'Cruella' A Review

Cruella is a heist/comedy film, a defacto origin story of the 101 Dalmatians villain, a bit odd and interesting coming from Disney as the tone is part Maleficent part Joker. As a child Estella is a fashion obsessed rebel but after being expelled her and her mother have to move to London, on the way they stop at a lavish estate where a tragic accident occurs. Estella, who's truculent side her mother named Cruella(Emma Stone), meets and makes a life with two grifters Jasper(Joel Fry) and Horace(Paul Walter Hauser) in London. As a birthday present Jasper gets her a job at a high end fashion boutique and she begins the pursuit of her career as well as uncovering her mysterious past.

Stone is best when playing the character's emotional layers and conflict, less so when she ascends into the operatic villainy we know from the animated movie and Glenn Close's portrayal. There is some tension here which mostly falls on Stone to untangle of attempting to make Cruella a compelling, sympathetic hero but also interweaving the cackling maniacal relish we know is to come. Fry and Hauser both add substantially to the film with charm, humor, and excellent chemistry between the trio. There is a story worth telling of simply these three struggling to make their way in the world. The heavy is played with crystalline and delicious precision by Emma Thompson a bit reminiscent of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada but so much more icy and psychopathic, she's absolutely wonderful. 
 

The costumes are a true triumph, the period setting somewhat understated but effective, the use of CGI relatively restrained, the soundtrack full of some period appropriate bops. The issue is the pacing, the run time is somewhat overlong with the classic feint of an ending prior to the actual end, and during that middle slow down in pacing the title character is the most confused. It is not necessary to telegraph, or even acknowledge, the existence of the unredeemable villain Cruella will become, the film takes pains to build out the character but then undercuts it by making her 'born bad' ie crazy, its confusing and it doesn't work. 

A rich, transportive, character study of one of Disney's best villains, hampered slightly by pacing and a need to connect the dots to the source material.

Currently in theaters and available for rent on Disney+

Rent It.

Retail Aversion

As a child

I couldn't stand

shopping 

with my parents

I felt nauseous

claustrophobic

wandering Bergners

for what felt like hours

under the weight

of endless neck ties

and untold blouses

listless

hopeless

trapped

my only solace

hiding

within the circular racks

silent

shrouded by slacks

waiting

for release.

'Those Who Wish Me Dead' A Review

 Those Who Wish Me Dead is a thriller about smokejumper Hannah(Angelina Jolie) who, after a difficult mission, is stationed at a fire watch tower and encounters a young boy Connor(Finn Little) on the run from two mob assassins, Patrick(Nicholas Hoult) and Jack(Aidan Gillen), after his father uncovered an extensive criminal/political conspiracy and was killed.

Jolie isn't well cast here and although she puts in commendable effort the character is drawn too thin and the plot too derivative and garish to garner/maintain much interest. Little is decent but he too is given little to do save for run, cry, and appear baffled. Hoult plays his killer with virtually no emotion or investment, a choice, but makes for a pretty boring villain. This paired with Gillen who also goes minimal makes for very little menace and tension. Overall the cast are all good actors but they are almost universally miscast.

After writer/director Taylor Sheridan's back to back success with Sicario and Hell Or High Water is has yet to recapture that magic. Here although rural Montana is the setting it has relatively little personality, the CGI fires distractingly and clearly fake, the action is minimal and uninspired, and although there is certainly a decent story within the script the end result is banal and feels like something that was written 15 years ago and has sat on a shelf since. Too many characters and too little focus create an inability to connect with what's going on save for the surrealist pregnant woman Medina Senghore who is only a tangential character.

Flat and uninspired.

Currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

Don't See It.

Daily Reprieve

Perspective

is a choice

gift or hardship

a daily decision.

'Army Of The Dead' A Review

Army Of The Dead is a zombie/heist/drama about a group of former military who helped battle the zombie outbreak in Las Vegas which was subsequently quarantined. Some time later Scott(Dave Bautista) is approached to infiltrate the zone and recover $100s of millions before Vegas is hit with a tactical nuke. He reassembles his team and the adventure ensues.

Bautista has proved he can carry a movie first in Guardians then in Stuber and My Spy and he does his best here but is hamstrung by a bloated, poorly paced script, that lacks focus. The supporting cast is stunning- Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweighöfer, among others- but across the board are given little to nothing to do and flounder in the quagmire of a story they find themselves in.

Writer/director Zac Snyder may have a specific visual style that he simply repeats but it is almost always a saturated smorgasbord when not overly shadowed and it's a pleasure here. But he seems, over the course of years and his questionable successes, become virtually incapable of editing particularly in regards to narrative. There is unquestionably a good movie in here somewhere and the instinct to return to his Dawn Of The Dead roots is a good one but the story simply has too many characters, time is misspent on unbelievable or irrelevant character development, never lands on a consistent theme or genre, and the action set pieces are mostly underwhelming. What's left is a sprawling mess.

Despite obvious talent involved a lack of focus renders all the spectacle banal.

Currently in theaters and on Netflix.

Don't See It.

'Wrath Of Man' A Review

Wrath Of Man is an action/revenge movie about a mysterious man H(Jason Statham) who gets a job at an armored car service with ulterior motives. After he swiftly foils an attempted robbery it becomes clear he is looking for someone in particular. There's then an extended flashback flushing out H's backstory then in the third act the group he is looking for is the focus.

Statham has got presence, its undeniable, and it's a treat to see him in all his stoic, almost terminator-esk, glory for the first portion of the story. But the second act which flushes out his character falls flat, despite his efforts and third act, bafflingly abandons him almost entirely. The supporting cast is stacked with serious talent- Holt McCallany(underutilized), Josh Hartnett(virtually unused), Niamh Algar(underutilized)- to name a few, the list goes on. The one glaring error is Scott Eastwood who's bonafides, other than his paterfamilias, are non-existent. The cast is great but they are all almost unilaterally misspent, hamstrung by terrible pacing and a needless non-linear structure.

Visually dark and rich, with uneven action sequences(some great, some boring), and a weird but appealing retro score there's a lot of potential here as there almost always is with writer/director Guy Ritchie but it simply sags after the first, genuinely exciting, 20 minutes into a predictable plod.

1/6 of a great film 5/6 of an incredibly lackluster one.

Currently in theaters.

Stream It.
 

Fat Kid

Ultimately, I'm grateful

the bullying

gave me the fortitude

to endure it

the judgement

developed my humor

the first line of defense

the poor self-esteem

taught me conversation

interest in my fellows

but the rage

like me

simply ate.