesn't quite have the range to land an emotional beat yet; Spears' younger take is a pretty shallow take on our leading role.

It might not be as strong as the first film, but it is an ending that hits most of the right notes. I would give Wicked: For Good a 7.5/10.

The Running Man

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Running Man is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, set in a world where the only way to escape the slum is to win big on a corporate TV game show. When Ben Richards' daughter falls ill, he takes a payout and joins 'The Running Man' in a desperate bid to save her and fight for his family.

The big thing this film has peppered throughout that I quite enjoyed is how media is used by corporations, and how we consume it in this day and age. The idea of watching 'The Running Man' is a thrill for the audience, but it's a bit of a cheap illusion ultimately. As we learn across the feature, the runners are picked based on their character and the outcomes are often scripted. Even the self-recorded videos the Runners make are doctored using A.I. or deepfake technology, which is a commentary that doesn't seem so entirely sci-fi nor outlandish. At the start of the film, we watch our protagonist Ben and his infant daughter watch a show where a man answers trivia while running on a hamster wheel. He either gets the answer right and wins money or he dies, which is ultimately what happens. Ben tries to distract his daughter by pointing out the cute hamster mascot. I think that scene alone says a lot about media consumption and how it can be presented. There's even a brilliant Kardashians parody in this, which draws a line around vapid consumption of media and how easy it is to be drawn into a binge cycle of consuming what is presented before you digitally.

I find Edgar Wright to be an extremely dependable director when it comes to capturing his project visually. The Running Man can get a little ham-fisted with the story at times, but the presentation rarely feels this way. Shots throughout show the disparity of this dystopian world, the hard-edged difference between the haves and the have-nots. The soundtrack for this feature is excellent, with some very fitting and fun tracks from the likes of Tom Jones and The Rolling Stones.

Glen Powell, who played Ben Richards, is a pretty decent lead for this dystopian thriller; Powell's moments where he feels most human are where his character work really shines. Lee Pace, who played Evan McCone, is a good rival for Powell across this; Pace has a hulking presence and really lashes out nicely in the final act. Colman Domingo, who played Bobby T, is a charismatic host who works every scene for all its worth; Domingo really knows how to dress up and inflate certain moments. Michael Cera, who played Elton Perrakis, was an absolute delight in this; Cera brought forward a character with a lot of conviction and a strong sense of justice.

However, the best performance came from Josh Brolin, who played Dan Killian. Brolin is having such a good run with his acting performances this year, even if this isn't quite as big a swing as Weapons. Here we see Brolin as a conniving producer for the Network. A man who doesn't mind trading in lives if the propaganda machine keeps on churning. Killian is an arrogant man; he sees himself and his work as untouchable by those below him. You get a sense of power from Brolin across this; he enters every scene holding the cards and expecting to play those across from him. I also liked the way Brolin portrayed the more manipulative side of his character, posing as a decent guy with a word of advice that would never actually help anyone. That final shot, where Brolin is caught up in fear but also a bit of excitement at the prospect of this being a 'good finale', is one of the more nuanced and well-portrayed character beats of the film.

I spent a lot of this movie trying to understand if it believed in the message it was trying to sell. At its core, The Running Man is about how we consume media, how media is manipulated, and most significantly, it is about corporate control and social inequality. However, the latter part of this rarely feels authentic across the film. Let's take the protagonist, for instance, Ben Richards is presented to us as a bleeding heart very early on; he's an everyday schmuck and yet the guy rarely seems like he is struggling. He almost seems like an archetype of himself most of the film, a man who is angry at the way the world works quite blindly. There's a younger character introduced in the final act who is there for Richards to shout out and point at the disparity of the class gap between them. This movie is obvious at every turn, and it loudly shouts its theme in a very dense, blunt manner. The entire film builds up to the protagonist awkwardly being worked out of a near-death situation (we don't see how) and then being propped up as a martyr without ever truly earning it. This is a film that knows what it wants to deliver, but perhaps the creative team behind it doesn't understand how to do a good poor versus the elite narrative. This is a showy action film with some decent stunts, but when it tries to make a point, you find yourself wishing it would find some substance to those ideas. The film also moves too quickly throughout; we barely learn about Ben's home life before he throws it away for the show, there are several side characters who we barely come to understand before they're shuffled on, and the final act moves extremely awkwardly in terms of pacing. This is a film with oodles of potential, but it needed to really be done at a more even pace, with a more dynamic approach to the themes and characters.

The special effects across this are mostly explosion-laden bores, but the glaringly bad one is the plane and the crash at the end of the film. It's an eyesore that pushes us into a rather shaky conclusion. The score for the film is rarely very present, and it certainly doesn't uplift the feature in any way.

Jayme Lawson, who played Sheila Richards, is a long way from Sinners here; Lawson's pining wife role doesn't offer much agency. Katy O'Brian, who played Jenni Laughlin, just feels a bit rudderless in this; beyond partying up and oogling other women, there isn't much to O'Brian's character. Martin Herlihy, who played Tim Jansky, is a weak effort at early comedic relief; Herlihy is an obvious push for a laugh, and this falls on its face pretty soon. William H. Macy, who played Molie, is a bit tired as the paranoid old ally; Macy's character barely has time to connect with Powell's, so it's no surprise there's nothing genuine there. Angelo Gray and Daniel Ezra, who played Stacey and Bradley respectively, were some of the more annoying ally roles across this film; Ezra, in particular, had this online persona that did not support the film at all. Emilia Jones, who played Amelia Williams, was in the unfortunate position of playing a character who felt like an afterthought; she and Powell really struggled to define how they wanted to play across from one another.

In a world riddled with films about corporate control and societal injustice, this adaptation of The Running Man comes off as insincere. I would give The Running Man a 4.5/10.

Now You See Me: Now You Don't

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is the third film in the Now You See Me series, and this time sees our magical Horsemen take on the mogul of an African diamond mine. All of our classic horsemen are back, with some copycat younger recruits in tow, looking to bring justice via an illusion and a trick.

Maybe I like the camp quality of the stage magic and illusions being woven into the plot. Or perhaps I'm a sucker for a heist movie. Whatever it may be, I really enjoy the Now You See Me movies; they have an easy charm to them that I find a lot of major blockbusters struggle to attain these days. A lot of this comes from the chemistry between the cast that emerges through their characters. This cast just bounces and quips off one another so effortlessly, they look like they are having fun with the film, which makes it so easy to have fun with the film as an audience member. Character dynamics being poked and prodded here, new interactions in any given scene made this a movie I found really easy to just sit back and journey with. The heist moments are always quite fun; there's a bit more of a simple twist in the final act that I appreciated. The third Now You See Me might be stuffed with characters, but I think it also chose to go back to basics, and for the most part, that worked for it.

The soundtrack for this movie is a bit more deliberate and has a pop twist that really leans into the performance element of the movie. I think Brian Tyler always shows up to a Now You See Me score; the music in this is dazzling, brimming with adventure and full of showmanship.

Woody Harrelson, who played Merritt McKinney, is one of the funniest performances in this easily; Harrelson's interrogation room scene with Pike is a real high point of the feature. Dave Franco, who played Jack Wilder, is effortlessly charismatic; he's the more outgoing Horseman and puts himself squarely in the face of risk. Isla Fisher, who played Henley Reeves, is a joy to have back; Fisher's character really shows off and gets back to the performance aspect of the magic. Justice Smith, who played Charlie, gives a surprisingly subversive performance; Smith usually plays a more reserved character who finds his strength in a story, and this film has fun twisting that expectation here. Dominic Sessa, who played Bosco, is a new brand of cocky magician that works well for the sequel; Sessa and Eisenberg were such good foils for one another. Morgan Freeman, who played Thaddeus Bradley, really evokes a sense of wonder and mystery in a manner that is classic to him; his death scene was a nice sombre beat to the film. Mark Ruffalo, who played Dylan Rhodes, has one CGI cameo, but it's a great touch; Ruffalo's earnest nature shines through and is as much a part of the magic as anything else. Lizzy Caplan, who played Lula May, steals the show entirely upon her surprise return; her brand of comedy works so well in these films, and she's an easy favourite.

However, the best performance came from Jesse Eisenberg, who played J. Daniel Atlas. These movies and, indeed, the very character of Atlas, feel extremely well-suited to Eisenberg. Atlas is an arrogant illusionist who can live up to his own boastful claims. Eisenberg commands a scene quite naturally and clearly enjoys playing to a crowd. I like that this character is hellbent on a mission, but still struggles with playing well with others. His moments of conflict across the cast are quite fun. I especially enjoyed the back and forth between him and newcomer, Sessa. Eisenberg's reaction to Thaddeus' death is a quiet emotional beat in this that lands quite well. Overall, Eisenberg plays a magician who can feel larger than life, and that suits this series very well.

Now You See Me: Now You Don't can't really escape what it is, the third film in a franchise. At this point, there's a bit of a formula, and it's all on show for us here. Our heroes unite, they find some initial success, then the antagonist starts winning, and then we get the big trick. It's exactly like the past two films. I guess you could apply some "if it ain't broke" thinking to all this, but I feel these movies need to do something fresh to keep themselves going. The dialogue is also a little clunkier, the jokes feel simple, and there is a staggering amount of exposition in the first half of this feature. I also really felt that the new antagonist, Veronika, really didn't live up to the bar set by Caine and Radcliffe. In fact, while the heist itself was fun, the actual initial motive behind the caper isn't a strong hook.

I'm really used to the Now You See Me movies being quite showy, even through the work of the camera. This is a missing element this time around. The camera work is here to frame the characters and steadily capture the scene, but nothing is exciting through the lens. I was likewise quite disappointed with how this movie had some poor cuts and rather average special effects that constantly descended into vanishing smoke bombs.

Ariana Greenblatt, who played June, has been in a lot of major blockbusters now, and it's starting to count against her; it's becoming increasingly clear her range is not so great. Rosamund Pike, who played Veronika Vanderberg, is a surprisingly dull antagonist; it feels like Pike's main motive for being in this film was to give a South African accent a go.

The Now You See Me series has always been a delight to me; that cast has more chemistry than they know what to do with. I would give Now You See Me: Now You Don't a 7.5/10.

Predator: Badlands

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Predator Badlands is the ninth film in the Predator franchise and follows the coming-of-age of the young Yautja known as Dek. After a personal betrayal, Dek ventures out to hunt the toughest kill in the universe, with some unlikely help along the way.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this film, even while watching it. Everything about Badlands is about trying a new creative direction. I found the positioning of a Yautja as our protagonist instead of antagonist to be a bold, fun move. Dek is a character who adheres to the creed of his people. He hunts with honour and has an unwavering view of the way of the Yautja. Yet, Dek is a runt who forms sincere bonds with other characters in this movie - from his brother, Kwei, to the Weyland-Yutani Syth, Thia. The character growth here is simple but effective. Dek is a Yautja who learns that the most dangerous Predator is one who can hunt with a pack of his own. This film is a revenge journey and a hunt; our character is on a singular path throughout, and it is satisfying to watch him evolve as he also gains the revenge he seeks.

The way Predator: Badlands is certainly with the visual effects in mind, but it's also about presenting the audience with highly aesthetic action shots. This film is a violently entertaining outing, with many sequences stitched together with the 'cool' factor being the main driving force. I was blown away by the attention paid to the CGI in this; it's comfortably one of the nicer special effects films of the year. From the design of the Yautja, the Kalisk, right through to Elle Fanning's severed torso, these visual effects are really characteristic and distinctive. I found the score presented to be quite adrenaline-fuelled, a little primal in places, and the guttural moments raw and almost Yautja-like themselves.

Reuben de Jong, who played Father, brings an imposing physicality to this antagonist role; there is real venom here between himself and his onscreen son. Elle Fanning, who played Thia and Tessa, did a remarkable job in her dual android characters; Fanning brought delight as Thia while entirely dominating the film as her central antagonist character. Michael Homik, who played Kwei, has a nice onscreen chemistry with Schuster-Koloamatangi; the bond between brothers is well-captured and all the more heartbreaking for it.

However, the best performance came from Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, who played Dek. There is occasionally a motion capture performance that comes along that stands out from more conventional means of acting. We've seen this in movies like Lord of the Rings with Serkis, and again in Planet of the Apes with Serkis and Kebbell, and James Cameron obliterated the box office with a cast that did it in the Avatar franchise. The truth is that is exactly the playing field Schuster-Koloamatangi deserves to be in. He had the incredible physicality and guttural language of the Yautja embodied. But where this creature has been an imposing physical antagonist before, this performance breathed character into the Yautja in a way I haven't really seen before. Dek needed to be a character the audience could believe in and support for a couple of hours. Schuster-Koloamatangi achieved exactly this; I hope he gets to return and do it all again.

I think Badlands walks a weird line for the series; it's a moment of innovation that holds positives and negatives. The film as a whole skews more towards the world of Predator and Alien with a friendlier, modern blockbuster filter over it. There's not really any escape from the fact that it becomes a found family movie with an animal sidekick and a warm message about fighting together rather than apart. There is a lot of humour here, which lands far easier than Shane Black's The Predator, but still feels tonally jarring at times. Perhaps that's the main problem here: Badlands isn't like any other Predator. It loses some of its identity in trying to make the series open up to a wider audience. I also think the stakes were quite low throughout because the things that were in danger were all just special effects: aliens and robots. This made it tougher to form an emotional bond with these things as an audience.

Love it or hate it, you can't deny that Dan Trachtenberg is doing something genuinely creative with the Predator franchise right now. I would give Predator: Badlands a 7/10.

Good Fortune

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Good Fortune follows Arj, a man struggling on many fronts, who gets the opportunity to swap lives with a tech-bro billionaire. The intervening force? A guardian angel who is normally meant to watch over people who text and drive...

I give Good Fortune a lot of credit for actually managing to stick the subversion of the body swap/life swap film. This is a film that doesn't sit there with an obvious means to provide a greater message; Arj and Jeff swap lives, and we learn that Arj's life would be better if he had money. Good Fortune is often pretty sobering like this, making us reflect that we've become a society so built around financial gain and status that these things have become synonymous with easier access to joy. The only reason our protagonist switches back is because he vaguely realises it's 'the right thing to do', which is also interesting. The divine force that creates the swap in this movie doesn't teach the lesson; the characters genuinely arrive at it themselves. I also really liked watching Gabriel navigate life as a human being, the almost infant-like angel, realising some humans have to work three jobs to afford rent and fuel, is a nice subplot to the greater piece.

The soundtrack for the film is an absolute jam of 80s and 90s dance and rock tracks that serve the more retro-shaded elements of the film. The final frame of Good Fortune is such a slam dunk when you pair it with Real Life's 'Send Me An Angel'.

Seth Rogen, who played Jeff, is easy-going and bright in this film; I loved how strongly he played the outrage his character experienced at having his life taken away from him. Keke Palmer, who played Elena, was quite a passionate and earnest individual; Palmer really became someone you could see every day fighting a small but worthy fight. Sandra Oh, who played Martha, is one of the more balanced and serene characters; there's a bit of mysterious knowledge of fate here that keeps her role intriguing. Felipe Garcia Martinez, who played Felipe, is one of those rare gems where someone who feels fresh to acting brings charm to the film; Martinez and Reeves develop a light friendship that left me smiling.

However, the best performance came from Keanu Reeves, who played Gabriel. This film feels built for Reeves to lead the comedic direction, a surprising and innovative choice. Gabriel doesn't feel human; he is somewhat elevated and fantastical in presentation. Yet, we can feel akin to Gabriel; Reeves plays him as someone who is lost and seeking greater purpose. There's some sincerity in how much he loves humanity and wants to make a difference. Gabriel is an optimistic figure; he believes in the good of humanity. It makes the disappointment Reeves portrays all the greater, the fact that humanity can't live up to his standards. I really felt like it was a pleasure to see Reeves be both tremendously kind and provide the funniest performance of the film. Felt like the good ol' Bill and Ted days.

Good Fortune simply can't escape the fact that Arj is the protagonist the viewer has to watch. Arj is a character living a bad life, and therefore, I guess we're supposed to pity him a bit. But there's just no getting past the fact that Arj is a thoroughly dislikeable character. He talks about life poorly, he is quick to insult himself and others, he rarely cares, and yet he takes so much for granted. Perhaps this is the point? But it becomes difficult to feel like Arj is the everyday underdog when he's also a bit of a jerk. When the movie makes the billionaire tech bro Jeff more charismatic than someone living a life more approximate to the average movie-goer, something is very wrong. Arj and Jeff spend a long time in this just living their lives, so we wallow in the misery or lazy luxury of it all for far too long in the first act. The film seems almost hesitant to include Gabriel and the angels, which makes the fantastical elements feel a bit fringe and out of place. The film does something similar as it journeys towards the conclusion, having our characters sit in one another's lives for a bit too long and losing the point. It becomes very easy for Jeff to have a complete personality flip and say "all billionaires are bad", but no one really needed him to get up on the soapbox to do so. As a whole, the message for Good Fortune rings a little hollow. Arj is quite an insincere navigator, and the film just wallops you over the head with its views on the class divide in the last twenty minutes.

I really feel like the comedy genre is a good place to go to see average camerawork. Good Fortune looks washed out, and the frame is vastly empty most of the time, with other scenes struggling to capture the performers interestingly. The editing contributes to a sluggish pace, with scenes chopped up in a menial manner. The score for the film tries for a melodic thing to amp up the fantasy elements, but it's basic and a bit of a cheap sound.

Aziz Ansari, who played Arj, lets his own film down massively as the leading protagonist; Ansari is a tough person to like in this, and I never really got past that. Shoukath Ansari, who played Saleem, just feels like a talentless performer awkwardly inserted by Aziz into the film; this move might have worked back in Master of None, but it doesn't really fly here. Wil Sylvince, who played Leonard, is ridiculously unfunny in this; he feels like a rather average stand-up comic that Ansari dragged into the production. 

Despite some fun, subversive elements, you can't escape that Aziz Ansari is one of the worst possible choices you could have leading a film. I would give Good Fortune a 4.5/10.

Hedda

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Hedda is an adaptation of the play, 'Hedda Gabler' by Henrik Ibsen, recontextualised for the 1950s and a queer retelling. The story follows Hedda, a wealthy and chaotic socialite, who is drawn to her old flame, Eileen Lovborg, on the evening of a great party.

This film is brimming with tension; you constantly feel like something is about to happen that is tantalising in nature. Hedda is rife with lovers being ripped apart, people plotting against one another, the precarious illusion of social class and sexual tensions aplenty. Hedda Gabler being at the epicentre of all of this makes her a force to be reckoned with.

The editing for Hedda is one of my absolute favourite things about it. Whoever was sitting in that post-production suite was orchestrating this film with tremendous care. The way scenes were cut lingered or abruptly ended just so and with tremendous purpose. Hildur Guðnadóttir's score is whispering, a flowing breath that makes you feel like something or someone is poised to strike at any given time.

Nina Hoss, who played Eileen Lovborg, is a very refined and fiercely independent figure when we first meet her; Hoss does a stupendous job at showing the negative effects Hedda has upon her character.

However, the best performance came from Tessa Thompson, who played Hedda Gabler. This character being such a focal point of the film certainly elevates Thompson's performance over others; she is a force to be reckoned with here. Hedda is a woman who is entirely chaotic and bent to her own whims. We see her dramatically move to suicide at the start and the end of the film, but in both instances, this act rings as more out of a need for drama and attention than hopelessness. Thompson's socialite commands her house and the party, yet she seems more comfortable on the fringes, plotting her next move. This is a character who desires and wants. Hedda is reaching for further efforts to attain status and wealth throughout, though this seems secondary to her twisting Hoss' Lovborg around her finger. The cat-and-mouse performance put on by Thompson and Hoss is a sharp piece of chemistry and lust.

Hedda is a movie that feels desolate and trite at the best of times. It feels like someone saw the idea of the play and remarked that they liked the idea of it. This interpretation of Hedda Gabler feels like director Nia DaCosta is trying to find the Baz Luhrmann interpretation. The film is very showy, and the efforts to show the hollowness of voracious wealth are all done in quite the obvious manner. The supporting characters are barely worth considering; they struggle to make themselves known. In a lot of ways, this film feels like it should be Hedda and Eva circling one another for the entire feature, but there's no consideration given to doing that. In fact, these two aren't pushed into one another's paths enough. The luxurious period drama adaptation comes off as garish wallpaper covering up an imagined concept that hasn't been developed enough. For that matter, the move to a 1950s period piece seems a bit strange; it's hard to really pin down the time of the setting, and for a period piece, it often fails to ground the viewer.

This film has a stunning set, a decent ensemble for the party and an admittedly intimate story to tell with the core cast of characters. It is, therefore, a shame that the film looks so confused about how to capture this. The cinematography feels scattered, and sometimes the vision seems to be big and flashy and at others more close and lingering, but there's never a definitive visual language to Hedda in the way it is filmed.

Imogen Poots, who played Thea Clifton, gives quite a blunt performance; Poots is often seen in a scene drawing up a tear, but there's no depth behind that performance. Nicholas Pinnock, who played Judge Roland Brack, is a very prominent character but never really gives a clear image of themselves; Pinnock feels like a misplaced piece in this ensemble. Tom Bateman, who played George Tesman, is an ineffectual performer across the piece; Bateman is positively dull as George and lacks chemistry with Thompson massively.

A laborious period adaptation that fizzles more than it sizzles. I would give Hedda a 3.5/10.

Ballad of a Small Player

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Ballad of a Small Player is an adaptation of the novel 'The Ballad of a Small Player' by Lawrence Osborne. It follows Lord Doyle, a self-proclaimed 'high roller' living in Macau, who is gambling away a small fortune. Doyle is having a serious run of bad luck, with debt and a secret from his past threatening to destroy the life he is living. It will be a true gamble to see if he can still turn his fortune around.

This movie really surprised me at times; it felt a bit more scattered than Berger's previous works, and yet it still had some impressive statements behind it. This film is driven by the character of Doyle, a false figure and a liar. This is a man who stole to reinvent himself and immediately burrowed into an extravagant life of gambling, drinking and luxurious cuisine. Doyle despises himself, but has this dogged drive that winning a gamble will fix all of his problems. Throughout the entire film, we get this impression that what Doyle is running towards is a life free of his past sins caused by avarice, while at the same time, he is running from that life of avarice threatening to consume him. Even when Doyle starts 'finding' his luck, he becomes haunted and certain that his lifestyle will decimate him. The final fifteen minutes, when Doyle gambles to absolve himself and then rejects gambling and greed, are a healing moment that I think lands the whole feature quite nicely.

This is an Edward Berger movie, so if you aren't seated prepared for some excellent visuals, you have no idea what is in store. Ballad of a Small Player dazzles with colour and light, tantalisingly painting wealth one second while making it sickly and cloying in the next frame. I love how purposeful the camerawork is in a Berger film; Conclave marvelled with this, and Ballad continues the thread. The editing isn't the most inspired ever, but the way a smash cut or hallucination sequence is pieced together works well enough. Volker Bertelmann's score is magnificent; much like Doyle, I thought I might break out in a feverish sweat just from the anxiety of it all.

Fala Chen, who played Dao Ming, was a sympathetic and hardened lost soul, much like Farrell's character; I liked that you could almost tell when she became an idealised spectre of herself. Deanie Ip, who played Grandma, was a very dark force in the film despite having few scenes; Ip's character is a bully who thrives on the ruin greed brings.

However, the best performance came from Colin Farrell, who played Lord Doyle. This character really is the driving force behind the film, and Farrell seems up to the task. When we first meet Doyle, he is a wild character, deceitful and spiralling in his poor choices. Farrell makes the moments where he talks out of both sides of his mouth to maintain a lie rather effortless. I loved Farrell's chemistry with Chen; there is something magnetic and contemplative there that you really fall into. Watching this camera make horrid choices and destroy himself is troubling, often even stressful. Farrell brings this feverish and frantic quality to the role as all hope starts to become lost for Doyle. Yet, that shift in quality in the final act, where he starts to pursue something more noble with genuine intent, is brilliant. You really feel the role shedding layers of himself as Farrell portrays the rejection of avarice in those final minutes.

I loved the driving force behind the central theme of Ballad of a Small Player. The commentary around greed is where the story comes to life, but there are a lot of confusing elements within the plot that really let it down. I think this film tried hard to find a cultural thread, linking Doyle's plight with Chinese tradition and mythology. This was an effort that often felt in vain because there didn't seem to be enough knowledge behind the creative vision. The Chinese traditional element seemed unclear and like it was often feeling out its place in the story. I also thought this applied quite strongly to the Dao Ming ghost/hallucination story. She was a brilliant character used too sparingly, and her being this temporary presence made the direction of the story hard to follow. I didn't like the awkward side elements of the story that were barely defined. Things like Doyle having connections with other criminals like him in Macau was a thread that could've been better explored. Finally, the worst part of this film was often when Doyle, as a character, was examined too closely, often by Blithe. The investigation by Blithe seemed to have an intent to ground the story, but it was off-kilter and rather jarring to the wider narrative that was being played out. Yes, Doyle's real self needed to be aired out, but this hovering figure of quavering British morality did very little to drive home the point of the feature.

Tilda Swinton, who played Blithe, was an erratic private investigator role that really had a jarring impact on the film; Swinton's skittish character seemed like a strange mouthpiece for morality. Alex Jennings, who played Adrian Lippett, was a pompous role that had little bearing to give on the story; Jennings' inclusion in that big climactic scene was a poor choice.

The story gets a bit contrived at times, but this is an aesthetic film with plenty to say about avarice. I would give Ballad of a Small Player a 6.5/10.

Roofman

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Roofman is a biographical feature about Jeffrey Manchester, dubbed the 'Roofman' due to his criminal activities of breaking into McDonald's through drilling into their roof spaces. After a prison escape, Jeffrey laid low in a Toy R' Us for months, assuming a new identity and starting to build a new life.

This movie is often quite tragic; you can't help but feel a lot of empathy for the misfortune that Jeffrey finds himself in. This is a protagonist who seems to want the right thing, but keeps picking the wrong path and making ill-fated choices. In a concept sense, this film manages the underdog, everyman story presentation well. The best part of this film is how it manages to present the novelty of Jeffrey living in the Toys R' Us store, which is a pretty wild thing. Seeing Jeffrey zoom around on heelies, wearing Spider-Man clothing while taking a baseball bat to Cuddle-Me Elmos is quite entertaining.

I quite liked the soundtrack for this film; it grounded us in that late 90s/early 2000s era nicely, and there were moments like the 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt scene that had me cracking up.

Channing Tatum, who played Jeffrey Manchester, does a perfectly decent job as this bad luck thief; Tatum's strength is his efforts to be charming and relatable. Kirsten Dunst, who played Leigh Wainscott, is someone I really felt like I could bump into on the street; watching her small moments of inner conflict in this film shows you what a seasoned performer Dunst is. Lily Collias, who played Lindsay, does a good job as the rebellious teenage daughter of Dunst; the pair push one another in a way that feels quite authentic.

However, the best performance came from Peter Dinklage, who played Mitch. This character is the manager of Toys R' Us, and the sort of jerk manager we all talk about on a lunch break. You can tell Dinklage is having fun being his worst self, taking some truly mean dialogue and getting quite derisive with it. This is a role that goes around and ruins other people's day; he lacks empathy and is entirely self-absorbed. Yet, he also knows how to play his role for comedy, too. Dinklage stumbling onto a naked Tatum is a high point of the film, and I loved how he played the robbery scene, too. Maybe not the biggest role for Dinklage, but an entertaining time from start to finish.

Roofman is a hard film to buy into, I found. This is a film where Jeffrey is almost always being painted as having a heart of gold; he's not so bad, really, he wants to be better, gosh, he sure is trying, isn't he? Yet, if you hang around for the credits and get the real-life interview component, it becomes clear that this is probably a bit of an act; the real Jeffrey was quite manipulative and didn't have much remorse for his actions. The film really doesn't feel very authentic. I didn't believe Jeffrey's story was the heroic underdog tale we were being presented with. This is the sort of film that gives you the warm fuzzies at the end, and makes you a bit sad for our hapless hero. But the story we have here is almost like an Instagram filter over the truth. Presented pretty, but quite fictitious. There's so much absurdity in the moments of criminal exploits, massage parlour Buddhas and passport wig canvassing that it all winds up feeling very sincere. The moment the church comes into play in this plot, there's almost a moment of true moral calling applied to Jeffrey that also seems like quite a stretch to me. As a whole, I found this film wanted to be a flashy version of what is quite an intriguing story, but it was willing to compromise on the truth a lot to do so. 

Roofman feels like no effort went into crafting a movie that felt visually interesting. A lot of the camera work is quite basic, and there are many scenes in which the framing is downright ghastly. I wish the director had never gone for a style where the camera got close to the characters, because the camerawork here is glaringly poor. The film has a sluggish pace set by very simplistic editing. I also found the score for this film to be a grating affair; it just drones and doesn't have much emotion to add to this story. The music choices made within the score puzzled me, because this film was hardly asking for much.

Alissa Marie Pearson, who played Becky, is a pretty simple performance for this age; Pearson reads her lines well enough, but there's no sincere connection between her and Tatum. LaKeith Stanfield, who played Steve, rarely feels like a real person; Stanfield plays a hard-edged criminal type, but I struggled to believe in this performance. Melonie Diaz, who played Talena, felt like she had no pre-existing relationship with Tatum or her on-screen children; Diaz is placed in her scenes, but she doesn't really step up as a character actress. Juno Temple, who played Michelle, is a performance with no substance at all; this character plays around a bit in the wig scene, otherwise Temple has nothing to contribute here. Uzo Aduba and Ben Mendelsohn, who played Eileen and Pator Ron respectively, are decent performers playing background characters; it is entirely surprising watching Mendelsohn get lost in this. Kennedy Moyer, who played Dee, is another young actress without much to her; Moyer is just here to be exuberant and not much more.

Has a strange, everyday heart of gold veneer that never truly feels sincere. I would give Roofman a 4.5/10.

Tron: Ares

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Tron: Ares is the sequel to Tron: Legacy (2010) and the third film in the Tron franchise. In this feature, the Dillinger Corporation and Encom are engaged in a corporate feud over the acquisition of the 'Permanence Code'. A digital code that allows digital matter to be rendered into organic matter. Master Control program, Ares, must decide if he will be a pawn in this struggle or find a life of his own.

This is a film that doesn't think about its title character very much, but when it does remember Ares? That is the film I liked watching. Tron has always been a grapple between the digital and the real, and Ares' story is right at the core of that. Watching him be treated like this, expendable, disposable soldier in servitude to another, is a great bridge to watching him develop a desire for life. Ares is rather quirky and unconventional; this expressionless program, which develops his own sense of self, is extremely entertaining.

The thing this film does incredibly well is the visual effects. Tron: Ares has elements like light cycle races in the 'real world', which is rather pretty at times, and the Grid is sharp in design and almost an imposing landscape now. Even the downscale to present the classic Grid design from the first Tron film is a nice love letter to the fans.

Jared Leto, who played Ares, appeared to have a decent bit of fun in this leading role; Leto manages to be expressionless as a machine while finding some aloof charisma within that. Jeff Bridges, who played Kevin Flynn, is one of the most seasoned performers of the cast; Bridges is effortlessly cool and sincere in his third Tron.

However, the best performance came from Evan Peters, who played Julian Dillinger. It can be fun to play the villain; there's a little more room there to showboat and ham it up. Peters really takes Julian in a few different places here, but he knows how to play the tech billionaire antagonist with a superiority complex. Peters opens this movie by performing a grandstanding delivery about artificial intelligence, the digital frontier and military applications; he's charismatic but clearly built for profit. This is a character who is narcissistic and lacks empathy for others; he has a sociopathic side when it comes to losing, which has some real bite to it. Julian really actively engages in a willingness to terminate others if it puts him ahead across the film. Yet, Peters also shows the side of Julian that feels the fear at unravelling so completely. The low moments for Julian when he starts losing, when his mother is killed due to his hubris and even when he runs away into the Grid are great moments of desperation played brilliantly by Peters.

This film feels devoid of life, and not just because it's about computer programs. This film has a lot of potential, an interesting protagonist and some killer special effects. But it all tends to get lost in the plot of the corporate human characters who, for some baffling reason, get centre stage. Ares is our heroic other, a computer program who wants to be a little bit human, which I found surprisingly relatable. Yet the story for this movie often forgets or fails to prioritise Ares. Following the human characters feels so dispassionate; they are incapable of expressing authentic emotions or connections with one another. These people are your TED talkers, your corporate execs and computer programmers. People who are fighting for their tech to progress, who are beholden to wars over having the best product. Simply put, most of the characters in Tron feel like hollow business entities with little human quality, very difficult for a movie-going audience to find their heroes in. The film was just a prolonged armwrestle over a code, with the item in question sometimes being made tangible with a thumb drive or a disk from the Grid. Even the bad guys just constantly 3D printing themselves and throwing themselves back at our heroes over and over became quite laborious to watch play out. Overall,  Tron: Ares does something pretty creative with its title character, but it's too little in a script that lacks emotional depth or substance.

I was relatively unimpressed by the way this film was captured. There are a few captivating scenes, but the camera often serves the effect before it tries for a compelling shot. I also didn't really care for Nine Inch Nails' overhyped score. The electro-rock tone had its moments, but overall it felt like my ears were being rammed with a wall of noise, blaring sound with no thought put to crafting themes or character pieces.

Greta Lee, who played Eve Kim, is often the central protagonist of the film but really struggles with the part; Lee doesn't have much emotion to give to her character. Jodie Turner-Smith, who played Athena, is an antagonist with a bit too much screen time; her two-dimensional motive of living and dying by the mission wears thin fast. Gillian Anderson, who played Elisabeth Dillinger, is wasted in this stoic, disapproving mother role; Anderson and Peters feel too distant to be playing actual family members to one another. Hasan Minhaj, who played Ajay Singh, is one character too many in this film; Minhaj trying to play this high-profile CEO of the people fizzles out almost immediately. Arturo Castro, who played Seth Flores, is awkwardly positioned as the comedic relief of the film; sadly, Castro isn't especially funny.

It is disappointing to see a world with as much potential as Tron turn into something like this. I would give Tron: Ares a 2/10.

The Smashing Machine

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Smashing Machine is a biographical feature detailing a few pivotal years in the life of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. The film shows the early years of mixed martial arts becoming recognised as a competitive sport and the challenges Kerr faced as a competitor, within his relationship and as an addict.

This is the sort of film that perfectly exercises what a good biopic strives to achieve; it crafts a compelling character piece. Mark Kerr is the focal force of this story in every way. The film opens with his signature calm, measured tone, lightly describing what fighting is like as we visually see the graphic violence of a fight being played out. Kerr's gentle giant nature switching into these incredible moments of physical domination is a sharp contrast I quite enjoyed early on. It makes Kerr an unpredictable element, especially if you are unfamiliar with his story, as I was. As the film progresses, we come to see Kerr as a volatile figure abusing himself with opiates, destroying his state of life. This was the strength of the film; these character struggles where Kerr would excuse and pity himself, where conflict would erupt between him and Dawn, and where Kerr would strive for improvement only for Dawn to resent him for it. The Smashing Machine has plenty of neat visceral fight scenes for you to sink your teeth into, but the character conflict at play here packs a much harder punch. I remember watching Kerr make his peace in the showers near the end of the film, as Coleman celebrated his success, and thinking this was a fighting story that defied expectations in a relatively satisfying way.

Benny Safdie crafts this wonderful film, and I felt his touch really elevates this into something special. This film boasts a unique visual style reminiscent of old-school home video footage. Watching a camera manually push in while still immersing the audience is impressive. The editing feels neatly choreographed to the story, each scene gliding along at a neat pace. The score for this film is discordant and collides with an impact. I also really adored the way the soundtrack not only grounded us in the time period but also provided a very sobering, melancholy sound to this feature.

Emily Blunt, who played Dawn Staples, has found one of her most wretched roles to date; Blunt's character is so toxic, and how this manifests is really steadily presented. Bas Rutten, who played himself, is undeniably earnest in his scene work; Rutten gives a light shade of hope to the film that I rather enjoyed. 

However, the best performance came from Dwayne Johnson, who played Mark Kerr. This film is tied entirely to this central performance and lays down the expectation that Johnson's take on Kerr will carry the whole thing home. The curiosity in this is whether Johnson has the range capable of leading a dramatic lead like this. He's immediately unlike anything we have ever seen before. Kerr has a soft-spoken manner that makes him very calming to listen to, even when he's speaking about the nature of fighting. Johnson does a good job of finding the little mannerisms of Kerr, even within the elements of portraying opiate addiction. One of my favourite parts of his portrayal was how he voiced frustration when his expectations weren't met and then almost immediately withdrew the remark and retreated into himself. Johnson shows how challenged Kerr was at this time; his mentality after the No Contest match was a real jaw-dropper. The final fight Johnson and Blunt share onscreen is the height of the film and speaks to the layered character work the pair embarked on to create this dynamic. Dwayne Johnson isn't just out here making cash grab blockbusters; he is genuinely the real deal.

The Smashing Machine is quite bound by the limits of a movie that takes place significantly within 'The Ring'. As an audience, we sit there and expect that when we see Mark Kerr as 'unbeatable', he will be due for a great fall, and from there will have to work through his struggles to get some form of comeback status. The film is a bit unconventional in delivery, but it still wades into these easier story elements and comfortably hovers there. Seeing Mark's fighting career go up and down is the part of the story that lacks teeth and holds little surprise. I also needed this film to have way less Mark Coleman focused upon; the character lacked substance, and the film tumbled to a halt when he had to lead a scene. The worst part of The Smashing Machine is that final scene set in modern day, tracking the real Mark Kerr around as he giggles to himself over being filmed. It's a strange, awkward footnote that confuses the power behind the story that was just delivered.

Ryan Bader, who played Mark Coleman, is clearly a talented fighter but a wooden actor; Bader's acting is one of the single worst things about The Smashing Machine. Whitney Moore, who played Jacqueline, is a really shallow best friend character to Blunt; Moore and Blunt struggle to draw anything meaningful out of one another in their scene together.

This is a performance from Dwayne Johnson unlike anything you have seen before. I would give The Smashing Machine a 7.5/10.

One Battle After Another

 

This review may contain spoilers!

One Battle After Another is an American action-thriller epic loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon's novel: "Vineland". Follows Bob (formerly Pat), an ex-revolutionary of the far-left French 75, and his daughter Willa, who have been hiding out for years after the arrest of Bob's former revolutionary partner. When a militant force bears down on them in a bid to take Willa, a resulting tooth-and-nail fight for survival ensues.

Art often reflects the world around us; that's a simple outlook, but it tends to ring true. In One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson holds up protagonists from a far-left revolutionary group, criminals who plant bombs and rob banks to stick it to billionaires and a system that actively works against minorities and the disenfranchised. This group is set against a peppering of antagonists - the bizarre satirical parody of the Ku Klux Klan referred to as the Christmas Adventurer's Club, and the far-right militant Colonel Lockjaw. The early conflict of this film is not only foundational but presents a cycle of conflict, an epic and sadistic struggle that neither side ultimately triumphs within. We are left with a child who has a vague parentage and a former revolutionary who was already halfway out the door. The film cuts forward just over fifteen years, and we see how the former revolutionary, Bob, has regressed into a paranoid stoner figure. He has had some triumphs, like supporting the city he lives in becoming something of a 'Sanctuary City' for illegal immigrants. In spite of this, his relationship with his daughter, Willa, is rather frayed. Yet when Lockjaw reignites the conflict, we get a more personalised story of revenge in the form of a manhunt for Willa. But this is no redemptive story about a father rescuing his teenage daughter. Bob barrels along throughout the film in an effort to save his child, but the strength of the film lies elsewhere. We get to watch Willa constantly fight against the path she has been put upon. This protagonist is a fighter due to the skills she has as a result of her father's training or support, yet she never asked for this battle. Willa is her own hero ultimately, but she rescues herself from a conflict she never began. Willa becomes answerable for the sins of her parents, irrespective of whether or not she had a choice. Watching her still choose to continue that cycle at the end of the feature, as Bob definitively moves away completely from the life of the revolutionary, is an incredibly well-rounded conclusion to this masterful script.

Paul Thomas Anderson is a master of the craft, one of the true filmmaking greats, and this can be seen in every technical element of One Battle After Another. This film is wide-spanning and often in motion too; the camera glides through scenes with the intention to pull you directly into the world of the scene. The final car chase sequence is one of the most tense sequences of the year. I found this film felt almost choreographed; every moment felt entirely considered and was cut together very neatly. The score also played to this strength, accompanying the moments of anxiety, tension and fear superbly as guitar strings were frantically plucked. I also really adored the film soundtrack toying with political stance as moral action, The Jackson 5's 'Ready Or Not (Here I Come)' was ringing through my head walking away from this.

Teyana Taylor, who played Perfidia, is a force to be reckoned with; Taylor is a woman born to fight for her own brand of justice in this. Sean Penn, who played Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, is one of the players well and truly worth watching in this feature; Penn and DiCaprio are battling it out for best performance across the whole piece. Chase Infiniti, who played Willa, is a phenomenal up-and-coming young actress; Infiniti's descent into a world of high stakes and violence is so gritty and real. Benicio Del Toro, who played Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, portrays a tired yet professional air as his world goes to hell in a handbasket; I loved Del Toro's incredibly dry wit in this. Tony Goldwyn, who played Virgil Throckmorton, has an incredible ability to draw forth a charismatic character; the part that really made this thing sing was that he also managed to bleed a sense of danger into his line delivery. James Raterman, who played Danvers, was such a quiet scene stealer; Raterman's interrogation scenes were a highlight of the film in my eyes.

However, the best performance came from Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Bob. This was a character who was spellbound with the thrill of revolution in his youth. He wanted to rebel less for the cause but for the thrill and the pleasure. DiCaprio and Taylor together are fiery; it's a hot relationship that feels consuming. Watching Bob transition from free-wheeling freedom fighter to concerned Dad was an appropriate turn. Across the rest of the film, DiCaprio paints Bob as a paranoid, stoned man who is caught in the limbo of his past life and his desire to be a good father. It's often hilarious watching Bob fail at being the hero of this story; he barely comes out ahead in his pursuit to save his daughter. Yet, DiCaprio presents Bob's love for his child as impassioned and frantic, a huge drive to reunite. Bob is a figure who burned bright but left a lot for others to answer for; his inability to recapture the image of the heroic revolutionary shows the burden he has left for his daughter to carry.

Paul Thomas Anderson knows how to chase a colossal and compelling script that often reflects heavily on our current state of being. One Battle After Another has a lot of lofty and accurate statements to make about the political divisiveness and conflict we see in the world right now. But it also gets more chaotic than it really needs to at times. This is a film that skates right along the edge of the absurd in a few scenes, making for moments where you wonder the intention the film has or where it might go next. Sometimes this method results in a loss of focus, and the film's throughline is lost.

Regina Hall, who played Deandra, is quite a tame character amongst the main revolutionaries; she never really feels as driven, which is strange considering the nature of the role. Eric Schweig, who played Avanti, is just so flat in this role; Schweig seems almost lifeless throughout the feature. John Hoogenakker, who played Tim Smith, is one of the more outlandish characters in this film; Hoogenakker's role being such a bent out of shape hitman seemed a tough sell at times.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those great film director maestros who knows how to pull a piece together into something chaotic and artistic. I would give One Battle After Another a 9/10.

Swiped

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Swiped is a biographical film about Whitney Wolfe Herd, the co-founder of Tinder and the founder of Bumble.

Swiped worked best when it let us sit within Whitney's story in a more personal manner, the raw moments and not just the climb of her success. The challenges this character faces are really relatable to a lot of women in any given workforce; seeing Whitney navigate a male-dominated environment, or fail to be protected by her boss from sexual harassment from a co-worker, is really confronting. There's no better scene than watching Whitney spiral into quite a distressing moment when she is still facing abuse from her former employer and ex at the same time, her public image is being ruined; watching Whitney receive open death threats while having a panic attack is a tough watch. These scenes are all made to be confronting and expose a difficult truth; it's a powerful feminist message that the film does a good job of delivering.

Mary Neely, who played Beth, has quite a minor role, but she makes a strong impact; I really bought into her strong objections around becoming a moderator for the Tinder platform and all that entailed. Ben Schnetzer, who played Sean, really gives James a run for her money in this role; Schnetzer oozes shallow charisma that you entirely want to buy into. Jackson White, who played Justin, is quite unhinged as the abusive boyfriend; White really has a dangerous edge in a few of his scenes that is quite convincing. 

However, the best performance came from Lily James, who played Whitney Wolfe Herd. As a leading performance, this character offered the most variety, the most range to be bared onscreen. James really introduces Whitney as being full of exuberance and drive; she is her own self-righteous force for good on the tech scene. It is really interesting to see James play this role as both intuitive and ambitious enough to be a real ladder-climber. The character of Whitney also faces increasing harassment from her boyfriend and as such, challenges within Tinder which creates some decent conflict for James to really sink her teeth into. Watching James portray Whitney's spiral as her reputation gets dragged through the mud is a tough watch, but one of the absolute best moments of the film. James sculpts the final act into a final showing of Whitney's resilience. This is another leading performance from James that she handles with ease, Whitney Wolfe Herd adding another notch to the belt.

Swiped is a film that will never really stand out in the crowd. We've had biopics galore lately, all pushing hard to be recognised for awards season. Swiped is yet another business biopic that is chasing the long distant smoke of giants like The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short. This is a film that you can kind of guess at from the very first few minutes. Whitney is going to start out as our sort of underdog, face some conflict and then come out on top. Sadly, this is as much as the movie seems to be, and the scenes where she is performing her job or the conflicts she engages in are relatively superficial. This film lacks a sense of reality and the attention to detail just is not there. Even when Whitney is at her lowest, she is bailed out relatively easily. Perhaps dramatising this story has killed the intriguing elements, or perhaps the story that exists isn't all that interesting to begin with. Swiped moves at a very gradual pace and the fact it is so predictable doesn't help matters.

The most glaring problem Swiped has is that a lot of technical elements expose just how poorly imagined and light on budget this film really is. The cinematography is entirely boring, and there doesn't seem to be a steady visual style showcased throughout. The way this film is cut together is mostly slow and simple, which really contributes to the aforementioned sluggish pace. The score isn't entirely present throughout, and the soundtrack is a really muddled mash of modern pop music.

Ian Colletti, who played JB, is one of the tech dude bros given a lot of screen time in this film; there's a push to make him the 'nice guy' in the office but Colletti tends to feel more secure playing in the background. Clea DuVall, who played Charlotte, is a lawyer character that appears quite late in the game in the final act; DuVall comes off as far more intense than her brief role really requires. Pierson Fode, who played Michael, is really here to be hot cowboy eye candy; Fode's role is boyfriend/husband, and he is not here to lean into his character much at all. Myha'la, who played Tisha, is a best friend role that is rather basic by design; the big scene where she accepts Whitney's apology is one of the worst in the film. Coral Peña, who played Marta, is a character who feels like she should cast a bigger shadow than she does; Peña is sadly quite reserved and even timid as this character. Dan Stevens, who played Andrey, comes off more as a fun accent to play than a character being portrayed; a rare misstep for Stevens. Ana Yi Puig, who played Stephanie, is a stereotypical mousey receptionist role; it is a shame this role couldn't be amalgamated into the women fighting back arc in the way Neely's role was. 

Another business biopic with little story substance and no creative vision. I would give Swiped a 4.5/10.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

 

This review may contain spoilers!

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a magic-realist romance film following two strangers: David and Sarah. When they both wind up with cars from a mysterious rental agency, the lives of this pair are forced to intersect. The journey this puts them on is one of healing and love, with all the messy bits.

This film is certainly one of those strange and abstract features that looks a little more tame in the trailer than it does in totality. However, there were quite a few golden moments in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey that really shone through. As a concept, I found the magic realism element of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey quite creative. There was a lot of freedom in our main characters exploring one another's memories and developing a better understanding of self through the passage of time. The moments in which David and Sarah healed were the most significant, certainly the most moving. These are deeply flawed characters, people who work their way out of narcissistic tendencies or self-destructive behaviour through the journey they go on. Watching David hold himself to a higher standard by connecting with the nature of his parents is quite beautiful. The scene between him and his Dad in the hospital might very well be the best in the film. While Sarah is constantly trying to unpack her grief over the loss of her mother, she works towards giving herself permission to feel vulnerable again. This film isn't always clear, nor is it well-constructed, but it does have a lot of good to say about the more complex nature of relationships and the baggage both individuals bring to a life of contentment.

Kogonada is an interesting director who isn't strictly conventional. Something he does beautifully is provide a clear mastery of colour, lighting and staging. This whole film feels like it has a very interesting sense of aesthetic and makes strong efforts to be unique. The score is melodic and remarkably poignant, while the soundtrack is a relatively indie sound filled with yearning and questioning.

Colin Farrell, who played David, is not in his strongest role here, but he proves a capable lead; Farrell takes David on a very personal, introspective journey. Hamish Linklater, who played David's Father, gives an absolute powerhouse performance in this feature; Linklater's hospital scene moved me incredibly and is some of his best work to date. Chloe East, who played Cheryl, is quite convincing as the high school crush who is so removed from the person who loves her; the scene where Farrell confesses his feelings for her is quite a devastating moment.

However, the best performance came from Margot Robbie, who played Sarah. This role is a bit wild and chaotic when we first meet her; she throws herself into partying and hooking up with strangers. I liked how Robbie toyed with Farrell's David at first; she was interested in him, but as another man to break herself upon. The journey Sarah goes through is one of understanding why she doesn't allow herself to feel vulnerable anymore or to be hurt. We see the raw pain and grief Sarah still feels as Robbie very steadily peels back the layers of her character's psyche. We learn that Sarah had this incredible bond with her mother and felt tremendous regret for the time her mother passed. Watching Robbie play the scene in which she is reunited with a memory of her mother is one of the strongest emotional beats of the film, and she had me hooked throughout. Robbie delivers a performance that very strongly shows a character who needs and starts to heal.

This is a very unconventional film, which allows for some creativity and themes to be celebrated, but also a storytelling approach that really didn't work well throughout. The film got off to an awful first act. The magic realist aspect was engaged almost immediately in a very confusing manner; you have to rush to get on board with what is being presented here. The magic realism across A Big Bold Beautiful Journey isn't especially viewer-friendly, often swinging into wild and varied directions. Some of these moments have some incredible imagination and impact, but they often lack coherence, which undermines the film as a whole. We also don't get that introduction element at the start of the film; David and Sarah are shoved in front of us and then promptly shoved together. We don't get a moment to catch our breath and learn who these people are on a basic level. The film zigs and zags throughout, sometimes moving fast and sometimes slow. The biggest failing this film has is that it has the basic bones of a romance film, but the romance component of this film feels the least satisfying. The characters don't connect in a way that makes you believe in their relationship; rather, it feels like the story is telling you that they have found one another and will wind up together.

As a visual film, this is such an oddity for me. Everything within the lens of the camera is gorgeous; the colour palette of this film is wonderful. But the shots themselves are so bland and simplistic, there's no creativity in how the camera itself is actually utilised. The editing also has a basic cutting style that only piles onto the pacing problems this film is rife with.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kevin Kline, who played the Female Cashier and the Mechanic respectively, are a strange, mismatched pair who fail to serve the magic realism angle well; Waller-Bridge's German accent schtick yanked me out of the film full force. Jodie Turner-Smith, who voiced the GPS, is an unimpressive element of this film; I didn't really care for this aspect of the film and found the GPS being characterised to be quite a lacking element. Lily Rabe, who played Sarah's Mother, feels rather flat for her scenes; Rabe leaves Robbie to do a lot of the emotional heavy lifting for their scenes.

A muddled and confusing film that can't be slighted for its ability to be both imaginative and beautiful. I would give A Big Bold Beautiful Journey a 6.5/10.

The Long Walk

 

This review may contain spoilers!

The Long Walk is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. The Long Walk is an annual American competition in which a young man from each of the 50 American states volunteers in the hopes of winning a great prize. Each competitor must walk at a set speed until they are the last one standing in the pack, a complete do-or-die situation.

I really liked that while this dystopian film felt familiar, it managed to do something altogether riskier. It just lets our characters talk. Across the entire film, this young cast of characters trek for miles and miles, occasionally encountering some high-stakes moments, like the terrain changing, weather events and moments of sickness. Yet, where this film really shines is how this young cast connects with one another; how these characters bond or fight is perhaps the most interesting element in all of this. We get to see The Long Walk play out, and the hardships the young men endure alongside the brutality. In fact, this film is very unapologetically graphic; it does not shy away from moments of ultraviolence when presenting executions. This is a dystopian movie that shows the cruelty of the punishment being visited upon the young men, which in turn heightens your immersion and convinces you of the reality being presented. I felt this film really discussed its own themes perfectly, often through the lens of conversation held by Ray and Peter as they befriended one another. These two characters picked apart the morality of the Long Walk, the injustices being visited upon them and American society, the power behind the 'wish' and even the nature of the relationships formed upon the Long Walk itself. It is a truly impressive feat letting the dialogue and static movement do so much legwork in a film like this, but it really manages to endure.

Francis Lawrence has been exceptional in the dystopian scene for a while; he is the director whom I would credit for crafting the visual language of the Hunger Games franchise. This is a film that could look repetitive visually, but Lawrence does a remarkable job of keeping things looking dynamic and involved. The scenery and changing landscape also tell their own story of desperation. The score for the film really gets under your skin, pushing into moments of melancholy or even downright terror with ease. The final song, 'Took A Walk', is quite a beautiful ballad to listen to as the film rounds itself out.

Cooper Hoffman, who played Raymond Garrity #47, is quite a unique leading performance; Hoffman's character is capable of being morally good while also hosting a deep-seated rage at those in power. Garrett Wareing, who played Stebbins #38, is a very methodical, antagonistic figure; I liked how Wareing presented the inner defeat of his role as he became overcome with sickness. Tut Nyuot, who played Arthur Baker #6, was a character often in high spirits; I enjoyed how much bravado and energy Nyuot poured into his performance. Charlie Plummer, who played Gary Barkovitch #5, was quite a psychotic and dangerous character; Plummer performed remarkably, as you could not predict what his role was going to do next. Ben Wang, who played Hank Olson #46, was a real scene stealer; Wang's sense of comedic delivery really lifted some scenes up. 

However, the best performance came from David Jonsson, who played Peter McVries #23. Jonsson is a masterclass from his very first scene, often delivering dialogue in a beautiful, very considered way. His character, Peter, is quite an approachable figure; a moral young man who has endured in spite of hardship. I found the friendship forged between Jonsson and Hoffman to be the beating heart of this film. They bonded tremendously, overcame personal conflict and triumphed through unimaginable hardships with one another. Jonsson's role is full of moral righteousness; he is incredibly sure of where he stands at any given time. I liked that he was uplifted by the goodness of others and chose to be a mirror, often reflecting that goodness.

The Long Walk is a film with a rather tight script but a limited concept. The nature of this movie is that our characters walk and talk between executions and moments of physical struggle. Often, there is a moral emboldening happening before our eyes, but it is also common for messages to be repeated in their delivery. This movie has a few pitfall moments, where the struggle is that the film comes across as repetitive. I was also dissatisfied with how vague the wider world was. There was a real minimalist approach to the worldbuilding, and some clarity around details of this Dystopian United States could have made for a more interesting watch.

The editing is often slow as there is little variety onscreen; this does mean the pacing can feel a bit slower as it moves along.

Jordan Gonzalez, who played Richard Harkness #49, was a puzzling role that never stood out much; his oddball writer schtick was about as memorable as his special effects death scene. Joshua Odjick, who played Collie Parker #48, was a bit of acting that varied in a rather confused manner; Odjick took Collie in some massively different directions that rarely worked. Mark Hamill, who played The Major, was an almost comical antagonist that brought the film down in my eyes; Hamill was giving a parody of a military dictator and not really anything resembling character work. Roman Griffin Davis, who played Curley #7, is struggling to stand out in his teenage years; this was an early death that should have felt significant, but didn't. Judy Greer, who played Ginnie Garrity, gives the stereotypical grieving mother performance but doesn't add substance to it; I really didn't feel like Greer and Hoffman had any chemistry as mother and son.

Francis Lawrence is perhaps the master craftsman when it comes to designing dystopian films. I would give The Long Walk an 8/10.