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Child’s Play
A remake of the 1987 film of the same name, this film gives a modern take on a boy named Andy, and his encounters with Chucky the killer doll. However, unlike in the original where Chucky was a serial killer that used magic to transfer his soul into a doll, he’s now a reprogramed A.I. that reads into all your info.
I was hesitant on this one, after hearing how they made this behind the original writer’s back, but considering I wasn’t AS attached to this series as something like A Nightmare on Elm Street, I was tolerant enough to give this a chance. In an era where companies like Google, Amazon, Verizon, AT&T, and etc. have deeper access to our personal data (whether we know it or not, it happens), this film had some really interesting ideas to explore; while some of these themes have been handled better in episodes of Black Mirror, I have to give this film credit for how it’s executed. Aside from Chucky’s face, the film’s production and kills are well utilized; being an Orion production, they captured the look and feel of a traditional slasher film in the best way. Gabriel Bateman and Aubrey Plaza as Andy and his mom have good chemistry, even in the more dire moments. Mark Hamill is delightfully disturbing as the new Chucky, and definitely a worthy choice to take over for Brad Dourif. While nothing you need to immediately see, this is definitely a remake that I actually found not that bad in comparison to others.
Rating: B-
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IT: Chapter 2
IT: Chapter 2 follows the kids from the Losers’ Club, twenty-seven years from the events of the previous film. After frequent disappearances point to the return of Pennywise, and Mike Hanlon, the only member who stayed in Derry, Maine, calls up the others to help finish what they started long ago.
As someone who was enthralled with the first film from 2017, and I stand by that today. Stephen King has always done a good job with nostalgic stories of childhood friends playing together, and that was what people loved most about IT to begin; so to do a film entirely around those parts was a great idea, and I was interested to see if they would do the same here. Instead, what we get was this film being more of a direct remake of the mini-series from 1990, with a bigger budget and cursing; I do like how this film is structured to where you won’t be confused if you haven’t seen the first one yet, but it’s safe to say that this film’s not as strong. It does have a lot of redeeming qualities, especially with the cast of adult losers. Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader as Beverly and Richie were both picks by their younger counterparts, and they really make the most of their roles. James McAvoy, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, and James Ransone are all great as Bill, Mike, Ben, and Eddie, and I also love the casting choice of Eddie’s wife being played by the same actress who plays his mom (nice detail); Andy Bean is also a good Stanley, but I do still wish they utilized him more in the story, which was a complaint I had with the mini-series. Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise carries a whole new hunger and viciousness to him, and his kills are deadly; the mirror maze scene will definitely give me nightmares for a while. I also have to admit, the film does tend to drag (i don’t think this needed to be nearly three-hours), but definitely something I’d recommend, but only if you liked the previous film.
Rating: B
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Zombieland Double Tap
Ten years after the release of the first film, Zombieland Double Tap follows our four mains from last time, continuing to survive in the great apocalypse. After Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) runs away, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Wichita (Emma Stone), and their new “friend”, Madison (Zooey Dutche), must search for the refuge dubbed “Babylon”.
Even after all my years of being burnt out from zombie movies, Zombieland Double Tap reminds me what I was missing from most of those films, and that’s enduring characters. Even though these people should not be together, you grow attached to them as they do throughout the movie. The first film was what introduced me to these four actors officially, and seeing them come back and still have the same passion they had last time is refreshing. There’s also a touching theme about growing up and when the right time for change should be, and it is handled very nicely, underneath all the zombie guts. Rosario Dawson as Nevada was a great addition, as well as being a good love interest for Tallahassee. My only real complaint would be Luke Wilson and Thomas Middlevitch’s lack of screentime. I thought these two were doing so well, I thought they would at least stick around until the climax at least (oh well, can’t all be winners).
Would I like Zombieland 3 to happen? Sure, if there’s room for one more.
Rating: B+
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Missing Link
The latest film to come from Laika studios, Missing Link follows the story of Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman), an architect who wants to prove the existence of mythical creatures, in order to be apart of the Society of Great Men. His path leads him on a quest to find the Sasquatch named Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis), who asks Lionel to find any other of his kind or where he does belong in this world.
This was Laika’s most expensive film at $100 million, but sadly ended up being the biggest animation flop in history, after Mars Needs Moms. It’s a shame, because I love how at the end of their films, they show behind the scenes work on some of their most difficult scenes, illustrating how they put a lot of time and effort into making this. However, when your stuck in a sea of superhero movies like Shazam, Captain Marvel, and especially Avengers Endgame, it smells like people set this up for disaster. It could also be that this film wasn’t quite as strong as their previous works like Kubo and the Two Strings or ParaNorman, being more of a friendly buddy comedy. It also is very cliche, and you can easily tell what plot points are going to hit, but what I liked was the execution (quite literally, at one point, no pun intended). There’s also some good lines of dialogue and the voice acting is nicely done too. Hugh Jackman and Zach Galifinakis have this Laurel and Hardy type of humor that they just balance off of very nicely (my favorite line being when they robbed a nun). Zoe Saldana is feisty as the former love interest, and the villains played by Stephen Fry an dTimothy Olyphant are over the top, but delightful in their quirky delivery. It’s not the best, but it’s not as weak as The Boxtrolls, which didn’t seem to resonate well with me.
Rating: B
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The Fanatic
Fred Durst’s The Fanatic follows John Travolta as Moose, an autistic street performer on Hollywood Blvd. who is obsessed with the actor, Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa). However, after being denied an autograph, Moose becomes obsessed with the actor trying to make things right, but ultimately leading things down a worse path.
I’m not much a fan of John Travolta, especially since the last film I liked of his was Hairspray, but I was kind of surprised here. Being the father of his late-son who had autism, you can definitely see that he studied this performance carefully and this became a lot more of a personal role than I expected (no wonder he’s been campaigning himself for this role). And as someone who has Asperger’s (mild autism), I thought he managed to really represent that fairly well. It’s just a shame that the rest of the film doesn’t really go the extra mile that Travolta does here. Fred Durst just doesn’t do much with this script, other than make it an extended version of a student thesis film. I mean, being a film focused on an Autistic person’s obsession with movies, you’d think he would bring up talks about how one can have a hard time reading people, hence why they go to the movies to escape, but they don’t do something like that, until the very end, briefly. Then again, I’m talking about a film by the lead of Limp Bizkit, who just made his 3rd film. Didn’t think this would turn out disappointing.
Rating: D+ (The best part is Travolta’s performance, which deserved better)
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