With my film tournament officially started, I guess I’ll share why the years for the tourney are what they are. At first, I was going for 20 years ago. That meant 1993 was part of the tournament. There are two problems with that. Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time, and I think Schindler’s List is one of the most important films to watch. Those two films would have been against each other in the second round. That doesn’t work. So, I moved to 10 years ago. When I do this again next March, the years as of now will be 1994-97. For now, I still have a few choices to make for the Round of 32 tomorrow. On to the reviews!
For the first time in on of these Mystery Mondays, I was completely surprised when the movie started. That being said, it was a pleasant surprise. This was a pretty good British black comedy about a true scandal 1920’s England. The story centers on neighbors played by Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, and the letters in the title that earn the film the R rating pretty easily. This might not really work for people who don’t find British comedies funny, but that isn’t really an issue for me. The level of humor in this is comparable to Banshees of Inisherin. There isn’t many laugh out loud moments in this, and there is some heavy drama mixed in, but it is a continuously enjoyable time.
Having said that, there are a couple points that keep it from going too high in the rankings. One, the plot is paper thin. Yes that is the point, and it doesn’t really dawn on you while watching. I was driving home after and it just dawned on me how little actually happens. That directly leads to the main question I had for the plot: How did the letters start? I know how Rose was blamed for them, but I don’t get what caused the writers to pen the first letter. We come into the story at the time of the 19th letter.
Coleman was good as usual, but it’s Buckley that really stands out. She really keeps picking up noteworthy roles that she is knocking out of the park. Even in Men a couple years ago, her character was one of the two or three things I liked in the weird film. This one goes wide on March 29th, and it’s a small, independent film, so “wide” is a bit of a stretch. If it does show up near you, it’s not a bad option to spend a couple hours.
Netflix had to have spent a ton on this one. Too bad it is kind of a bore to sit through. While I think Millie Bobby Brown has been great as Eleven in Stranger Things, she just doesn’t work for me in things outside of Hawkins. She just doesn’t really seem like the tough damsel the movie wants you to think it is. The visuals were ok for a film set in a fantasy setting. To the casting agent who chose Shohren Aghdashloo as the voice of the dragon, cheers. Robin Wright is also here to be the most obvious villain the second she first appears. This was just a very predictable movie that really just seems to exist to get Gen Z to watch Netflix. If this was released in theaters, it would have been a forgotten Dumpuary movie. Now it can live in a world where anything can thrive in. This might have also played better as a series, where it would have been given more room to build out the world. As it stands now, it’s just vague Fantasy nonsense, and if there is one genre that vagueness doesn’t work for, it’s Fantasy.
Good R-rated comedies have been increasingly rare. I think the last true one we got was No Hard Feelings last summer. While that one had characters that had room to grow, and have some semblance of a character arc, this one didn’t. This is just about three friends who use a made up friend to blame for all the bad things they do, or to get out of things they don’t want to do. This works for them until one of the friends has a child, forcing them to have Stanicky be real, or be revealed as frauds, ruining their lives. Cena is pretty good as Stanicky, as this role really fits in well with his comedic strengths. Efron and Fowler are good as two of the trio of friends. Santino was just bland and annoying. The problem here is the story. To say it’s predictable is an understatement. That is bad enough, but the movie decides it needs to cushion the blow for our trio when the fraud is revealed. They are not great people carrying on this lie for at least 20 years, but the movie wants you to root for them. Apple does too apparently. Efron is using an iPhone, and Apple doesn’t let bad guys use them in films.
The original Ghostbusters is iconic. It is among the best, and rewatchable movies from the 80s. Since that film in 1984, we have had 4 other Ghostbusters entries leading into this newest one. There are people that think 1989’s Ghostbusters II is the bad one. There are people that throw their anger towards the 2016 reboot (we don’t like to talk about those bigots though). Well, Frozen Empire has entered the chat for worst entry. This one is a complete mess. It feels like after Afterlife three years ago, they wanted to make a tv series. Sony though saw the money Afterlife brought in and knew a sequel would print money, so they took the tv series scripts, mashed them together, and made a movie. There are so many separate storylines that the movie just jumps back and forth between, and it just feels off.
None of the characters are bad in this one, but they aren’t given any room to grow from where they were in Afterlife. In this one, they all just move to New York to be fully absorbed by the nostalgia monster that is the firehouse headquarters. That big bad that they show in the trailers? Oh he is obviously in the movie, but he takes a back seat for at least half the movie. When talk, dark, and horny does show up finally, there is only maybe 30 minutes left. Of those 30 minutes, you have already seen most of the high points in the trailer. I mean, the big battle takes place only in the firehouse. There are two characters pivotal to the plot that I’ll keep secret, but both of them just seem boring to pointless up until they are a kind of dues ex machina at the end.
To make a long story short, this was utterly disappointing. They lay the groundwork for future movies, and not in a very subtle way. After seeing what they have come up with this one, they need to just let this franchises move on to the plain. It is obvious they will never let the new cast have an adventure without including the OG cast, and this one proves that combining both just doesn’t work. It is just an unfocused, pretty empty, CGI mess. The series probably deserves better, but much like the Jurassic Park franchise, maybe it’s best to just stop trying to chase the glory of one great original film.
This weekend seems like another easy weekend to guess the top 5 in the box office. It’s the opening weekend of another big release, and the rest are just probably going to move one spot down.
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
- Kung Fu Panda 4
- Dune: Part 2
- Arthur the King
Next week is another week of smaller films. I have at least 2 for sure on the schedule, and if I can find a Problemista showtime, it will be a three film week. Interesting things coming up here on the blog. Round of 32 will be tomorrow, and on Wednesday, I have a post about trailers that I have been working on for quite awhile now. It should be an interesting read when it goes live then. Then, on Thursday, it is the Round of 16. Hopefully you enjoy what is ahead here on the blog.
Mitten Film Nerd 
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