Monday, January 8, 2018

Belated year-end reviews.

And with the year finally come to a close, taking all of the bewildering insanity and infuriating bitterness with it, it's time once again to reflect on the cinematic year that has been, and what the future holds in store. That doesn't mean the coverage is over mind you, since Oscar season is now in full swing, and there are still plenty of high profile releases to be seen. I look forward to all of those coming out, but as always, it's time to turn my attention to some smaller or under the radar releases, both from recently, and from earlier in the year. Enjoy?


Atomic Blonde:
Forgiving the fact that the film doesn't even pretend to have a deep narrative, spreading its time on overly complicated set ups keeping the viewer in the dark at its own expense, this is still such a romp. Brought to us by the same skilled team behind John Wick, Blonde delivers on all the sleek, brutal, tightly wound practical fights and set-pieces we crave from a film like this, with such skillful and heart-racing use of its high-caliber fight choreography, the highlight undoubtedly being an extended long-take on a staircase leading into the streets of Berlin. Charlize Theron may be slightly miscast despite her very best - and stone-cold - efforts, but her shortcomings are made up by the support from the likes of John Goodman, Sofia Boutella, and an explosive James McAvoy.

***1/2 / *****

Bright:
Despite an amazing lineup of TV shows, Netflix still has some hurdles to clear with their movie output. Was it really someone's dream to mash Training Day with Skyrim? For a good most of the movie, the fantastical setting is merely a cosmetic detail that affects nothing in the plot, and even when it does play a more direct role, it just devolves into the same haphazard, joyless, and chaotically assembled disaster that was a staple of David Ayer's previous Suicide Squad. The film tries and utterly fails to contribute any sense of commentary in regards to interracial tensions and police brutality, but by the time the film gets lost in the shuffle of its terrible action scenes with a poor sense of geography, and gets so silly when Noomi Rapace's bored and flavorless villain takes center stage, its lost any pretense of depth it desperately clings to. Only saving graces include Joel Edgerton doing his best to legitimize his terrible material underneath the heavy makeup, said makeup being very good all around. That's about it.

*1/2 / *****

Colossal:
Silly but charmingly earnest in its approach, Colossal is able to use the seemingly stupid outline its premise offers it, but manages to cater those goofy elements to craft a surprisingly affecting, and darkly comic take on issues of arrested development, violent repression, and our actions cruelly destroying the people around us, brought to life very literally. It's thanks to Anne Hathaway's grounded and graceful leading turn, capably handling the transition to sobriety, that the film works as well as it does, but due credit is also owed to Jason Sudeikis, playing against type with his own monstrous and toxic supporting turn.

**** / *****

Detroit:
As harrowing and as tightly wound as any of Kathryn Bigelow's previous ventures into documentary style episodic films, Detroit excels in catapulting the viewer into its racially charged setting, and distill all the hostilities of both sides into a truly claustrophobic and horrifying experience. The entire middle section could have been its own film, it's such an expertly handled piece of work, eliciting genuinely frightened and frightening turns from its ensemble cast, including Will Poulter's turn as a rookie cop whose humanity may be more frightening than soullessness. Although the film does get overlong, and its ending sections do a bit of a disservice to the skillfully assembled tension felt earlier, it's still as engaging a watch as Bigelow's prior films, with a horror that will linger with you for a very long time.

****1/2 / *****

The Lego Batman Movie
:
What's sad and amazing is the fact that this is perhaps the closest we'll ever get to a great Justice League movie. Filled to the brim with the same mile-a-minute visual and verbal gags that made The Lego Movie such a success, the film excels at taking every trope and cliche of the Batman universe, and turning it on its head for such hilarious effect (it was one "Martha" away from hitting everything in one go), much of which are owed to Will Arnett's riotous voiceover performance, finally affording him the role he's always deserved. But it's clear that this film is also made by fans of Batman, and despite its comedic slant, feels closer to understanding the core mechanics of what makes Batman so great than many of its live-action counterparts, including and especially with those most important to him, and even his rivalry with the Joker that goes into straight up bromance.  While its second half is very shaky, I had a huge grin plastered on my face the whole way through.

**** / *****

Stronger:
Perhaps a better movie than it has the right to be. It's not hard to spot every direction that Stronger goes, moving from classic cliche to classic cliche, and in less competent hands, could easily have become just another cheap, paint by numbers inspirational drama. But David Gordon Green deserves great credit for not falling into easy schmaltz or mean-spirited bile, handling the subject matter with tact and grace, but the movie especially owes its success to Jake Gyllenhaal's performance. Gyllenhaal single-handedly carries the movie at points, throwing himself into the demanding physicality, adding terrific depth and psychological insight in regards to Jeff Bauman's state of mind, earning those feel-good moments along the way, and aided and anchored by the suitably strong Tatiana Maslany.

***1/2 / *****

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