Another post of quick movie thoughts!
Nine Days
This film has quite the interesting premise. Unfortunately it doesn’t deliver on much past that. I apologize to those who may be offended by this, but the only way I could really put my feelings about this film into words was that it emits a lot of “theater kid energy.” While the film does have quite the intriguing premise, it takes a backseat to the performances. There are some lesser known but still respectable actors in this film, but I couldn’t buy into any of the performances. They all felt waaaay too melodramatic and try-hard, which left me quite disappointed since I wanted to get more out of the story. However, the setting is nice, there was just enough mystery to keep me invested for the duration of the film, and the ending is actually quite good. This was definitely one of those films I wish I could have liked more, but unfortunately did not.
Grade: B-/71
The Protégé
Oh, Martin Campbell…you deserve so much better. The man who is best known for re-inventing the Bond franchise (TWICE) is now stuck doing mediocre action films. Maggie Q is a respectable and honestly quite underrated action star, but the plot and pacing of this film do not do enough to generate any intrigue outside of its well-directed but sparse action sequences. This film tries to throw a couple of plot twists from left field, but none of them are really impactful. The chemistry that the film wants you to have between Michael Keaton and Maggie Q is also kind of strange, especially given their age difference. I’d really like to see Martin Campbell direct another big hit, because this past decade has not been very kind to him.
Grade: C+/69
Last Night in Soho
This was certainly one of my most anticipated films of the year. Edgar Wright has made some incredibly brilliant films in the past, so I was really excited when I heard that he would be trying his hand at a horror film for the first time. Unfortunately it’s a bit mixed, and I honestly think it would have been a more enjoyable film for me if the name Edgar Wright wasn’t attached to it. Knowing his track record, there is an expectation of high quality that this film unfortunately does not meet. However, there are still some bright spots, notably that of its two leads, Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy. Both of them are charismatic and enjoyable to watch, with the slight edge going to McKenzie here.
The first half of the film plays itself in a much more subdued and conventional narrative, and it isn’t until the second half that things get kind of wild. I found it difficult at times to understand what kind of film Wright wanted this to be, because there are levels of a B-movie horror mixed in with a compelling character study with some more sinister undertones. There are some fantastically directed set pieces, namely one dance between the characters. There are flashes of top-tier Edgar Wright in scenes like this, but then the continual piling on of overused horror elements kind of bog the pacing of the film down.
The ending is where the film kind of lost me, as it pulls you in different emotional directions in quick succession. Even though I don’t think the ending really worked, there was still a lot to enjoy here. I’m glad Wright tried his hand at a horror film, and I actually hope that he tries other genres as well.
Grade: B/77
Spencer
I think I may have mentioned this before, but I’m a massive fan of Netflix’s series The Crown. I think it’s the best show they have on their streaming service, and it provides a very fascinating look into the life of The Royal Family, which is dramatic enough to be considered a fiction. The latest season introduced Princess Diana, and I thought that newcomer actor Emma Corrin played her extraordinarily well. Naturally, when I heard that Kristen Stewart would be playing Diana, I was intrigued, since admittedly I’ve never seen her in anything that I would consider to be good.
She’s quite good! Unfortunately the rest of the film isn’t as good as her. This film is almost like an antithesis to The Crown, as it serves to be more of a psychological thriller in some ways. It’s very much a character study of Diana finding herself amongst the pack of wolves that are her in-laws. I would have bought into the perspective of this approach more if the supporting cast were more than just background noise. The film is largely placed in the perspective of Diana, with very little time given to the Queen or even Diana’s husband, Prince Charles. I understand that was probably the point of the film, but it just did not give me the emotional resonance that I was hoping to get. The film spends a lot of its runtime focusing on how much in despair Diana is from the oppression by her in-laws, but without actually showing any of it, I found it to have little weight. They did however, do a great job of casting everyone in the royal family to look like straight up lifeless ghouls. There is a lot more existential dread in this version compared to The Crown, and I think at the end I could appreciate some of what it was going for. I just wish the film had more going for it than Kristen Stewart complaining and being sad. Shout out to Sean Harris though, who plays a militaristic chef of the Royal Family. Him and Sally Hawkins play the only other characters that have any meaningful time in the movie, but they also do not get enough screen time. I still prefer Emma Corrin’s portrayal of Diana, but Stewart is fantastic and might even get an Oscar for her performance here.
Grade: B-/74
The Humans
You can’t win them all, A24. I don’t think I really “got” this movie. It’s based on a play that was adapted for the big screen, but I found almost zero justification for turning this into a movie. The performances are pretty good, and I was actually quite surprised by the quiet but strong performance from Amy Schumer. The way that this film presents itself is that of a family gathering with your typical ups and downs in family discourse, but the visual language suggests that there is something sinister at play. The cinematography has signature elements of an A24 horror film, but I found myself wondering…why? This film has no reason for the horror vibes. I wondered if the director only put that in to make the rest of the film more interesting, because it’s literally just a family spending Thanksgiving together. Ultimately, there is not a whole lot that happens in terms of plot, so the hour and forty-five minutes can really drag, especially since the dialogue is kind of basic. I understand that the apartment the family is having Thanksgiving in can be seen as a metaphor for the fragility of familial relations, but it was so paper thin that I found myself being quite bored with the whole affair. I think of other screenplay adaptations like the Father, where it was just brilliant in its directing and script. It was such a fascinating take on what would normally be a dialogue heavy play as well, but there was something interesting done with it that totally justifies it being a movie. With The Humans, it would have been better off staying as a play.
Grade: C+/66
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