Category: Movie Review

Weekend In Taipei

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Weekend in Taipei

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: George Huang

Written by: George Huang & Luc Besson

Produced by: Virginie Besson-Silla & Luc Besson

Starring: Luke Evans, Gwei Lun-Mei, Sung Kang, Wyatt Yang.

‘Who’s the snitch?’

The opening of, A Weekend in Taipei is the city shown in a fast-paced montage of images of the street life; to dead fish on the pavement, motorbikes, toys and temples – all shot in contrasting saturated colour to black and white to introduce the style of the film: action featuring car chases and fight scenes but also the drama of an unhappy family and a woman waiting for The One to finally come back.

Kwang (Sung Kang) is a corrupt billionaire being charged with the only crime that sticks – fishing license violations.

Surrounded by media, Kwang curses at his staff as he gets into his car.  He tries to call his wife, Joey (Gwei Lun-Mei).  She ignores him.

Instead, Joey takes a Ferrari for a test drive.  She drives, fast.

Joey’s been married to Kwang for 15 years.  Her son, Raymond (Wyatt Yang) hates him.  Raymond doesn’t understand why she’s with him.

But Joey explains that a long time ago, she needed help.  And Kwang was there.

Cut-to Minneapolis where John Lawlor (Luke Evans) is getting arrested holding a goldfish in a glass.

An undercover DEA agent, Lawlor is on the trail of Kwang after uncovering a delivery of heroin with Kwang’s name all over it.

It’s time to spend a weekend in Taipei.

Amongst the action, knife fights and car chases, there’s a lightness to this film that adds a sense of fun.

Lawlor’s fellow agent in a restaurant fight unintentionally getting more injured as Lawlor tries to protect him is hilarious – grater across the hand, the kitchen on fire, ‘oh, no.’

This is a classic- style action movie with humour that hits the mark.  And there’s some fresh ideas here, like knocking the power board off the lift, then the door handle off the exit door to the stairs, delaying the bad guys giving chase.

Director George Huang explains one the biggest challenges making the film was shooting in Taipei in the summer.  It was so hot that the final fight scene was moved indoors to a cinema where, ‘images from Zhang Yimou’s The Secret of the Flying Daggers are projected onto the actors.’

It’s a clever device that adds another layer to the fight and another point of difference to the action that I enjoyed.

The film does feel stilted at the beginning but the chemistry between Agent Lawlor and mother, wife, badass-driver Joey lifts the film up a level.

There’s a good balance as young actor Wyatt Yang who plays the son Raymond states, ‘It’s a very exciting film, it has lots of fast cars, guns, and blood, but at the heart is a family story.’

Not the deepest dive into the characters but there’s enough amusement and action thrills – who doesn’t like a car chase featuring a beach buggy?! – to make for an entertaining watch.

Speak No Evil

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Speak No Evil

Rated: MA15+

Written for the Screen and Directed by: James Watkins

Based on the Screenplay by: Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup

Produced by: Jason Blum, Paul Ritchie

Executive Producers: Beatriz Sequeira, Jacob Jarek, Christian Tafdrup

Starring: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, Alix West and Dan Hough.

‘I promise you guys, it’s going to be a great weekend.’

You know when you’re in a bad situation and you want to get out.  Do get out.  Only to be pulled back in against your better judgment? But someone continually plays you, pulls those strings so you get burnt, played, burnt again.

Based on the screenplay of Gæsterne, written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup, Speak No Evil shows the game, the cat playing with the mouse.

Meet Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben Dalton (Scoot McNairy) with their daughter, Agnes (Alix West).

Ben is newly redundant and a little bored.  Louise fusses over their anxious daughter, Agnes, ‘Use your indoor voice.’

Then there’s Paddy (James McAvoy) cracking beers and getting it on with his young wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi).  Paddy’s forward and fun.

Ciara is lovely and they have a child who’s also awkward, a son, Ant (Dan Hough), who doesn’t speak because of a condition dwarfing his tongue.

The two families get along.

Paddy is a breath of fresh air so after Louise and Ben get home to London and disappointment, they decide it’s not such a bad idea to go to the Western Country to visit their good-time new friends.

The opening scene sets up the film well: a car being driven along a dark isolated road.  The reflection of a child’s face seen in the rearview mirror.  The adults get out of the car, leaving the child, his reflection watching.

It’s that ominous feeling of knowing something isn’t right that continues through-out the film.  The tension keeps building.  But the pacing gets annoying after a while.

It’s a gradual change as Paddy’s mask begins to slip, the sly comments, ‘Don’t put yourself down, that’s my job.’

The more off-colour Paddy becomes, the more precious Louise seems so Ben doesn’t know if they should just relax and get along or get out of there.

It’s a back and forth where the subtle becomes not so subtle to then lean into the unhinged to become so crazy it’s funny.  On purpose.

McAvoy steals the show as the charismatic, unhinged Paddy.

Paddy takes control through his constant manipulation, his presence claustrophobic, to the extent scenes felt empty without him.

But it’s frustrating to watch, that back and forth.  I couldn’t help but groan when the family continued to get sucked in again and again.

It’s a well-made film. I just got annoyed with it.

Longlegs

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Longlegs

Rated: MA15+

Written and Directed by: Osgood Perkins

Produced by: Dave Caplan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Oddfellows, Dan Kagan

Director of Photography: Adrés Arochi

Starring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alica Witt, Kiernan Shipka.

‘You’re a dirty sweet girl.  You’re my girl.’

T. Rex 1971.

Longlegs is one of the creepier serial killer movies I’ve seen.

The film is created with odd camera angles, the texture of the film, stark.

There’s a quiet tone to the film as FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) makes her way through the case of a satanic serial killer, AKA Longlegs (Nicolas Cage): a killer who doesn’t leave a trace.

The only reason the FBI know about Longlegs is because he leaves a note.  A cipher.

Agent Harker is able to decipher the notes because Longlegs breaks into her house and leaves her the solution to the code.

And then the dance between Longlegs and Harker begins.

The toneless affect of Harker blankets the film in a monotone, making the feeling flat.  It’s a strange device but I get the connection to the life-sized dolls that are introduced later in the film; however, the dampening of Harker made her character borderline dull.

Aside from the flat affect, this is a carefully crafted film with thought put into the build, the montages of crime scene photos, the sometimes up-side-down perspective, the quiet then screech of strings, all to build that unnerving feeling.

Then add Nicolas Cage as Longlegs spouting the bizarre while looking directly into the camera so it’s like Longlegs is speaking directly to you as you watch the movie and you get one unique film that gets under your skin because it takes risks in the storytelling.

On rare occasions when a film has a particular poetic flavour, I’ll re-read my notes and take that as a synopsis:

A corner camera angle, looking through the front windscreen and side window of a car.

A snowy forest.

A little girl watches from her bedroom window.

Just the lower half of the face, a weirdly made-up face, a powdered face.  A male’s high voice.

Strings screech.

Knock, knock.

Have you seen this man?

She’s quiet – he’s in there.

Half psychic.

Ciphers – ten families.

Making the father murder.

Like a tapping on the shoulder.

Highly intuitive.

14th: happy birthday.

911 call.

Flashes of crime scene photos.

Boiling black ink that overflows.

All your things.

Not nice things.

Our prayers protect us from the devil.

Newspaper clippings.

A  life-sized doll.

A nowhere between here and there.

The man down the stairs.

From the perspective of the doll.

Looks right down the camera.

Birthday girls.

The doll maker.

You’ve won.

Happy birthday.

Creepy.

 

Dune: Part Two

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★1/2Dune: Part Two

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the Novel by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay Written by: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Denis Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick

Executive Producers: Joshua Grode, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem.

‘Power over spice is power over all.’

This is the mantra of the Harkonnens and the basis of the political intrigue in the Dune series.

It’s now the year 10,091.

Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the daughter of The Emperor (Christopher Walken) creates a voice memo, introducing Dune: Part Two, where the entire House of Atreides have been wiped out over-night. No warning, no survivors.  Except a few.

The Harkonnens now control the harvesting of spice with the ever-present influence of the Bene Gesserit.

The extent of the Bene Gesserits’ power becoming more apparent as the prophecy of the son, known by the Fremens as Lisan al Gaib, gains momentum.

It’s Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) they believe to be the Bene Gesserit’s son, the Mahdi of the Fremen whom they believe will lead them to paradise.

An ideal originally conjured by the Bene Gesserit and encouraged by Paul Atreides’ mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as her pregnancy continues and her daughter grows in her belly.

Paul doesn’t fail in his fulfillment as he adapts to the desert and Fremen way of life with the help of Chani (Zendaya).

Even though he’s an outsider, Chani grows to love him – he’s different to the other outsiders.  He’s sincere.

My initial thought at the end of Dune: Part One of, I hope it doesn’t get cheesy, was unwarranted because despite the glimmers of light between Paul and Chani, this is a dark journey filled with moments like the sucking of water out of the dead and… Almost dead.

The Harkonnens’ are particularly brutal, the young nephew of The Baron (Stellan Skarsgård), Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), is known by the Bene Gesserit as psychotic but manageable.

It’s a fight for survival as the Fremans sabotage the spice harvesters with the help of Paul, each success building his reputation as the Lisan al Gaib, confirming Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) faith.  Stilagar gives him his Freman name, Paul Muad’Dib.

The build of belief catches fire, fierce stories spread about Lisan al Gaib, ‘Our resources are limited.’  Paul explains.  ‘Fear is all we have.’

Nothing can live down south without faith.  And now, instead of friends, Paul has followers.

There’s A LOT to unpack here, but at its foundation, Dune: Part Two has a heavy layer of religion and how religion is used to gain power – the ultimate power: to control the harvest of spice.

Parts of the story were glossed over, like the return of Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin).  And it’s easy to get lost in the intricacies of the story and characters, but there is absolutely never a dull moment in this film (editor: Joe Walker).

This is a vastly entertaining journey, ‘you will see the beauty and the horror,’ all in the dance of shadows over rock, the disappearance of a mother’s face into shadow after seeing her son forever changed – there’s black and white film used to portray the stark and evil of the Harkonnens alongside the red desert and solar eclipse (director of photography: Greig Fraser), flying black suits and pit fighters with black horns like insidious devils (costume designer: Jacqueline West).

All to the beat of a thumper that blends the desert and call of the worms with the beat of intrigue and violence in the capital (composer: Hans Zimmer).

This is a brutally entertaining film that lives up to the hype and is absolutely worth seeing on the big screen.

Better than Part One which is a big call because Part One was brilliant (winning six Academy Awards) and I’m guessing everyone will walk out of the cinema asking, when’s the release of Part Three?

 

Nat’s Top 5 Movies of 2023

Was a wee quiet regarding movie reviewing this year – it’s been busy!  But ITop 5 Movies 2023 still managed to get to ‘Barbenheimer’ that took over the world there for a while.  All I can say is I’m glad I managed to source a pink hair accessory for the Barbie premiere.  It was a very pink affair.  And a surprisingly refreshing feminist message that did balance in the end.  But like everyone, I’ve never seen a film so blunt – ‘I’m a man without power, does that make me a woman?’

I was more drawn to the thriller genre this year – surprise, surprise, with Saltburn blowing away the cobwebs with its sharp wit and extravagance, but let’s start the list with a documentary that I still think about, particularly while watching the TV series, The Fall of the House of Usher with the documentary about Nan showing in the background to underline the correlation her story had with the series about the evils of pharma, meet photographer and activist, Nan Goldin:

  1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – GoMovieReviews

For me, I was captured by those slide shows, the people in the photos like characters in the movie of Nan’s life.

It’s a heavy story, but the telling is simple, measured and driven not by the production, but what felt like Nan herself.

  1. Cairo Conspiracy – GoMovieReviews

Thought-provoking, intriguing with moments of beauty – this is a balanced film that gets you thinking.

  1. John Wick: Chapter 4 – GoMovieReviews

If you’re already a fan of the John Wick franchise, Chapter 4 is obviously a must-see and in my opinion, as good as the previous JW3: the detail, the humour, the dogs, the camera work, those shots from above a seriously successful device to show more of the action…  Action at its very best.

  1. Oppenheimer – GoMovieReviews

Complicated, suspenseful, political, scientific and psychological.  It’s a lot.

But that raging fire and those blurred edges and uncertainty around Oppenheimer’s character to then reveal the truth of all those involved in the creation of the bomb added up to a sophisticated film that demanded full attention.

Somehow, Nolan has captured an aberration using Oppenheimer as a voice.  And that takes brilliance.

  1. Saltburn – GoMovieReviews

Inviting, surprising, edgy and a pleasure to watch, like a guilty indulgence – this is a movie that keeps me coming back to the cinema wanting more.

 

Saltburn

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)

Rated: MA15+Saltburn

Directed by: Emerald Fennell

Written by: Emerald Fennell

Produced by: LuckyChap

Director of Photography: Linus Sandgren

Editor: Victoria Boydell

Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Gran, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan.

‘I loved him.  But was I in love with him?’

The chaos of the first day at college sees Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) wandering through the Oxford crowd with his tie and jacket – ‘Hey, cool jacket,’ says a fellow student.  Not in a good way.

Oliver’s a ‘Norman with no mates.’

He spies Felix (Jacob Elordi) through the crowd – happy, popular, beautiful.

Oliver watches him.  It’s creepy, but kinda sweet because he’s so polite about it.  The scholarship boy infatuated.

Felix feels sorry for him.

He invites Oliver to stay with his family at Saltburn for the summer:

‘If you get sick of us, you can leave.  Promise.’

There’s an immediate immersion into the story, irresistible and fun with a dark humour, where college professors care more about who your parents are then if you’ve read the recommended reading list – who reads the St Jame’s Bible the summer before starting college?

The storyline is reminiscent of a modern day, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) – the studious and brilliant boy trying to get ahead in life infatuated with the charming rich, seemingly unattainable.  The invitation to stay.  The inevitable dead bodies.

But Saltburn is also funny and visceral with vomit and spit and menstrual blood. Not off-putting, not sexy even.  It made the unreality of the setting feel more authentic.

Barry Keoghan as Oliver, is quite frankly, a revelation.

And there’s a perfect balance of characters – writer and director, Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman (2021)– directorial and screenplay debut) drawing everything into the camera so the film edges up to the right side of the absurd, keeping the story more mystery and erotic thriller rather than delving into fantasy because the fantasy is the setting and Oliver’s desire, with no holding back.

Oliver’s willingness to be All, to give all, is weirdly endearing while knowingly manipulative.  The audience’s perception twisted like the storyline.

Fennell uses reflections to see the shadow of self, of Oliver only realised later because the reflection of water and the face in a table surface also looks beautiful, disguising what lies underneath.

The use of shadows to add definition.  Those close shots of Oliver’s eyes looking into another – the damaged younger sister, Venetia Catton (Alison Oliver) and smug family friend, rich because of the Catton’s guilt, so basically part of the family, Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) – hypnotise with the wilfulness of Oli.

And seeing Carey Mulligan as ‘Poor Dear Pamela’ does not disappoint.

Can you tell I liked this movie?

Those dark humorous moments are pure gold, Rosamund Pike as Elspeth Catton (ex-model and mother who can’t stand ugliness), stating, ‘the police keep getting lost in the maze.’ You can imagine the hilarity of the moment because it shouldn’t be funny but it just is.

It’s also the pauses from the characters, the individual nuances in body language that delight, the idiocy of the classic English denial played so well by Richard E. Gran as the patriarch, Sir James Catton.

Each performance is outstanding, the character roles perfectly balanced.

Then the humour edges towards the callous changing the mood as the story turns so there’s another layer under the surface: there’s a fine line between dark humour and callousness like there’s a fine line between love and hate.

Saltburn is inviting, surprising, edgy and a pleasure, like a guilty indulgence, to watch on the big screen.

This is the second powerhouse film from Emerald Fennell and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.

 

Rainbow Video

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Rainbow Video

Directed by: Jessie Scott

Featuring: Philip Brophy, Ian Haig, Cassandra Tytler, Xanthe Dobbie, Jean Lizza, Diego Ramirez and Spiro Economopoulos.

Released as part of the 2023 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

Rainbow Video is a deep dive documentary about what is fast becoming a myth, the video store.

This is a discussion, a conversation with locals who work in stores (or worked in stores), curators, film lovers, collectors, distributors and artists all talking about movies, about the ‘video logic’ of choosing a movie to watch based on a cool cover, or a cult book recommendation that can only be found, in store.

It’s about ‘opportunities of discovery,’ and ‘organised hording.’  And I loved watching it.

The conversation is told through the view of a hand-held camera with cuts to the rainbow vision of titles to shop front displays and opening hours to watching a customer rent a DVD that was so simple yet somehow riveting.

In rare moments, you can hear the crew of the film ask a question off mike, which adds to the inclusive feel of the documentary, but the voice of the director, first time film maker, Jessie Scott, is heard through the video cuts added to the discussion – those moments of Melbourne, of seeing people walk down the street, a tram whooshing by setting the scene for the introduction to a local video store that until recently, used to be a weekly, even bi-weekly journey.

I kept smiling as I got caught up in the joy of the contributors talking about all things video: the search, the conversation, the recommendations and the culture of the video store.

The artists talk of their own projects and creative process as they stand on a ream of blue paper or while sitting to have a friendly black dog come into view with tail wagging – all to a peppy soundtrack.

It’s like the audience is invited into the conversation.

And what an interesting conversation – it gets philosophical and creative and inspiring, a little political and a little sad as the credits show the video stores featured in the documentary are mostly closed.

It’s about transition and the idea of the tangible to the weightlessness of digital and what that means in the context of watching a film.

I recently went to my local library and decided to spend some time looking through their CD collection.  I felt like finding something new.  Something I might not think of listening to and found 15 disks to take home.  I was chuffed so took a photo of the CDs all laid out to post on Facebook, to get the reply – ‘Ever heard of Spotify?’  And was sad that someone just didn’t understand the spirit of finding something new and unexpected.

Watching this documentary made me feel like meeting my people because it taps into that fun of discovery.

It’s an interview of people who really know what they’re talking about, who are genuine film lovers and fascinating which says a lot about Scott as a film maker because she’s framed the discussion so well.

Barbie

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.7/5)Barbie

Rated: PG

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Written by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach

Produced by: Tom Ackerley, Robbie Brenner, David Heyman, Margot Robbie

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Dupa Lipa and Helen Mirren.

Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything – right?

Set in a world where every day is the ‘best day ever,’ Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) wakes up every morning with a smile on her face and tiptoes.

It’s all hanging out with the girls, impromptu musical numbers, Ken (Ryan Gosling) obsessed and only alive in the gaze of Barbie and Barbies’ ruling the world and perfect sunny weather with nothing but blue skies day, after day, after day…

Until those irrepressible thoughts of death invade Stereotypical Barbie’s peace of mind.

It’s time to go visit.  Weird Barbie, AKA Gymnast Barbie (Kate McKinnon).

An outcast in Barbie Land, Weird Barbie is forever doing the splits and keeps a dog that pooh’s hard plastic pellets (this is an actual creation where you lever the tail and the dog pooh’s – tee hee).

Gymnast Barbie knows what’s wrong because that’s how she became, weird.  Once upon a time her owner, a young girl going through a punk phase, decided her Barbie should have her hair hacked and face… changed.

Stereotypical Barbie’s human must be doing something similar but instead of angry, this human’s world is falling apart and the emotions are starting to influence the Barbie.

The only way to stop the dark thoughts and get Barbie’s feet where they should be is to find the person who’s having the thoughts.  It’s time to leave Barbie Land and enter the human world.

But Barbie?  In the real world?  It’s not going to end well.

‘It’s a repeat of Skipper in Key West,’ says CEO (Will Farrell) of Mattel (which for some reason still cracks me up).

It’s not long before Barbie is arrested and of course Ken’s along for the ride because he can’t be without Barbie.

And she might need someone who specialises in ‘Beach’.

Instead of the idealised matriarchal world they expected, Barbie and Ken soon realise that men are raised to a far higher level of power than in Barbie Land.

And Ken loves it.  If only he was qualified to do anything more than stand on the ‘Beach’.

At its foundation, Barbie the movie is a feminist comedy – a strong description, but the script doesn’t pull punches as Barbie tackles the patriarchal society of the real world.

One of the all-male Mattel executives says, ‘I’m a man without power – does that make me a woman?’

So Barbie is faced with the idea of death and a world dominated by men.

The discussion of the awkward position of women in society is refreshing.

I get the, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t scenario.

And I’ve never heard the difficulties declared in the way the real human woman character, Gloria (America Ferrera) who’s a Mattel employee and mum of teenage-full-of-angst Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), describes to Barbie: what it’s like to be a woman who can’t be fat, can’t be too skinny, has to say, ‘healthy’, while actually be skinny.  Has be assertive but grateful.  Be a sexy partner but caring like a mother but not a replacement for a mother.   Has to have a career but not be selfish.  Has to be successful but not so successful to make other people uncomfortable.  And it goes on.  And it all has the ring of truth about it.

It’s almost like the Barbies are the women born in the 50s who opened up the world in the 70s so women could become career women, and have babies – but in reality, there’s still a cage built of expectation.

Sometimes the message of the movie is a little dated like the idea of construction workers all being men.  And the only-alive-when-you-look-at-me-Barbie, Ken is an unbalance in the other direction.

But there’s a fresh outlook here.  That has genuinely funny moments.

The film was well-cast with Ryan Gosling as Ken helping keep it endearing as he too tries to understand his position in a patriarchal society versus a matriarchal society, then to find a place that understands the individual.

Then the message gets deeper as the idea of patriarch and the creation of Barbie is a construct created to intellectualise a confusing world; to try to control or understand, before we die.

As if I wasn’t already depressed in the middle of a Melbourne winter.

But then, it’s about girls and women, mothers and sisters and daughters all just being themselves.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the message, with the added funny moments and a lasting feeling that tapped into a space unexpected – to feel good about myself and other women.

 

John Wick: Chapter 4

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5) John Wick: Chapter 4

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Chad Stahelski

Written by: Shay Hatten and Michael Finch

Based on Characters Created by: Derek Kolstad

Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski

Executive Producers: Keanu Reeves, Louise Rosner, David Leitch, Michael Paseornek

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown and Ian McShane, Marko Zaror, Natalia Tena.

‘Such is life,’ is the playful yet deadly theme in this forth chapter of John Wick, spoken by Winston (Ian McShane), New York manager in explanation of another sour turn of events surrounding the ever-increasing reward for the fulfilment of the Kill Contract for the unstoppable, John Wick (Keanu Reeves).

This time, the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) of The High Table has been granted the power to do anything necessary to bring John Wick down.

‘Why won’t you die!’

German assassin Killa (Scott Adkins) exclaims through his bloody, gold capped teeth.

Because fueled by his need for revenge, Wick continues to kill anyone in his way towards freedom.

There’re 14 action sequences in this forth chapter, which is four times more than any previous John Wick film.

I didn’t relish the idea of sitting through nothing but fight scenes but the film draws you into the story before the action kicks in.  And it’s this attention to the story as well as the mind-blowing action that sets the John Wick franchise apart.

I had massively high expectations after being blown away by John Wick 3, but returning Keanu Reeves in the lead role (he’s also an executive producer here) and director, Chad Stahelski, did not disappoint.

Producer Erica Lee notes, it’s, ‘the “bond and trust” between Reeves and Stahelski that has defined the John Wick franchise. “Chad has given so much to the films for the better part of a decade. Keanu loves the series so much – he’s in every script meeting and casting discussion and has come up with some amazing story ideas. Very few franchises have the consistency we’ve enjoyed with our core team.”

Chapter 4 opens in Jordan, with John riding horseback, riffle in hand, to Japan, Berlin and Paris, so there’s some interesting sets for those explosive action scenes here.  And the inventive fights just get more intense from knives, num-chuks, exploding bullets of fire, to cars in traffic used like dodgem cars, where the would-be assassins don’t dodge so much.  And neither does John.

Adding to the fight scenes is the additional body armour of the suits worn by John and The Table killers so weapons get added just to make an opening for a kill: thump with a num-chuk to expose a neck for the kill shot.

There are so many moments of cringe and ouch all the while grinning my face off.  Particularly the last quarter of the movie – the grin just got wider as the action got ridiculous.  In a good way.

The choreography is fast and brutal and smooth like a dance – the sheer number of stunt people in the credits understandable.  “Reeves also did precision driving training and horseback riding training, in addition to instruction in many other disciplines. “Over the course of these films, Wick can sign, speak Russian, and, in CHAPTER 4, speak a little Japanese. So, I’m always picking up different skills,” says Reeves.

There’s also a play of light with John’s reintroduction set with a backing of red light so even the cherry blossoms in the background took on a sinister aspect.  And that red light continues to follow Wick through-out the film, like an illustration of his unrelenting need for revenge.

In addition there’s thoughtful one-liners thrown in, strangely enough from the villain, the deadly Marquis, like: ‘A man’s ambition should never exceed his worth.’

Has to be said, Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis is genius casting and just one of the worthy additions to the story – The Tracker (Shamier Anderson) with his partner killer dog was a little obvious.  But then ended up being one of my favourite characters.  There’s also The Harbinger (Clancy Brown) that adds another layer to the story that is The High Table.

If you’re already a fan of the John Wick franchise, Chapter 4 is obviously a must-see and in my opinion, as good as the previous JW3: the detail, the humour, the dogs, the camera work, those shots from above a seriously successful device to show more of the action…  Action at its very best.

What a journey.

 

Pearl

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★1/2

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Ti West

Written by: Ti West & Mia Goth

Produced by: Jacob Jaffke, p.g.a, Ti West, p.g.a, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss

Executive Producers: Mia Goth, Peter Phok, Sam Levinson, Ashley Levinson, Scott Mescudi, Dennis Cummings, Karina Manashill

Starring: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro.

‘I do like a good audience.’

Pearl, the prequel to X (2022) is the origin story of the voyeur who stalks the crew of X, especially porn star, Maxine Minx.

See movie review of X here: X Review

There’s parallels between the two characters, emphasised by the characters, Maxine and Pearl both played by Mia Goth.

Took me a while to figure that here Mia was playing the old woman from X, now young on the same farm.

The opening is an idyllic scene, the barn doors opening to a farmyard with chooks and clothes flapping in the breeze while the sun shines on the green grass.

There’s an emphasis on the brightness of mid-century technicolor with an orchestral score by Tyler Bates; the brightness adding another dimension to the sinister as what is all goodness in the world is splattered with the blood of Pearl’s broken dreams.

There’s a room full of dolls and a girl looking the mirror, Pearl.

She stretches out her arms, like a dancer.

Her mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright) speaks to Pearl in German, chastising her and her silly fantasies.

‘I’m special,‘ Pearl says.

Set in 1918, Pearl’s husband is at war and she is trapped on the farm with her mother and dependent father (Matthew Sunderland).

She acts out.

It gets bloody.

This is a different style of horror to X.  This is a character study, a slow reveal of Pearl’s dark soul.

Ti West returns as director, this time focussing not on the erotic Maxine, but the deranged Pearl, with Mia Goth again, the highlight.

Mia Goth says, “One of the core elements that I came to understand with Ti during preparation is that Maxine and Pearl are not the same women, but they are the same character.  They are polar opposites in terms of their life experiences, and their choices and courage—or lack of it—have shaped them to be who they are. I always saw Pearl as the embodiment of Maxine Minx’s fears.”

West focusses up close to Pearl, as an imagined dancer and star, to her doe-eyed innocent want, to the crazed smile like the flip-side of the mask of comedy and tragedy.

When Pearl meets a cinema projectionist (David Corenswet), he seems to understand her: “…You only get one take at this life. If you don’t make the most of it while you’re young, you may never get the chance again.”

He seems to understand her.  Until he doesn’t.

It’s like a mix of comedy and tragic, so it’s more than her wanting and the tragedy of her life, it’s a technicolor twist of her beauty hiding the darkness underneath.

And the horror delivers, the effects better here in Pearl than the fake monstrous elderly of X – the burnt skin and limbs being cut-off look oh so very real.

Along with the bright aspect of the farm, there’s some play in the presentation, the slow motion of nerves before performance, the stop-frame highlighting Pearl with pitchfolk in hand, a goose impaled about to be devoured by an alligator.

So there’s a circle back, a reflection, a revelation of the character before she becomes the elderly murderous monster: the farmhouse, the gator, Pearl.

We see the character Pearl wanting her dreams to be a dancer more than anything, just like Maxine wanting nothing more than to be famous.

You can understand my confusion about the two characters.

But the prequel is more psychological horror than slasher, so the audience is given a background understanding of the murderous Pearl with more realistic gory bits.

Not recommended to watch in the morning, just after breakfast.

AKA, the horror delivers.

 

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