Film Review: “Sing”

Starring the Voices of: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Seth MacFarlane
Directed By: Garth Jennings
Rated: PG
Running Time: 108 minutes
Universal Pictures

Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars

An Illumination Entertainment movie without any Minions or Gru seems like a risky venture, given their track record when they release a movie that strays away from the “Despicable Me” franchise. But if the masterminds at Illumination are willing to roll the dice more on endeavors like “Sing,” they’re bound to find a diamond in the rough. “Sing” isn’t about to blow the roof off, but its decent escapism.

Buster Moon (McConaughey) is a confident Koala that’s stuck operating a failing musical theater. He’s a visionary looking to make a profit and bring live entertainment to the surrounding city. Moon is also looking to make his deceased father proud because his father worked his tail off washing cars to buy Moon the theater for him (I don’t know how with that profession). But in a world where musical theater is apparently no longer popular, Buster gets the idea to hold a singing competition to bring the masses back to his sinking business.

The competition brings creatures from all walks of life including Rosita (Witherspoon), a pig, is a stay-at-home mom who’s overworked and overloaded with over two dozen children. Then there’s the wise-cracking, street singing mouse, Mike (MacFarlane), who’s a clear pun on Frank Sinatra during his times in the Rat Pack. Ashley (Scarlett Johansson) is a punk rock porcupine who’s trying to find her own voice in her boyfriend’s crappy band. There’s also Meena (Tori Kelly), a teenage elephant, Johnny (Taron Edgerton), a gorilla, and some other throwaway animals that you shouldn’t worry yourself about because the movie doesn’t either.

Luckily “Sing” avoids becoming an animated version of “American Idol,” but it also follows a lot of familiar beats and story tempos. Because the movie seems completely content and forthright with being an unoriginal idea from the get-go, it can be forgiven because of its good-natured spirit and endearing characters. “Sing” really treats these characters as individuals with hopes, dreams and ambitions, instead of caricatures that can carry a tune. It helps make their songs more meaningful and power…but…

…most of the time (if not all) they’re singing contemporary pop-culture hits, or recognizable oldies and classics, which is only irksome if you feel that Nicki Minaj or Crazy Town isn’t appropriate for a kid’s movie. If writer and director Garth Jennings really wanted to tell us that musical theater is deserving of a reboot or our attention again, he should have considered hiring a crew to write some original music. Having animals sing Taylor Swift or Leonard Cohen feels lazy in a year where Disney hired Broadway’s latest darling, Lin-Manuel Miranda, to write lyrics for “Moana.”

Despite its lack of storytelling imagination and original songs, “Sing” is still an adorable movie with an IPod stuck on shuffle soundtrack. It’s made better by the voice actors, who I presume actually sing, which is pretty much an all-star cast of karaoke finalists (except for MacFarlane who really is as good as he sounds). But don’t expect McConaughey to hang his voice acting hat on this one. He’s more likely to gloat about his voice work in “Kubo and the Two Strings.”

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: garth jennings, matthew mcconaughey, reese witherspoon, scarlett johansson, seth macfarlane, sing, ...

Film Review: “La La Land”

 

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and John Legend
Directed By: Damien Chazelle
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 128 minutes
Summit Entertainment

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Earlier this year I found myself listening to 80’s music thanks to “Sing Street,” a semi-original musical about growing up and finding your own unique voice in the chorus. I was enamored with the movie’s somewhat original music. I found myself reflecting on what makes original content, that pays homages or mirrors the past, refreshing for the soul. Something fresh and new makes you feel young, but if it’s also acting as a salute to previous generation, conjuring up fond memories.

I’m not going to claim that I’m old. If anything, I’m always jokingly belittled by my co-workers for being the young pup. So, I can’t claim that “La La Land” is evocative, but I understand what it’s reminiscing about. From the get go it establishes itself as a neo-classical musical that generously throws back to the tap dancing or over-the-top ensemble singing of “Going Hollywood,” “On the Town” or “Singin’ in the Rain.” The style clashes with the 21st century in unique ways, allowing the viewer to take a step back in time and refocus their senses in the current era.

Sebastian (Gosling) is a jazz pianist, struggling to make it as a musician for hire. So much so that when he’s handed a setlist, he finds himself playing off into his own groove or rhythm. Then there’s the aspiring actress Mia (Stone), who’s paying the bills by being a barista and making it to as many auditions as she can. The two awkwardly, and too consistently, bump into each other indirectly or directly. The sparks fly however when the two realize their encounters may not be coincidence.

“La La Land” is a love letter to a bygone era of cinema and antiquated model of love. It may be intentionally subversive that the two leads bump into each other so much before eventually exchanging flirtatious jabs or a callback to how gimmicky people on the silver screen used to fall for one another. Regardless of Damien Chazelle’s intentions, he has a lot of fun playing with the clichés of the movies, while sadly using them to help move the story along.

What Chazelle does do wonderfully however, is show off his expertise as the writer and director as if he’s become a scholar of the musical genre. The script isn’t as airtight when the theatrics, dancing, and music aren’t all working together, but this kind of endeavor could easily suffer more if it was too heavy on the music. The length is the right amount of time and the ending is a wonderfully melancholy exclamation point on a movie that will inspire some, and cause others to give pause and reflect.

Despite not being natural singers, Goslins and Stone on their own carry a tune, moreso Stone. The big numbers, including the opening, blend together whimsical dancing and music infused with jazz, swing and big band. Chazelle, a musician himself, knows when to have the music take over a scene and simply allow the lyrics take over. Just from listening to the soundtrack, I can determine that Chazelle spent more time on the production than the lyrics.

“La La Land” may become the winter darling of those who manage to catch it, I know it’s caused me to spin the soundtrack a few times and tap my foot to its catchy, heartwarming tunes. 2016 has been a dour year, and even worse for the cineplexes that have been populated with big budget sequels that lack creativity to DC superhero movies that lack originality. I’d like to believe that “La La Land” is the light at the end of the tunnel and that anyone who catches it can at least end this miserable year with a smile on their face.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: damien chazelle, emma stone, j.k. simmons, john legend, la la land, ryan gosling, ...

Film Review: “Office Christmas Party”

Starring: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn and T.J. Miller
Directed By: Will Speck and Josh Gordon
Rated: R
Running Time: 105 minutes
Paramount Pictures

Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Anymore when I watch a new Christmas movie, I tell myself that it could have been a lot worse. “Love the Coopers,” “Fred Claus” and “Surviving Christmas” are just a few of the awful Christmas movies in the past decade that come to mind. But luckily moviegoers have been treated to a handful of yuletide delights at the theaters over the past couple of years. Lately the raunchy comedies have dominated, going light on the holiday cheer, and heavy on the eggnog and drugs. “Office Christmas Party” follows this current pattern, delivering an entertaining enough comedy, but an ultimately forgettable raunchfest.

Clay (Miller) heads up the Chicago branch of Zenotek, a lowly computer technology company that tries to compete with the likes of Dell, Apple and others. His sister, Carol (Jennifer Aniston), who is also Zenotek’s CEO, has just given him the bad news. Bump up your growth to 12% or cut 40% of your staff by the time Christmas rolls around. Being a worker’s boss, he can’t fathom laying off dozens of his closest friends. So in the hopes of landing one of the biggest clients in the Windy City, he sets out to throw the ultimate company Christmas party.

There’s also some other side plots, including office romance and sex, Jason Bateman’s character is dealing with a divorce, and there’s a worker who’s trying to pass off a prostitute as his supermodel girlfriend. None of this really amounts to anything or comes off as remotely heartwarming. It only serves as cohesive glue in between jokes, physical humor, and pop-culture sight gags like the throne from “Game of Thrones.”

But the set-up for the jokes is tired and predictable. It’s almost like the duel directors and multiple scriptwriters were a lot more hesitant to go with ad-libbing and natural comedic abilities of its cast. It makes “Office Christmas Party” a more by-the-books comedy with scripted and foreseeable. When being allowed more natural, the likes of Miller, Bateman, Kate McKinnon, Rob Corddry and others are genuinely funny.

Not every moment is unfunny chatter. Once the party kicks off, there’s enough visual comedy to keep it going to its inevitable conclusion. I also can’t help, but be a fanboy of Bateman’s deadpan delivery and Miller’s goofy sensibilities. “Office Christmas Party” isn’t going to become a holiday staple like “Christmas Vacation” or “Bad Santa.” It’s a handful of laughs and short escapism for those who don’t want to watch one of the Oscar hopefuls.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: jason bateman, jennifer aniston, josh gordon, office christmas party, olivia munn, t.j. miller, ...

Film Review: “Nocturnal Animals”

Starring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon
Directed By: Tom Ford
Rated: R
Running Time: 116 minutes
Focus Features

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

“Nocturnal Animals” requires two viewings, if you can stomach it that is. Tom Ford’s vision is a messy movie, with a fuzzy meaning. But despite the juggling act, the disorderliness feels intentional. “Nocturnal Animals” is two movies for the price of one, with each tale telling and revealing more about the other. “Nocturnal Animals” delivers a slow reveal that will surely dissatisfy many, while simply turning off others in the first few minutes, but please those who hang with it and scratch beneath the surface.

Despite owning a successful LA art gallery, Susan (Adams) seems indifferent to life. She’s married to an unfaithful man, her child has left the coop and she inhabits an artificial home full of artificial art pieces. Something stirs her from her humdrum existence, her ex-husband’s novel. Edward (Gyllenhaal) has sent her a copy of his book and inquired through email about possibly meeting for dinner to catch up. The novel, “Nocturnal Animals,” is not only dedicated to her, but she tells everyone that Edward had always referred to her as a nocturnal animal.

When she flips to page one, the movie then dives into the context of the book. It begins with a family being driven off the road in rural Texas by dangerous men and turns into a husband/father trying to make sense of a horrifying night that has turned into a lifelong nightmare. The raw viciousness and violence of Edward’s book seems to startle and upset Susan. But it’s not the visceral nature of the book; it’s how much of it mirrors their old relationship.

You could almost call “Nocturnal Animals” a wonderful ensemble, featuring actors and actresses who have won or been nominated for an award, or those who certainly should. Gyllenhaal does double duty as Edward in Susan’s life and as the heartbroken, vengeful father in the book. Accompanying him and Adams are Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Armie Hammer, Ilsa Fisher, and others. The visual storying telling between the fictional book and the reality are clear, but it’s when the two begin to reflect each other metaphorically and physically, that it becomes blurry.

The neo-western style of the book story never really meshes well with the simmering thriller happening in the real world, but the dramatic and tonal shifts help break up any monotony that might creep in because on their own accord, each story isn’t stellar. It’s only interesting when both are slapped together, with similar symbols bleeding through the lines of reality. Director Tom Ford deserves all the credit in the world for keeping the wild swings in storytelling and writing in check, without derailing the movie entirely.

However, the commentary on Susan and Edward’s formal love life is suspiciously misogynistic. Understandably, Edward is the one commenting on it and Susan is the one merely reacting to his comparisons. But it offers a one-sided narrative of what once was, painting Susan in a broad and negative light. Although that could be its inherent intention, depending on how you want to view the ending to the movie, and the book within the movie, I can help but wonder about it’s reception of the roles were changed.

“Nocturnal Animals” will certainly draw comparisons to some of David Lynch’s more bizarre offerings, but Ford’s style isn’t charmingly oddball enough. It’s intentionally dark content and bizarre imagery is more likely to turn-off a regular audience than dazzle. But it’s a compelling movie to watch and delight to discuss with those who have managed to stomach it. Ford, the fashion designer turned director, is a unique talent worth keeping an eye on.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: aaron taylor-johnson, amy adams, jake gyllenhaal, michael shannon, nocturnal animals, tom ford, ...

Film Review: “Bad Santa 2”

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Tony Cox
Directed By: Mark Waters
Rated: R
Running Time: 92 minutes
Broad Green Pictures

Our Score: 1.5 out of 5

We need a laugh. Right? I don’t need to point out or remind anyone that this year has been miserable. We as Americans deserve a hearty laugh at the theaters as we begin to wind down 2016 and put it behind us. You might get one with “Bad Santa 2,” but you won’t feel good about it and it certainly won’t cheer you up.

Willie (Thornton), the titular star of the first, is back and is just as miserable as ever. His crude happy ending in the first movie is a distant memory as he’s broke and lonely. Compounding his frustrations is the fact that he can’t commit suicide because his oven is electric. Hanging around still is Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), the young boy from the first. He’s now a grown-up, one note joke and the first sign that the “Bad Santa 2” filmmakers had no grasp of what made the characters in the first movie so likable.

Marcus (Cox), after a stint in jail, is hoping to knock off a massive Chicago charity with the help of Willie. But unbeknownst to Willie, they’re recruiting a third for the job, Willie’s mom. Sunny (Bates) is just as foul-mouthed, belligerent and disgusting as the son she raised. When the trio of actors is left to their own devices, when they’re most likely ad-libbing scenes, they provide some of the movies only laughs. Everything else is scripted garbage.

The original director, writers, and a handful of cast members must have known better when being presented with this project over the past 13 years. “Bad Santa 2” isn’t a genuine sequel. It’s a greedy studio cash grab in the season of giving. The new writers and director are unable to capture the misanthropic nature of the original, opting more for unfunny and mean-spirited one liners, and cheap sex gags. The script feels more like a fanboy sequel rather than a realistic continuation of Willie’s story, which really didn’t need a continuation.

There are a lot of things that made the original entertaining and a classic for 21st century Grinches. The original was always hesitant to have Willie become a good person. Instead it opted for him to realize he can still be a scumbag, but a good person to those he cares about. The sequel misunderstands his one minute lapse of kindness in the first. “Bad Santa 2” utilizes his sour affection every chance it gets to convey the idea that he’s always been a lovable conman. This leads to nauseating predictability and false holiday charm that Willie will stop Marcus and his mom from stealing millions from a charity for the homeless and children.

Overall, “Bad Santa 2” is a 92 minute callback that fails to understand what made the original such a guilty delight. If you’re looking for a laugh and some form of escapism from the family this holiday season, you should stay far away from this movie. You should stay home this holiday season, grab a bottle of liquor, watch “Bad Santa” and add “Bad Santa 2” to the list of things you’ll want to forget about 2016.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: bad santa 2, billy bob thornton, brett kelly, kathy bates, mark waters, tony cox, ...

Rob Kleiner and Kevin Gibson discuss Tub Ring’s Kickstarter and upcoming EP

Since the early 90’s, Tub Ring has been a true passion project. It’s survived multiple incantations, a revolving door of band members, and different record labels. Despite their longevity, they stayed under the radar as they toured constantly across the country year in and year out. With each music release, tour, and band member, the band found a way to create something new and spin their own unique take on their favorite genre. After going on hiatus for half a decade, the two long lasting members, Rob Kleiner and Kevin Gibson, have come back with a kickstarter for fans who’ve stuck around since the band’s early high school days and those who discovered them along the way as they toured the country with the likes of Foxy Shazam, The Birthday Massacre, Dog Fashion Disco, Mindless Self Indulgence, and others. Media Mikes got a chance to talk with them as they get ready to head back into the studio.

Jeremy Werner: After Tub Ring’s 2010 release, “Secret Handshake,” everything seemed to go silent and the touring stopped. A lot of fans seemed kind of in the dark for years, kind of just assuming that the band had called it quits. But here you are with a Kickstarter, a successful one at that, and some are wondering what’s happened over the past six years?

Rob Kleiner: After non-stop touring and making albums for a solid 10 years we were due for a break. Kevin and I had been the two constant members during that period of time. All the upkeep, finances, songwriting, planning, etc., fell on us and us alone. We were a bit tired and also broke. On top of all this I had started finding the biggest success I’d ever had in my music career writing and producing for bigger artists, which led me to move to Los Angeles to focus on that. Since arriving in LA all my creative attention has been aimed that direction.

Kevin Gibson: I got married, and enjoyed living a nice normal life. My love of music remained, but I became more of a music fan than a music creator. My wife and I follow Skrillex all over the country cause we’re nerdy superfans like that.

JW: What was it that got the ball rolling in terms of deciding to come back together, make a best of LP, make some new music, and start a crowdfunding page?

KG: Nothing in particular. I think we both had a little necessary time off, but then started seeing each other more often. Kinda seemed like the right time to do it. It was pretty organic. We had always said Tub Ring wasn’t dead, just on hiatus, so we wouldn’t want to be dirty liars now, would we?

RK: Our guitarist Patrick put the idea out there for making a best of vinyl. Kevin and I liked the idea, and decided it’d be fun to make a few new songs to accompany that.

JW: You reached your Kickstarter goal literally days after launching. What is it like seeing yourselves reach that goal so quickly?

RK: It’s beautiful. I remember a long time ago someone asking me, “What would make you happy in life?” My answer was, “to create someone’s ‘favorite’ music.” Maybe I achieved that. Maybe not. But it sure seems like this is a good indicator that I’ve made music that’s meant something to some people.

KG: It was pretty wonderful, actually. Tub Ring was always a labor of love for us, but I wondered if anyone would still care. Seems like they do, so I’m gonna try to live up to the love.

JW: The stretch goal is $30,000 to do a live show in Chicago. If you reach that…what would a possible second stretch goal be?

KG: Shit, I don’t know. Working on new stuff has been immediately enjoyable. To be honest, we’re playing it by ear. I suppose if not just the kickstarter, but everything else worked out we could always keep recording more music.

RK: We’ve definitely discussed that possibility. If there’s demand then yes. Perhaps we spin the new EP into a new album, or we do a small tour. We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Whatever people want could become possible.

JW: Because it’s been so long in between new releases of music, is there anything that’s been released by artists you like or any new music over the past six years that you’ve gravitated towards and look to incorporate in your new music?

RK: Absolutely. I write directly from my inspirations. My songs always end up sounding like what I’m listening to. My taste is always evolving. Hopefully my newer influences will work with the new TR material.

KG: Well, I love music and my music preferences are constantly changing. It’s pretty much the same as when Tub Ring was heavily active. Obviously I’m influenced by different music at different times, and it’s fun to incorporate new sounds and styles, but I don’t think we ever sit down and say, “I want this album to sound like this.” We just kinda write what we write and what comes out is Tub Ring.

JW: Is the Kickstarter for the fans or are you looking at trying to make some splashes with the new music?

RK: For the fans and for ourselves. If it brings in any new interest that’s great, but that’s certainly not the goal here.

KG: This Kickstarter is definitely for the fans, as well as us. I sure have fun making music. That being said, it’s not like I’d be upset if we made some more fans.

JW: With both of you on different ends of the country almost, what kind of strain does that put on the music making process?

KG: I don’t think it’s going to any strain at all really. We can bounce stuff back and forth immediately through the wonder of technology. I remember when Tub Ring started out I would write lyrics using a terrible room recording made from a boombox and a cassette. Basically it’s just adapting to the current situation.

RK: It does makes getting together a bit more expensive. That’s what the kickstarter is for to help with. Altogether though, it’s really not too bad of a strain.

JW: I’m sure that you have fans that you talk to all the time about your music, but is there anything you’ve worked on in the past or anything you’re working on now that you’re really proud of and you want people to go check out now?

KG: My Apartment looks nice.

RK: I can’t pimp out one of my artists without pimping out all of them – so instead of writing a novel, fans should just go to my website.

You can check out Tub Ring’s Kickstarter here.
You can get up to date information from Tub Ring on their Facebook.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music, Music Interviews Tagged With: kevin gibson, kickstarter, rob kleiner, tub ring

Film Review: “Arrival”

Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker
Directed By: Denis Villeneuve
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 116 minutes
Paramount Pictures

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

If you’re hoping for an alien movie filled with mindless city destroying explosions, slow-motion gunplay, and jingoistic speeches by presidential figures, you’re going to be severely disappointed with “Arrival”. But if you’re looking for a profoundly tragic and beautiful sci-fi movie that transcends its interstellar subject material with an introspective look at what it means to be human, then you’re going to love “Arrival”.

When a dozen circular, monolithic structures appear over the surface of the planet in 12 seemingly random spots, the Earth quickly comes to a screeching halt. Classes are called off, planes are grounded, the economy goes into a literal freefall, and the world sits and watches as nothing happens. No sounds, no communications and no clue as to what these odd ships are here for. There’s an impending fear because dozens of governments attempt communication, but aren’t quite sure if the beings that they’re talking to are friendly or not. The U.S. government acquires the best of the best for the job, Dr. Louise Banks (Adams).

While senior U.S. military officials like Weber (Whitaker) expect immediate results, Banks has a deep understanding of language as well as the patience it takes to understand what an intergalactic species is saying. The master linguist is aided by Ian (Renner), a mathematician that comes in handy to device a program in place to decipher the visual language the aliens are using. But alas they face an uphill battle.

Fear of the unknown, the inability for governments to work together, conspiracy theorists having a social media outlet and an impatient generation are at full work outside the space ships and military quarantine zones surrounding the structures. “Arrival” doesn’t necessarily focus on that too much though because we all know that the human race couldn’t handle the possibility of extraterrestrial life. As “Men in Black” so eloquently put it, “People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals.”

“Arrival” finds more usefulness out of Banks’ psyche. It’s tough to describe the internal and mental conflict broiling in Banks’ head without revealing too much of what gives meaning to the slow burn reveal towards the end of “Arrival”. Director Denis Villenueve, whose other movies have ambiguous endings and hidden meanings (“Prisoners”, “Enemy” and “Sicario), is the right choice for a movie that has more than meets the eye.

Adams helps convey the deep emotional turmoil inside Banks and is complimented by the various forces pulling her apart. Throughout the run time of “Arrival”, we watch Banks struggle with the insignificance that humanity feels when knowing we’re not the only special entity floating around in the universe. That struggle turns into one of confusion and understanding that something greater is at work than the petty distress that mankind feels when losing it’s individuality.

The release of “Arrival” feels poignant considering the current election in the U.S., but for those who look beyond that simplistic snapshot reaction, there’s a deeper meaning at play. If “Arrival” has anything to offer, it’s therapeutic reassurance that despite the struggles we face because of our differences, every living human being on this planet still feels love, regret, sorrow, and joy. And understanding that idea every day could ultimately lead to unity and healing.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: amy adams, arrival, denis villeneuve, forest whiataker, jeremy renner

Film Review: “Doctor Strange”

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 115 minutes
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

How many trick or treaters did you get that were dressed as Doctor Strange? I’m going to guess that you got none. You probably saw more kiddos dressed like Thor, Spiderman, Batman, Harley Quinn or Iron Man. Well next year you might see a few more kids wearing fake or drawn on goatees and donning red velvet colored capes.

The latest addition to the Marvel cinematic universe is the egocentric neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange. The world renowned doctor showboats while patients’ lives are on the line. He loves demonstrating his calm demeanor and unflinching hands under immense pressure during operations that require precise movements. He values his hands much like a model covets their hourglass shape. But that all goes out the window after he suffers a horrific accident (don’t text and drive), that requires pins, needles and plates to reconstruct his hands. All that’s left after multiple surgeries are trembling scarred fingers resembling flesh pudding.

Refusing to accept that he’s lost the use of his hands, Strange goes on an experimental medical journey that ends in impoverished Tibet. Whispers and rumors have led him to the mystic Ancient One (Swinton). Despite reservations about Strange’s narcissism, she takes him in. She hopes to upend his self-centered Western mind and open it to the powers of Eastern religion and ancient mysticism; all while spouting lines of dialogue reminiscent of Taoism or Gautama Buddha.

Outside of being the most mentally and spiritually stimulating entry into the Marvel movie catalog, “Doctor Strange” features a superhero that prefers brains over brawn. But when fighting is required, it’s a visually stunning treat. The visuals are a mix of “Inception,” M.C. Esher, “Avatar: the Last Airbender,” “The Matrix,” and a Pink Floyd acid trip. When the world begins to bend and fold, the grand music score, with morsels of Eastern stringed musical instruments and psychedelic synthesizers, props up the optical mind trickery.

As for the story, it lacks the right amount of emotional magic and it seems to suffer what most Marvel movies lack, an interesting and relevant villain (just sit through the credits for more proof that Marvel is out of villains). Mads Mikklesen, who’s been an iconic villain in everything from
“Casino Royale” to his eerily role as a middle-aged Hannibal Lecter in NBC’s TV show, seems wasted in this movie as Kaecillius. Kaecillius’ motivation is a blend of rebellion against the Ancient One and his immoral infatuation with immortality.

Despite my frustrations with a lack of Mikklesen, Cumberbatch and Swinton are a delight to watch with their “Karate Kid” teacher/student moments. The duo has the most to offer their characters while everyone else is left to play second fiddle to them. Rachel McAdams plays Strange’s toss-away love interest and Chiwetel Ejiofor spends most of his time standing in proximity to main characters so he can provide key plot points.

Despite some of its storytelling flaws, Doctor Strange is the most thought provoking of Marvel’s movies, while keeping intact the thing we’ve come to know and love from Marvel studios. “Doctor Strange” was definitely a risky gamble for Marvel, but it’s paid off. And not just because of Cumberbatch’s acting and a crew dedicated to dissecting and dismantling everything we thought about the world, but because it puts aside the city destruction and violence for some thoughtful superhero development.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: benedict cumberbatch, chiwetel ejiofor, doctor strange, mads mikklesen, marvel, scott derickson, ...

Film Review: “American Honey”

Starring: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough
Directed By: Andrea Arnold
Rated: R
Running Time: 163 minutes
A24

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

The thought of a nearly three hour movie starring Shia LaBeouf is likely to scare a lot of people off from watching “American Honey” and I’m not going to sway you back. “American Honey” is a road trip movie without an end or direction, but during its entire runtime, it feels like it should. It’s a unique movie with an honest portrayal of Middle America, but also a frustrating long movie without a rebuke for some of its more sour themes.

Having been filmed in parts of the Kansas City metropolitan area, I admit I felt a unique connection to the movie, seeing all the familiar sights. That familiarity helped me attach characters to people that populated my own Kansas City high school and neighborhood. But the movie doesn’t begin in my hometown; it begins in lower class suburban Florida with Star (Lane). When we meet her, she’s scouring dumpsters for tossed out food that’s still in the bag. It’s so she can feed her younger brother and sister because no one else will. Her father seems more focused on drinking beer and groping Star to slow-dance music, while her mom, having moved on with her life, seems more obsessed about line dancing at a country bar.

So it makes sense that Star is lured away by Jake (LaBeouf) and a crew of ruffians that sing along to gangster rap and Rihanna’s #1 hits. Jake’s innocent flirting and the promise of a life without restraint convinces Star to abandon her siblings, leaving them in her divorced parents “care”. This new life though, with Jake and the others, is actually a “magazine crew” (those annoying kids who find a different lie every time to sell overpriced magazine subscriptions) that goes from town to town across the country. Leading these youthful Nomads is a druggie vagabond that’s never sober.

The journey takes the “magazine crew” from Kansas City to Oklahoma to Grand Island, Nebraska and to Williston, North Dakota. Each city offers an interesting slice of Americana, from the rich people that dot the Midwest farmland to the blue class workers stuck in underpaying jobs. “American Honey” seems to offer more spice and intrigue with the people that Star encounters, which is unfortunate considering how interesting Star’s character is.

She’s good-hearted and naturally trusts the strangers she encounters, even hopping in a vehicle with three adult men in Nebraska who take her back to their place for expensive tequila and steaks. She loves Jake even though he’s clearly a loser with deep emotional issues. She befriends everyone in the “magazine crew” and appears to enjoy the work even though the “job” is exploiting her. She finds different ways to cheer up people around her or help those that she doesn’t know. Yet we never get a distinct feeling about how the sights and interactions are impacting her psyche or if she’s intelligent enough to understand the deteriorating situations around her.

Her aimless path possibly signifies the wanderlust that has infected much of America’s youth today. It never vilifies or champions the magazine crew beyond portraying them as the fun-loving potheads that they are. None of them seem like bad individuals or rotten apples, just young adults without ambition outside of money, getting inebriated and fornication. “American Honey” may simply be stating that youthful lethargy is a consistent no matter the generation. But there’s no denying that during the course of the movie, the pop-culture they consume is feeding into their apathy and idleness.

“American Honey” never blames Star and the others for what the audience may be faulting them with, but it never really points any blame at anyone. Without ever coming to a conclusion, it’s very frustrating that the movie never points a finger of blame or indirectly implies that the actions of someone, something, or society has led Star to this fun, yet troubling point in life. “American Honey” may simply be asserting that bad things happen and may always happen to a certain demographic of this country and that their joy is just as fleeting as their youth.

“American Honey” will certainly have meaning to various people and that might actually be one of its strongest points. It paints such a vivid and beautiful picture of youth in the U.S., that it could say a lot of honest things to a lot of different people. It’s a movie that grew on me, much like a melancholy memory from my youth. I may not have enjoyed the experience, but looking back on it I slowly begin to understand its importance and significance. But I go back to the first sentence of this review and say, do you really want to watch a directionless movie that pushes towards three hours with Shia LaBeouf? If you want an idiosyncratic art film, this is it. But you also run the risk of finding yourself bored and exasperated.

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Film Review: “The Girl on the Train”

Starring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson and Haley Bennett
Directed By: Tate Taylor
Rated: R
Running Time: 112 minutes
Universal Pictures

Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars

Something’s in the water in Westchester County, New York. Megan Hipwell (Bennett) refers to herself as the county whore to her psychologist (Edgar Ramirez), while flirting with him in over-the-top fashion. She’s cheating on her emotionally abusive husband, Scott Hipwell (Luke Evans), presumably with more men than just her psychologist. Her carefree and apathetic nature is used to mask her emotionally fragility. The Hipwell’s next door neighbors are dealing with turmoil of their own, but not within their own marriage. Anna Watson (Ferguson) and Tom Watson (Justin Theroux) are dealing with Tom’s ex-wife, Rachel (Blunt).

Rachel may just as be emotionally damaged as Megan. She takes the train to her non-existent job every day so she can glance at her ex-husband’s home for a brief second. Unknowingly, she also is glancing into the home life of Megan and Scott’s life. In her head, Rachel imagines a happier home than the one that actually exists. Everyone collides and connects in a disgruntled mess when Megan goes missing the same night Rachel goes on an epic bender involving a full fifth of vodka and hotel-sized bottles of other assorted liquors. Rachel begins to include herself in everyone’s lives even more while also being a prime suspect in the criminal investigation behind Megan’s disappearance.

“The Girl on the Train” will most likely be compared to 2014’s “Gone Girl” which is really unfair. “The Girl on the Train” isn’t as smart, witty, or amusingly dark as “Gone Girl”. “The Girl on the Train” is more like a contemporary reimagining of the late 80’s and early 90’s steamy murder skin flicks like “Fatal Attraction” or “Disclosure”. The comparison to “Gone Girl” may be because of the narrative for “The Girl on the Train,” which is very confusing at times. It jumps back and forth between the past and present so much that you begin to mistake who’s telling the story and which story has already happened and which one is still unfolding.

The time jumps are a method by the film to confuse the viewer about who’s responsible for Megan’s disappearance and, as anybody could easily guess, her death. The movie leaves a lot of red herrings, but the movie makes a fatal mistake by establishing from the get-go that when we see things through Rachel’s eyes, she’s an unreliable narrator, ultimately nixing any theories or ideas that come falling out of her brain or her blurred drunken visions.

“The Girl on the Train” is a two-hour version of “48 Hours” that intentionally jumbles up the “who-dun-it” portion of the story. But if you’re a keen observer, you’re going to ultimately guess what’s going on during Rachel’s alcohol fueled hallucinations, Megan’s flashbacks during her psychologist visits, Scott’s recollections and the unsettling calmness of Anna and Tom’s love life. By the time the big twist arrives, the movie isn’t quite sure how to proceed. It ends up over explaining how it all went down and tries to find some resemblance of meaning to end on.

“The Girl on the Train” is carried mainly behind some terrific performances, including Blunt who portrays a struggling alcoholic coping with horrific memories and a failed marriage. If the movie was more memorable, Blunt would surely be an early runner for a best actress Oscar. Bennett’s character, despite not being too relatable or sympathetic, is given meaning and passion through Bennett who once again, may have been in an early running for an Oscar if this movie was better. “The Girl on the Train” isn’t this year’s “Gone Girl” and won’t be a movie you’ll be talking about long after you leave the theater, but is interesting enough to sustain its near two-hour runtime. Folks who regularly watch Investigation Discovery will find plenty to enjoy here and others, like me, may find it’s brooding steaminess oddly charming, but ultimately flawed.

 

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: edgar ramirez, emily blunt, haley watson, justin theroux, luke evans, rebecca ferguson, ...

Film Review: “Deepwater Horizon”

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich
Directed By: Peter Berg
Rated: R
Running Time: 107 minutes
Summit Entertainment

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Over six years ago, the Deepwater Horizon explosion triggered the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Since then, BP has agreed to the largest corporate settlement in history, to the tune of nearly $19 billion in fines. The economic impact to the Gulf Coast was even higher, with estimates around nearly $25 billion, but it could easily be higher than that. Outside of the financial realm, thousands upon thousands of different animals and even hundreds of people on land suffered adverse health effects. As daunting as those numbers are, nothing cut’s as deep as the loss of a brother, father, or son, that 11 different families experienced on April 20th, 2010.

“Deepwater Horizon” covers the complicated 24 hours that led up to the explosion on the floating football field sized oil rig quite well. The movie mainly follows Mike Williams (Wahlberg), the Chief Engineer for Transocean. Transocean is a foreign property that actually owns the rig. The oil castle is on lease to BP, despite BP’s best attempts to run it like it’s their own. The petroleum palace is over one of the most difficult oil and gas prospects in the Gulf, the Macondo Prospect. Upon Williams’ arrival, the well is about to be filled up with a cement plug. But there’s a problem.

BP, constantly reminding them and the audience that the rig is behind schedule, isn’t concerned about doing the best job of creating or testing the cement plug that’s about to be put in place. They’re ready to clean up and move on to the next vast oil prospect. “Deepwater Horizon” paints the BP officials on-board the rig as nefarious penny pinchers, but in this case the pennies are hundreds of thousands of dollars. After a couple rounds of testing, the cement plug appears to be good enough for BP. , And against the beter judgement of Deepwater Horizon Manager Jimmy Harrell (Russell) and his crew, they go along with it. Sadly I think you know the rest.

While Berg spends every chance he gets making the audience loathe the slimy BP execs, he manages to humanize the people we encounter on the rig. While BP acts like they’re individual cogs to the massive machine that is the Deepwater Horizon, Berg shows them act more like a family unit. Like most co-workers in tight confines, they surely get on each other’s nerves, but the ebb and flow of the environment’s safety keeps them tight. Safety is the biggest component of survival and outside of the jokes, jabs and scowls, this crew ensures everyone stays safe and out of harm’s way.

The absolute panic and mayhem that takes over when the rig finally explodes into a massive fireball is intense to watch. This isn’t like most disaster movies where people complete inhuman feats of heroism to escape, this is blue collar men and women finding a way to survive in a scenario none of them were trained or prepared for. There are plenty of moments where characters express their deep despair at the situation, exclaiming through tears that they’re going to die. The media coverage of this event over half a decade ago was focused more on ecological disaster that it was and is still is today. We never got that human aspect as much and this movie is a tragic window into what happened in the span of a couple of hours.

Berg’s last movie, “Lone Survivor,” was a bone crunching look at how survival isn’t brave or courageous, it’s absolutely terrifying. “Deepwater Horizon” is the exact same, but instead of a warzone populated with soldiers, ordinary folks are dodging flaming debris, shrapnel from exploding metallic piping, and pushing broken bones back into place. Despite what the advertising says, “Deepwater Horizon” isn’t a movie with a hero that comes in and saves the day. These people saved themselves and they don’t feel like heroes, they feel survivor’s remorse. They wonder what they could have done differently to save their friends or stop the explosion.

Berg displays the heartbreaking range of emotions and his cast is able to reflect that without skipping a beat. Because many of us aren’t familiar with the names of those that were lost that day, there’s a decent amount of uneasiness about when someone could die or if they will die. For those who want to know what horror happened the night the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, this movie captures it to near-perfection.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: bp, deepwater horizon, john malkovich, kate hudson, kurt russell, mark wahlberg, ...

Film Review: “The Magnificent Seven”

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke
Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 132 minutes
Columbia Pictures

Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

“The Magnificent Seven” feels like it comes about two months too late. I may have enjoyed this remake more if my phones weather app read triple digits outside and the theater was still pumping out Arctic air. “The Magnificent Seven” feels like a good fit for the summer line-up, especially with the cast at hand, stunning visuals and exciting action-packed finale. Maybe it’s because I’m gearing up for awards season or my mind is ready to overanalyze, but I was in total critic mode while watching this movie.

This remake of the original (which was also remake) follows familiar beats. Sam Chisolm (Washington) is a bounty hunter that is contracted by a pair of residents from Rose Creek. The town is under the thumb of a ruthless businessman. He’s milking valuable materials from nearby mines, utilizing the populace as slave labor and poisoning the town’s water source. The capitalist, played by Peter Sarsgaard, establishes his cold-heartedness early by killing residents and burning down the Rose Creek church. But not before giving a very ham-fisted speech about how evil he is and how capitalism and our society justify it.

Feeling like it’s his civic duty, Chisolm rounds up some degenerates to save the town. Pratt plays Josh Farrady, a charming alcoholic that gambles and kills those who double cross him. Hawke plays a Civil War sharpshooter, Goodnight Robicheaux, who clearly suffers from PTSD after the War of Northern Aggression. He’s accompanied by a Chinese assassin, Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee). Then there’s Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), a Comanche warrior, whose appearance is the most random. There’s also Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a Mexican fugitive and Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio) a murderous man-sized teddy bear that you can’t understand half the time.

The “origin” story takes forever to get moving. The movie is more fascinated about establishing and having fun with its star power, Washington and Pratt, than it is explaining why half the group would join a suicide mission to help protect a town that none of them have heard of. The throwaway montage scenes of training Rose Creek citizens to fight and the predictable action-movie beats could have been trimmed for a much more lean and fluid flick.

The overall charm of the cast is nearly enough to forgive the movie for its storytelling mistakes and unimaginative narrative. When there aren’t guns blasting, explosions going off, or one-liners, the movie is a real drag. I wasn’t emotionally invested enough in the townspeople to care about them being in the path of a murderous tycoon. I also wasn’t emotionally invested enough to feel anything when the body count started to pile up towards the end.

That being said, there’s actually a lot this movie does right. The visuals and action are infectious. A lot of what makes the fighting sequences exciting can be chalked up to the use of real horses, set pieces, and stunts. So much of it appears natural and real that when the use of CGI is required, the computer animation sticks out like a sore thumb. On that level, it’s a successful summer movie that came out towards the end of September.

It’s odd that the movie never appears to pay homage to old Westerns or attempts a style change that may help it carve a new path in a familiar trail. It’s brainless entertainment that has awkwardly shown up at the beginning of Oscar season. “Magnificent Seven” is a stick of dynamite blast half the time, but the other half of the time it’s like watching a tumbleweed blow unenthusiastically in the wind.

 

 

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: antoine fuqua, byung-hun lee, Chris Pratt, denzel washington, ethan hawke, manuel garcia-rulfo, ...

CD Review: Ghost “Popestar”

“Popestar’
Ghost
Loma Vista Recordings
Tom Dalgety

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

Ghost continues to thumb its nose at metal purists with their latest EP. If you’re hoping for a return to the heavy doom metal that was “Opus Eponymous” you’re going to continue to be severely disappointed in Ghost’s current direction. “Popestar” drops the same day as they begin their new North American tour. The EP may come as a reaction to the newfound attention the gimmicky Satanic band from Sweden got after nabbing a Grammy earlier this year for the single “Cirice”. An appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert before Halloween doesn’t hurt either.

Unlike their last EP, “If You Have Ghost,” “Popestar” comes with a fresh song that’s a suitable follow-up to the mellow progressive rock/metal album “Meliora”. The new song, “Square Hammer,” blasts out of the gate with a cheesy horror organ tune with rock drumming underneath. Once the guitars kick in, there’s an infectious catchiness to all the instruments firing off seamlessly. At no point does “Square Hammer” feel like a chart topping metal song, but a catchy rock tune that could easily sneak into the Top 40 of any pop station. That is if it wasn’t for the allusions to Satan.

The chorus of “Square Hammer” is something that’ll have fans singing and chanting along like they’re at an arena rock concert. The hokeyness of the song, Blue Oyster Cult-like guitar solos, almost mask that this song is about fully submitting to the Dark Lord instead of passively giving the thumbs up to Satan. The band has even dropped a music video to accompany the song, featuring an homage to 1920’s Dracula and the inherent cheesiness that the band has been from day one. Asking listeners to give in to Satan has never been so poppy or catchy.

The EP then gives us a breather by sliding into the simplistic, but head bobbing “Nocturnal Me,” originally by Echo & the Bunnymen. The post punk guitars for this song are tuned heavier and make it a moodier. The post-punk music is an easy mold for Ghost to fit into. It’s a song that allows for atmospheric evil to permeate and eat up five minutes very quickly. I can see Trent Reznor hearing this song and kicking himself in the head for never covering it.

The oddest choice for this EP comes next on “I Believe,” originally by Simian Mobile Disco, which is like a contemporary Pet Shop Boys, but without the 80’s charm. “I Believe” may grow on me, but it only features heavy synthesizers, R&B guitar plucking and light drumming. It may serve as a brief segue between the two halves of this EP. The four minutes doesn’t go by fast enough, but on a solid play through of this EP, it feels more like an unnecessary break between the two halves of this EP.

The heaviest the band gets on this EP is covering a Eurythmics song on the next song. They take British pop band’s soul single, “Missionary Man” and crank the guitars and drums to 11. Vocalist Papa Emeritus III keeps the soul vocals intact and the band does their best to turn the blues riffs into breakdowns that melt in between the rhythmic metal chugs. Hearing Papa Emeritus III with a southern twang to his voice is enough to check out this song.

The EP ends on an oddly inspirational sounding track, “Bible” originally by Imperiet, a short-lived Swedish post-punk band that I’ve never heard of and you probably haven’t either. The gospel chorus, sweeping drums, toned down guitars, soft acoustic guitar, and heavenly organs are incredibly misleading. Once you get down to the lyrics of this sucker, you’ll realize how critical it is religion, power, government and humanity’s hypocrisy. It’s a beautiful song that’s haunting and deserves repeated listens with your volume knob all the way to the right on your speakers.

“Popestar” is another solid outing for the band. Ghost is known for “replacing” their lead singer with a new persona for every new album. This EP is certainly a farewell to Papa Emeritus III, which feels fitting with how much this EP feels like a crisp summarization of what made Ghost a hit on the American scene in the past year with the personification of Papa Emeritus III at the helm. Their fearless tackle of pop music with their traditional doom metal sound is highlighted on “Popestar” It’s a wonderful counterbalance between the stingy headbanger crowd and the passive metalhead who dabbles in other genres. The EP title is a reference to the criticisms by some that they musically “sold out” by going for a more mainstream sound, but also a statement that they’re going to continue to push metal into new boundaries with their newfound fame.

Track Listing
1.) Square Hammer
2.) Nocturnal Me (Echo & the Bunnymen cover)
3.) I Believe (Simian Mobile Disco cover)
4.) Missionary Man (Eurythmics cover)
5.) Bible (Imperiet cover)

 

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Filed Under: CD Reviews, Music Tagged With: echo & the bunnymen, eurythmics, ghost, meliora, popestar, simian mobile disco, ...

Film Review: “Blair Witch”

Starring: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez and Brandon Scott
Directed By: Adam Wingard
Rated: R
Running Time: 89 minutes
Lionsgate

Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

It’s been nearly two decades since a pair of aspiring filmmakers put together a cinematic game changer. “The Blair Witch Project,” a found footage film based on a made-up urban legend involving a supernatural witch in small town America, spurred late 90’s fandom and early Internet hysteria. Now the Blair Witch has entered the digital age. It’s no longer trapped in the Circuit City video camera age with a $22,000 budget. It now has drones, Bluetooth headset cameras, and $5 million to play with. And maybe that’s why it has inherently lost a lot of its horror charm and bite.

James (McCune) is the younger brother of Heather, who went missing back in “The Blair Witch Project” 20 years ago. James believes that a Youtube video of newly found footage may be the key to finding his long lost sister. So with the help of some friends, mainly documentarian and film school student Lisa (Hernandez), he travels to the Black Hills. Despite early eerie vibes, “Blair Witch” has is already having to retread familiar paths to establish its atmosphere.

Upon arrival in sleepy Burkittsville, James and his group meet Talia (Valorie Curry) and Lane (Wes Robinson). The two Burkittsville residents, whom straddle the line between white trash and goth metalheads (or are those the same thing?), are the ones who found and uploaded the Youtube footage. Their infatuation with the Blair Witch legend is a mixture of respectful fear and fanboy excitement. With Talia and Lane forcibly in tow, the group heads into the woods in the hopes of finding whatever bizarre phenomenon inhabits the creepy Maryland woods.

It’s difficult to sum up “Blair Witch” into a few simple words or a pithy comment. It flips on a dime midway through, going from the familiar slow burner that made the first one so memorable, to a nonstop jump scare haunted house. The first 30 minutes pays homage to the style of the original, leaving supernatural breadcrumbs for the cast to find. The tone pivot comes when the group has to stay a second night in the woods after predictably getting lost and divided.

Adam Wingard and crew, who’ve done previous other horror movies together (and very well I might add), show signs of adoration for the original. But in an attempt to make their own distinct vision, they may have trampled all over what made the original unique. The “found footage” has been edited from about a dozen different camera sources with some scenes clearly not being from any of the recording equipment on hand. They also expand upon the mythology, giving God-like powers to the witch. The over saturation of the witches new powers, gore, and predictable jump scares certainly cheapen the mood.

As for the jump scares, nearly every other one is unnecessary and come nearly every 30 seconds in the movie’s climax creating a blunt force experience that will either nauseate or thrill. While certainly stimulating to watch in theaters, the jump scare bombardment grows tiresome. At times I felt like I was watching a full screen version of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” on amphetamines. Outside of the repetitive first-person terror, “Blair Witch” finds inspirational moments. There are scenes that are cleverly claustrophobic and discomforting.

“Blair Witch” is a bold endeavor that may have been more respected if it wasn’t in the shadow of a 1999 movie that did so much with so little. “Blair Witch” is an expensive fanboy movie made by a genuine fan of the original. I have tip my hat to Wingard and crew for being ambitious with this sequel/reboot, and not being afraid of trying something new with old material. But I can’t help and think that “Blair Witch” should remain a cinematic relic.

 

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: adam wingard, blair witch, brandon scott, callie hernandez, james allen mccune

Film Review: “Morgan”

Starring: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy and Toby Jones
Directed By: Luke Scott
Rated: R
Running Time: 92 minutes
20th Century Fox

Our Score 1.5 out of 5 Stars

Sometimes when I watch something so promising, and filled with so much talent, I wonder if I genuinely missed something when I walk out not liking it. “Morgan” features veteran talents like Paul Giamatti, Ridley Scott as producer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a script that made 2014’s Blacklist (a list of the best unproduced scripts currently floating around Hollywood). So here I am a week removed from watching “Morgan” and I think to myself, I didn’t miss anything. It’s a bad movie.

Anya Taylor-Joy (someone who’s bound to get an Oscar nominating performance one of these days) is stuck as the science experiment gone wrong, Morgan. The five-year-old, by human years, is actually around 18-by-whatever-made-up-logic-this-movie-makes-years-old. She’s the end result of a human embryo breeding project. She’s birthed with some of the best genes out there as well as a couple of super human capabilities that are never really explained. After a month, Morgan is able to walk and talk. After a couple of years, she’s a self-sufficient preteen with a childlike wonder about the world. After five years, she’s capable of inflicting bodily harm on her creators and show signs of deep hatred. And after Morgan stabs a scientist in the eye for no apparent reason, it’s time to bring in the corporate business suits.

“Morgan” has the capability to deliver a message about cloning, the inability to understand raw human emotions, and eugenics, but instead focuses more on visual technique. “Morgan” ends up being all style with no substance. The groundwork is there as we watch sterile and emotionless scientists suddenly become parents, growing up and watching Morgan’s guileless nature. Then we watch as the parental instinct kicks in when the scientists try to understand and defend Morgan’s growing sociopathy. She may be a monster, but she’s their monster. Another missed theme is how corporate culture looks at the numbers more than the human impact, but I digress because this movie failed on all thematic levels.

But even as the movie slowly falls apart, “Morgan” still has one final chance to deliver upon any resemblance of meaning behind its script. The writers, producers, and director, fail to give anything outside slick visuals, bruising action sequences, and a disquieting environment for its characters. The third act of the movie turns out to be more of an experiment in forbearance as the twist of the movie slowly gets unraveled. Although I figured out the twist about 30 minutes in while another critic I spoke to after the movie figured it out five minutes in. I guess even M. Night Shyamalan could recognize “Morgan” has a bad twist.

It’s really unfortunate watching Taylor-Joy get generously applied with Dave Chappelle white face make-up and play in one of the more frustrating creature features in recent memory. Taylor-Joy popped up on the scene earlier this year in “The Witch” and has a lot of talent waiting to be displayed. She does a fine job relaying Morgan’s genuine wonder and empathy, while balancing Morgan’s uncharacteristic murder streak. Taylor-Joy does all this well, but it’s hard to piece together the mind of her character when the movie continuously jumps back and forth between Morgan’s personalities.

It doesn’t help that the movie states she’s only five, despite having the mind and body of a full blown teenager. Is she a test tube bred deadly assassin battling teenage hormones with the id of a child progressing too quickly into an adult world that she has no comprehension of? If so, why is this experiment worth anything to anyone, especially a company? Those are questions no one making this film ever thought to ask and inherently asking that question gives away the movie’s twist.

Just like its character, “Morgan” lacks any growth, meaning, or excitement. Whenever the movie gets close to developing a theme or message, it reverts back to finding meaning behind violence like a Kindergartener throwing a temper tantrum, frustrated that it couldn’t find a way to expel upon its interesting premise. If this is the final movie of the summer, the summer certainly goes out on an uncreative whimper.

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Filed Under: Film Reviews, Movies Tagged With: Anya Taylor-Joy, jennifer jason leigh, kate mara, morgan, paul giamatti, ridley scott, ...
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