Friday, June 30, 2017

Lightning Round: Midsummer Night's Blockbuster



2 months down, a month and a half to go.




Edgar Wright’s kinetic sense of aesthetics in his storytelling has made him an easily recognized name to be reckoned with in cinema.

When applied to the right story, his creative visual flair and outside of the box editing can lead to the most impactful and subversive works of high brow popcorn entertainment imaginable. However, as flashy and entertaining as that sense of style is, it is ultimately reliant on the entire film working in perfect synergy to equal and surpass the sum of its parts; if one piece of the equation falls out of place, the entire venture begins to feel lopsided.

Whether or not the final quality of the movie itself vindicates its own sloppiness is debatable but when the tight editing and visual direction appear to have a clearer grasp on where the film intends to be going than the actual screenplay, that’s when you get “Baby Driver,” a generally entertaining but ultimately lacking coming of age romantic crime drama that aspires to be something excellent but can’t quite cash the check when push comes to shove.

The titular character going by the name of Baby, played by Ansel Elgort, is a getaway driver for an organized crime group operated by Kevin Spacey. As the realities of the job come crashing down on him after falling in love, he reluctantly rides the gig out for one final job in order to set himself, his girlfriend and his foster father up for a decent future.

The setup is novel and all of its components feel refreshingly three dimensional, coming together in a strong and stylish first act composed of uniquely choreographed car chases conforming to a musical gimmick that lends a uniqueness to Elgort’s subdued charm, as he progresses through daily life with characters that feel like real people with lengthy and complex histories brought to life by a talented cast of top tier character actors.

Where “Baby Driver” unfortunately fumbles is in follow through. After Baby makes the decision to get out of the criminal enterprise, his reluctance to submit to his employers for a special request job in order to protect his loved ones leads to a shift by the halfway mark that sadly positions him as a more passive and reactive character than the engaging protagonist that the audience had been following up to that point.

This might not have been a bad idea in theory but as the story itself begins to focus more on the supporting cast’s connection to an escalating heist than Baby’s apparent apprehensive involvement that’s later contradicted by his actions that set the movie’s climax into motion, the film just starts to get muddled down with a lot of distracting details and flourishes that don’t help what was already a visually and emotionally engaging plot. If anything, the random action and wonky character play that comes about almost had me thinking that I missed a reel of the movie despite having stayed in front of the screen the entire time.

The film’s ultimate sin however is that this muddled storytelling that dampens the movies impact unfortunately unfolds across a back half of the movie that begins to feel so dragged out and exhausting, that you may find yourself wishing the movie would cut off by the time that it still has a good 25 minutes to go.

That’s not to say that “Baby Driver” is a total loss; the first act of the movie is some of the best filmmaking that I’ve seen all year and there’s plenty of visual creativity and action punctuated by drama to make for a fun and pulled back summer popcorn flick.

There’s just an undeniable sadness to seeing a movie about forward momentum really swing for the fences and completely sputter out before its last third even kicks off. Although, in an age of 20 year old “ID4” sequels and “Mummy” cinematic universes nobody asked for, I'll give it credit for at least trying to not mistake ingenuity with financial resources.

7 Fast out of 10 Furious





2 months into a summer that has been book ended by solid flicks serving to sandwich the same excessive and derivative slop as usual and the fact that the best film I’ve seen all season is one that I didn’t even have to leave my home to see should give Hollywood some major pause for thought about its current course.

While 2014’s “Snowpiercer” garnered a certain acclaim that netted it a proper release distinct from the digital distribution plan of its home release, “Okja” has landed on Netflix to the general public and is quite possibly the best argument for home media releasing being the wave of the future.

Director Bong Joon-Ho tells the story of a child and their pet monster, in this case a young Korean girl and her genetically engineered super pig due for corporate meat slaughtering with the same sense of genre wonder and dark humor that has made him so famous.

Being an international production, the film is loaded with A-list and highly prolific character actors, but the central focus on the narrative remains on the relationship between the farm girl Mija and the titular Okja, with whom she has spent over 10 years of her life with, keeps the movie anchored in an almost indie level intimacy bolstered by the cast’s excellent performances that elevate it to prime blockbuster status where appropriate.

That central element of the relationship however becomes the glue that truly binds the entire production together. The effects that bring Okja to life lay somewhere between a certain level of photorealism and stylization that emphasizes the creatures ability to act, emote, and react to the world around it like a living thing and strongly enhances the bond that it shares with Mija thanks to Ahn Seo-Hyun great performance of a child old enough to figure out how to navigate the world but still singularly focused on the goal of rescuing her friend, consequences be damned.

That relationship really punctuates the first half of the film which does have the unfortunate side effect of dampening the second half.

“Okja” makes a lot of social commentary about the hypocrisy of politics, activism, and big business as a punch line for its own cynical sense of humor and while the comedy benefits from solid writing and a strong cast performances, the last hour of the film does come off as having a bit of a lack of strong focus.

The overall impact the film leaves you with however feels almost akin to something of a modern day Grimm’s Fairytale, with the contrasting tones of the films subplots involving a pure yet childish pursuit of naiveté clashing with pacifist environmental terrorism clashing with capitalist agenda playing off of one another to tell a uniquely whimsical tale in a very real world.

We’re about half way through the summer now and I have a hard time believing that I’m gonna see anything much better than “Okja” this season.


8 Strips of Super Bacon out of 10




HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!
 ...

No.

I think those final paragraphs from over 2 years ago says all that need be said.


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