Genre: Drama
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Jack Huston, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino
Runtime: 2 hrs 38 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 30 December 2021
Synopsis: House of Gucci is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it's worth, and how far a family will go for control.
Movie Review:
‘House of Gucci’ opens with the deceptively casual scene of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) cycling home alone after lunch one day, pausing on the steps to his apartment building right when he hears someone calling him by his surname. Only when we return to that scene late in the third act are we told it was meant to be of that fateful morning of March 27, 1995; and only then do we see how he was shot multiple times at close range by a pair of hitmen.
Some may recall from the sensational trial back in 1997 that it was his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) who ordered his assassination, and yet his murder was but the final stab in a series of back-stabbings either seeded or set in motion by the daughter of a modest family which owned a ground transportation service that saw an opportunity in Maurizio and went out of her way for love, power and wealth. As adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name by Sara Gay Forden, screenwriters Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna tell the unravelling of the Gucci family empire from the perspective of the woman who precipitated its downfall.
And why not, really? Even though there is no shortage of colourful characters on display, the most intriguing and compelling of them all is undoubtedly Patrizia. Though from humble beginnings, she was anything but; beginning with how she engineers a meet-cute with Maurizio at a bookstore following their chance meeting at a nightclub party, Patrizia demonstrates she will scheme, plan and plot to get what she wants.
At least at the start, Maurizio appears to be what she is after, given how she chooses to marry him even after his father Rodolfo (Jeremy Irons) has disowned him; yet, that quickly becomes a lot more complicated when an ailing Rodolfo decides to accept Maurizio back into the family after learning that they have just had a child named Alessandria. Fiercely embracing the Gucci name, Patrizia urges Maurizio to turn against the rest of his family who hold equal shares in the company, under the guise of doing what is necessary for the best interests of the brand.
Spanning about two decades, their relationship drives a sprawling narrative which tells not only of how they fell in love but also of how Maurizio fell out of love with Patrizia, scorning her to the extent that she would conspire with a psychic she confides in to have him killed. The disintegration of their marriage is also as a result of their circumstances, and here is where director Ridley Scott has fun detailing the eccentricities of the Gucci clan, most notably that of Maurizio’s uncle and company chairman Aldo (Al Pacino) and his ineffectual son Paolo (Jared Leto).
Their family melodrama is told with Scott’s usual showmanship, and we dare say the haute couture potboiler chronicling the rise, fall and resurrection of the fashion empire, complete with backroom deals, betrayals and Machiavellian business moves is absolutely gripping from start to finish. It is also akin to Greek tragedy, not least because it ends with nary a single member of the eponymous family involved in what is one of the most successful fashion brands today with an estimated net worth of $60 billion. Scott squeezes all these oversized characters and telenovela twists into close to three hours, but does so with such finesse and energy that you won’t ever feel the length of the movie.
That every minute proves so fascinating is also credit to the brilliant cast. Much has been said about Lady Gaga’s sophomore role after her Oscar-winning debut in ‘A Star Is Born’, and the singer proves she isn’t a one-trick pony. Gaga immerses herself completely into Patrizia, wearing her character’s motivations, disappointments and eventually rage on her sleeve. Next to her, Driver’s purposefully passive turn may seem curious at the start, but only reinforces what a cold, calculated person he can ultimately be. On the other hand, both Leto and Pacino choose to turn their supporting parts into Method-acting scenery-chewing, and while it doesn’t sit as coherently with Gaga and Driver’s grounded performances, you’ll lap up the campiness anyways.
With ‘House of Gucci’, Scott establishes himself yet again as one of the foremost – and we might say, under-appreciated – directors in the business. It isn’t hard to guess why he was taken by this story and wanted to adapt it for the big screen, and after close to a decade of trying to do so, delivers a epic masterpiece that we say belongs with the gangster classics like ‘Scarface’ and even ‘The Godfather’. Indeed, it is quite simply one of the best adult dramas this year, combining glamour, greed and melodrama into a riveting true-crime saga. It’s a shame if you miss it, or for that matter, Gaga’s tour-de-force that may just win her a consecutive Academy Award.
Movie Rating:
(Crime has never been this glamorous, juicy or operatic as it is in this gripping saga of the rise, fall and resurrection of the eponymous fashion empire)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: A mysterious secret agent who has been denounced by his government must return to France when his son becomes framed by an international terrorist organization.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The Muscles of Brussels otherwise known as Jean-Claude Van Damme or JCVD in short or hilariously nicknamed “The Mist” in this French action comedy is finally back in a decent movie which we can actually see clearly his left, right, front profile rather than a stand-in actor.
Richard Brumere (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a mysterious secret agent and lady killer who has a son with the wife of a certain Commander Jouard (Patrick Timsit) years ago. With his estranged biological son, Archibald (Samir Decazza) being falsely accused of arms trafficking, Richard must returned from the field to rescue him. Along for the ride is Archibald’s friend, Dalila (Assa Sylla), her brother Momo (Djimo) and foreign affairs staff, Alex (Alban Ivanov). At the same time, they must unravel the true identity of the mole in the ministry and capture the real arms-dealer, Simyon (Nassim Lyes).
Clearly, The Last Mercenary is not one movie to be taken seriously. Right from the start, we see Van Damme doing his famous spilt, execute a few kicks and rescuing a hostage. The silly prologue summarizes his entire career and reminding audiences Van Damme is still an action hero in a few minutes but writer and director David Charhon has more to offer, meaning it’s time to unleash Van Damme’s comedic chops to good use.
One biggest difference between this and JCVD in which he plays a semi-improvised version of himself is in this particular comedy, his Richard Brumere contains less emotional baggage, it’s pure slapstick and silly fun all the way. The character of Brumere allows him to don several disguises, a cleaner, a swimming coach and even dressing up as a woman. The laughs are frequently absurd consider Van Damme just needs to put on a poker face to make the material funnier.
Despite the limited budget, Charhon pulls off several high-octane action scenes. One memorable one featuring Brumere and Archibald in a car chase with two armed assassins hot on their heels and a funny (not high-octane) one in which Alex is riding near naked on an electric scooter. Of course, Van Damme gets plenty of chances to showcase his nimble kicks and punches with one particularly interesting scene in which he gets to spar with two musclewomen clad in gold swimsuits.
This is not exactly the politically correct comedy we are expecting. Certain jokes and gags might not go well for some though there are more than enough humour and action to entertain the masses. The French certainly knows their caviar and how to do balance action with comedy. Good edits and no shaky cams as well. Throw in a veteran liked Jean-Claude Van Damme and we are sure you are going to enjoy your time with The Last Mercenary or “The Mist”.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Disaster/Comedy
Director: Kim Ji-hoon
Cast: Cha Seoung-won, Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Sung-kyun, Kim Hye-jun
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 August 2021
Synopsis: An ordinary office worker Dong-won (KIM Sung-kyun) and his family move into a house he bought after years of saving. Overwhelmed with happiness, he invites his colleagues to a housewarming party, but heavy overnight rain leads to a gigantic sinkhole, and in a mere minute, it swallows up the entire apartment and the people inside. Hundreds of meters down the hole, Dong-won, his neighbor Man-su (CHA Seoung-won), and the unfortunate housewarming party guests (Lee Kwang-soo) must find their way out. Rain starts to pour down, filling the sinkhole with water, giving them very little time to get back to the surface.
Movie Review:
Disaster movies often take themselves too seriously. While they are natural candidates to entertain the senses (Send in the meteors and set fire across the fields! Crack the highways open and swallow all the vehicles! Collapse all the high rise buildings and bury innocent people!), they can also be overbearing and score low on the fun scale.
Thankfully, this Korean blockbuster doesn’t fall into that trap. Meant to be released in its home country during the harvest festival last year, it was postponed due to the resurgence of COVID-19. When it opened in theatres in early August, local audiences lapped it up. The movie gained one million admissions within six days of release and is the fast film to do so in 2021. It is currently the second highest grossing Korean movie this year, with an impressive box office earning of US$16.09 million.
The movie’s protagonist is an earnest man who moves into an apartment with his family after working hard for 11 years. The morning after a housewarming party and a heavy overnight downpour, he finds himself in a house that has sunk into the ground. Together with his guests and a sulky neighbour, they must find a way to survive the catastrophe. Amidst the rubble, rain continues to pour, making it even more challenge to escape.
It is not difficult to see why the movie is so popular. While it is not headlined by Korean hunks, the main stars are crowd pullers in their own ways. Cha Seung-won has long time fans from his wide variety of works, while Kim Sung-kyun is an established artiste with several acting awards. Then you have Lee Kwang-soo from the hit variety show Running Man, who is a natural at drawing laughs. The setup is also relatable, After 11 years of work, considering how the protagonist is an everyday man who puts together enough savings to purchase an apartment. This is somewhat of an important milestone and class distinction in the country.
But most importantly, there is quite a substantial amount of laughs, thanks to the dynamics between the characters. Kim’s honest role is constantly being jibed at by Cha’s crafty character. Cha is a standout here as a seemingly sloppy individual whom you don’t want as your neighbour. His appearance is shoddy and unshaven, so it is difficult to imagine that the actor started his career as a fashion model. Elsewhere, Lee plays a guest who unluckily gets trapped in the sunken building with a fellow colleague (Kim Hye-jun).
The 114 movie strikes a very fine balance between comedy, drama and action. There are even some heartfelt moments that will make sentimental viewers shed a few tears (spoiler: there will be casualties). The action sequences will leave you at the edge of your seat and praying for the main characters’ safety. The final sequences are brilliantly set up, and while it succeeds at creating claustrophobia, you will wonder how you would react if put in a similar situation.
Movie Rating:
(A solid piece of entertainment that will make you laugh, feel sentimental, and gasp for air at the edge of your seat)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Horror/Sci-FI
Director: Sion Sono
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes, Bill Moseley, Tak Sakaguchi, Young Dais, Charles Glover, Cici Zhou, Louis Kurihara, Tetsu Watanabe, Takato Yonemoto, Shin Shimizu, Matthew Chozick, Constant Voisin, Yuzuka Nakaya, Koto Lorena, Canon Nawata, Hiroshi Kaname
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language))
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 October 2021
Synopsis: In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman— and his own path to redemption.
Movie Review:
While no longer a big bankable name in major studios produced pictures, Nicolas Cage remains a tour de force in the indie filmmaking circle and direct-to-video market. Although the member of the Coppola family has been receiving praise for his performances in Mandy, Color Out of Space and recently for Pig, Cage’s career remains very much an enigma at this point. It seems that not even Ghost Rider himself can stop Cage from earning his paycheck so here’s another offbeat, wild outing from the Academy Award and Golden Globe winner.
Set in apocalyptic Japan where anything goes, Hero (Cage) a criminal imprisoned for a botched bank robbery is released by the Governor (Bill Moseley) to track down his missing adopted granddaughter, Bernice (Sofia Boutella) who is supposedly stranded in the Ghostland. To ensure that Hero finishes his mission, Hero is fitted with a combustive outfit that will blow his head and balls apart. Five days are all he has to complete his mission.
As numerous flashbacks tell us, we learnt that Hero’s past is somehow connected to Bernice. There’s a bank robbery that went awry. There’s a nuclear waste explosion. There’s redemption to be made by Hero and he is going to overthrow the Governor paving the road to freedom for the people of wasteland. Sounds exciting? But that’s all on paper.
Prisoners of the Ghostland is directed by Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono known for his quirky and subversive films. So when you have an actor liked Cage and a filmmaker liked Sono, “normal” shouldn’t exist in this particular cinematic collaboration. Unfortunately, while it’s definitely not “normal”, it’s not entirely ground breaking either. Truth to be told, it’s way too boring to worth your time. You wish simply someone just went ahead and detonate the two bombs located on Hero’s testicles and we can walk out of the hall.
It’s not to say Prisoners of the Ghostland is not entirely without merits. If you are a person who is into sizzling visuals, outrageous bizarre characters, this movie has plenty to offer you. Samurai Town who is run by the Governor is a cross between a sleepy old American Wild West and pre-modern Japan. The Ghostland on the other hand is a complete wasteland, reminiscent of Mad Max and inhibited by weird looking outcasts and beings. Even the background actors are dressed as if they are invited to the Met Gala. The production, costume design and set décor are at its visual best. Everything is set to go except for the plotting and narrative.
For a movie that is filled with samurais, cowboys and anti-hero, visual is just not enough to keep the viewers’ interest. There are long stretches of where time passes and nothing of much substance happened on screen. Cage as usual tried his best to elevate the material with his increasingly exaggerated acting and for whatever reason, it doesn’t work. His onscreen madness might work at times but he is not that lucky this time round. Or maybe it’s because Sono is trying too hard to carve out some meaningful social messages out of the sloppy scripting although we prefer to blame it on language barrier. Likewise the various action sequences are too compromising, tacky and surprisingly PG13 to make much of an impact.
It’s surprisingly tame overall for a movie liked Prisoners of the Ghostland. And you thought it’s going to feature lots of fetish sex and squeamish violence given the premise. Admittedly, it also suffers from a paper-thin story despite the cool visuals. For fans of Cage, his next movie is just round the corner. For the rest of us, don’t bother to even call.
Movie Rating:
(The most exciting aspect of this flick is watching Cage’s testicle getting blown out. No joke)
Review by Linus Tee
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BRAD ALLAN (1973 - 2021)Posted on 09 Aug 2021 |
SYNOPSIS: A one-of-kind kinkajou (voiced by Lin-Manuel Miranda), embarks on an unforgettable, musical adventure to deliver a love song to Marta (voiced by Gloria Estefan) on behalf of his owner Andrés (Buena Vista Social Club’s Juan De Marcos).
MOVIE REVIEW:
In a short span of eight months, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix has brought us three dazzlingly animations to the small screen. After The Mitchells Vs The Machines and Wish Dragon, here comes Vivo!
Vivo features a number of big names in the industry. Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights) wrote the songs and voices Vivo, the cute Kinkajou, Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) directed the pic with former Disney animator Rich Moore (Wreck-It-Ralph) as producer and esteemed cinematographer Roger Deakins serving as visual consultant after moonlighting on Wall-E and How to Train our Dragon.
That’s not all. Louis Koo’s production company, One Cool Film is also one of the backers of this animation.
Anyway, the movie opens with a Kinkajou (Lin) basking in the central plaza in Havana, Cuba with his owner, the aged musician Andres Hernandez. Nothing liked a rousing musical number to open a musical theme animation. But good times never last. Andres passed away the day before he is due to reunite with his beloved Marta (Gloria Estefan) in Miami. Apparently, Andres never plucks up the courage to confess his love for Marta whom had left to pursue her singing career in the States decades ago. His last wish was to tell her how much he loves her through a song he has written for her. Alas, he never gets the chance to make it to Miami.
To fulfil his owner’s last wish, Vivo’s decides to deliver the song to Martha with the help of Andres’ grandniece, the tone deaf gutsy Gabi (Ynairaly Simo). With her protective mother, Rosa (Zoe Saldana) and a trio of overzealous girl scouts in the way, will Vivo and Gabi be able to complete their mission? Obviously, you know they will, this is a feel-good, family-oriented animation after all.
With a heavy Latin influence, Lin expectedly incorporates lots of music and song numbers into the story. The musical numbers are often vibrant, occasionally emotional and serves as a connecting bridge for the characters. Despite their vast differences in terms of music talents, the relationship between Vivo and Gabi is similar in a way that both has lost their kin. Vivo has lost his beloved owner. Gabi on the other hand lost her father when she was young. It’s not a mere journey for both to deliver a song but one to heal from their grief and loss.
If Luna scored with its authentic portrayal of Cinque Terre, then Vivo amazed us with the grand old architectural wonders of Cuba. Sony Animation certainly has come a long way and their bold animation techniques seem to hit quite a home run with the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Mitchells in recent times. And now you can definitely add Vivo into its resume.
Taking a leaf out of Disney and Pixar animations, there’s a detour to the Everglades where our heroes encountered a pair of fumbling love birds and a menacing anaconda voiced by Michael Rooker. There’s adventure, musical numbers and funny gags, hardly a moment of boredom despite the fairly predictable execution and if you don’t mind, a lack of distinct memorable songs.
Still, Vivo is highly entertaining with two cute central characters and terrific visual splendour. The animation main theme song, “My Own Drum” written by Lin and Missy Elliot is either highly energetic or irritable depending on your mood.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun
Cast: Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes & Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 August 2021
Synopsis: A documentary team follows Nim, a shaman based in Northern Thai, the Isan area, and encounters her niece Mink showing strange symptoms that seem to be of inheritance of shamanism. The team decides to follow Mink, hoping to capture the shaman lineage passing on to the next generation, but her bizarre behavior becomes more extreme.
Movie Review:
The promise of a collaboration between Shutter-famous Banjong Pisanthanakun, directing a new horror title produced by The Wailing Na Hong-jin, is enough to make any pundit in the genre sit up and take notice.
The two veterans are strong in their compelling narratives - both enjoy layering their characters with the burden of a strained human psyche, and winding up tension for the payoff in the last act. This shows up too with the mockumentary The Medium.
The film follows a production crew who is documenting the topic of Isan animism through a local shaman. Taking place in the northerly region of Thailand, the featured priestess is Nim (Sawanee Utoomma), who acts as the resident medium known for calling upon guidance and remedies from Ba Yan - a local ancient goddess.
The Medium indulges us with lush scenes of her practice. The humble woman has a day-job as a seamstress, but when not bent over the machine, Nim is sitting in front of her expansive altar, filled with trinkets and items to empower her work. Some of the best moments are of her performing annual rites at a small grotto, where a huge stone effigy of Ba Yan presides over her devotees.
The plot thickens when Nim’s niece, Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech), starts to act oddly after her father’s passing. It starts with jitters but escalates into bouts of uncharacteristic anger, which concerns the shaman. You see, Nim inherited her capabilities through her mother, and only became the chosen one after her elder sister, who was first picked, rejected the goddess and turned to Christianity. The catch is that, when one doesn’t perform the initiation, these symptoms may become uncontrollable in nature and destroy the person in the process.
The scenes that follow are not for those easily triggered. From raw scenes of gore to story arcs touching on animal cruelty, incest and self-harm, The Medium is tough to stomach, especially at the speed in which it whips through these without pause. And coming from a SouthEast Asian country, the imagery here is particularly disturbing, given the strings, rituals and trances.
But what The Medium does best, is in unwrapping the story of spiritual inheritance. It manifests this through the different characters with opposing views (Nim’s sister, Noi for example, deludes herself to the symptoms until it becomes to late), and also entangles a complex circumstance of family guilt into the mix. And as the story unravels, Na’s script pushes us further with dark back stories that threaten to turn the situation on its head.
The development here is superb, given how it realistically unpacks the full story. The combination of beautifully-rendered visuals (as dreary as they are) and admirable performances from the cast also sets The Medium in a calibre on its own. The only drawback is the last act, where both logic and acting goes a little overboard as the family performs an elaborate ritual. But the ending is quite a gut punch as in true fashion of both director and producer, throws up a compelling question that haunts you as the credits roll.
Movie Rating:
(A dark and disturbing trip into the world of spiritual work, but an even more upsetting exploration of beliefs and the human psyche)
Review by Morgan Awyong
SYNOPSIS: Following a tragic car accident in Greece, Beckett, an American tourist, finds himself at the center of a dangerous political conspiracy – and on the run for his life.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Despite being headlined by the lead actor of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’, it is not likely that ‘Beckett’ will get much attention on the Netflix platform or receive the word-of-mouth necessary to overcome its obscurity.
Best described as a throwback to 1970s conspiracy movies, this Euro-thriller about an everyman who unwittingly finds himself embroiled in political trouble is neither exciting enough to satisfy the mainstream crowd or compellingly enough to satiate the arthouse crowd. Indeed, as conceived and directed by Italian filmmaker Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, it is a curious mix of genres that never quite gels together.
It starts off being a romance, introducing us to the American couple Beckett (John David Washington) and April (Alicia Vikander) vacationing in Greece. After hearing of impending protests outside their Athens hotel, the couple have decided to tour the remote parts of Greece. One night however, while driving along a country road to the next hotel on their itinerary, Beckett falls asleep at the wheel, causing the car they are in to fly off a cliff and crash into a house. The impact of the accident kills April immediately, but Beckett regains consciousness fleetingly to see a red-haired boy in the house.
Right from the start, there is something off about the movie. In particular, even as the opening stretch is designed to get us acquainted with Beckett and April in order for us to understand the former’s grief, there is close to zero chemistry between them. Nor for that matter do their conversations hint at any measure of attraction, which unfortunately renders Beckett’s subsequent emotional state hollow to us.
Those expecting the pace to pick up after a slow start will undoubtedly be disappointed. A shootout at the house that Beckett returns to ostensibly to take his own life fizzles out sooner than you’d expect; a subsequent close-shave at the residence of a kind stranger also quickly loses momentum; things pick up slightly during a close-quarter fight on board a train bound for Athens, but again sputters after Beckett encounters two political activists who offers some clues why he is being hunted; and last but not least the extended cat-and-mouse game amidst the commotion on the streets at a political rally is too diffuse to end off on a high.
To his credit though, director Filomarino never oversells his titular character’s capacities. From start to finish, Beckett remains through and true an average guy, and there is a certain scrappiness to the way he fights and tries to stay alive that keeps you invested in his fate. You’ll feel too his wrath when he takes it out against his opponents in increasingly brutal ways, clearly frustrated by how he has been thrust into a situation not of his choosing amidst his personal anguish at having caused the death of his girlfriend. There are visceral moments all right, but the pace is too uneven to qualify as a tense man-on-the-run adventure a la ‘The Fugitive’.
And that’s a pity, because the political dimension could have been a lot more intriguing. Without spoiling too much, let’s just say it has to do with the real-life political crisis that Greece was plunged into following the European Union’s decision to impose harsh austerity measures on the country. Filomarino and his screenwriter Kevin A. Rice do a decent job keeping the plotting close to their chest, recalling the political thrillers of the 70s and 80s but contextualized to the far right v far left battles unfolding across Europe today.
If he was underwhelming in ‘Tenet’, Washington (son of Denzel) is even more nondescript here, playing Beckett so blandly you’d wonder what, if anything, he was trying to convey about his character. Part of the fault is of course how the script never really gets round to figuring out who it wants Beckett to be, but Washington seems curiously unwilling to inject any meaningful qualities into his role, short of acting lost and confused. That we are more enamored with Vicky Krieps’ supporting act as an aggrieved activist just shows how much regard we have for Washington’s portrayal.
For this reason, as well as the movie’s own flaws, perhaps it was better then that ‘Beckett’ would go unnoticed by most. This is no compelling follow-up after his splashy leading act in ‘Tenet’, and we think Washington is probably better off letting this Euro-thriller fade into obscurity. Despite its leisurely pleasures therefore, ‘Beckett’ is too lightweight to satisfy, so unless you don’t mind a trip through Greece, you’re better off watching the classics like ‘The Parallax View’ and ‘Three Days of the Condor’ that it was clearly fashioned after..
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Devoted family man Ray Cooper (Jason Momoa), vows justice against the pharmaceutical company responsible for pulling a potentially life saving drug from the market just before his wife (Adria Arjona) dies from cancer. But when his search for the truth leads to a deadly encounter that puts Ray and his daughter Rachel (Isabela Merced) in harm's way, Ray's mission turns into a quest for vengeance in order to protect the only family he has left.
MOVIE REVIEW:
In an ever-increasing list, Jason Momoa is the latest Hollywood actor to star in a Netflix original film. A movie that ambitiously want to seal Momoa as the next action hero yet at the same time attempt to throw in a pharmaceutical political conspiracy into the mix.
Ray Cooper (Momoa) is an honest working man with a lovely wife, Amanda (Adria Arjona) and young daughter, Rachel (Isabela Merced) until tragedy strikes the Cooper family. Amanda is re-diagnosed with cancer. The only cure lies in an affordable potentially life-saving drug which production is halted by a big pharmaceutical company, Biopharma led by CEO Simon Keely (Justin Bartha).
Amanda soon passes and Ray receives a call from a reporter one day that he might have leads regarding the dark truth behind Biopharma and some mysterious rich powerful folks. But before anything happens, the reporter is killed by a contract killer and eventually Ray finds himself on the run with Rachel.
Screenwriters Philip Eisner and Greg Hurwitz basically recycle the gist of the story from many other man-on-the-run movies though they wanted you to think deeper. What role can a cocky CEO and overly zealous Congresswoman play in a movie liked Sweet Girl? Some bribe and personal agenda perhaps. There’s only so much available in Hollywood’s rulebook.
To be fair, Momoa plays the role of an ordinary blue-collar hero with much sentiment and credibility. He is in short, a brawny teddy bear with a soft heart. Sharing much screentime opposite him is Isabela Merced, the gutsy young lady who last played Dora the Explorer. For the most part, they make an endearing pair of father-and-daughter.
Then someone suddenly pulls a “M Night Shyamalan” twist in the third act. Even though director Brian Andrew Mendoza claimed its character driven, it’s nevertheless a twist that is neither compelling or smart to begin with. Perhaps Netflix and the filmmakers want you to rewatch it again to see if it fits the puzzle but then, it’s not on the level of The Sixth Sense to warrant such act.
Instead of your typical man-on-the-run action thriller, Sweet Girl wanted to do more than that. Expectedly, there’s a decent amount of action pieces in which we see Momoa going head on with a couple of hitmen. It doesn’t help that shaky cam, frenetic editing and bad lighting ultimately spoil all the fun. Instead of establishing Momoa as the next onscreen action hero, Sweet Girl is only a poor man version of it.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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SONNY CHIBA (千叶真一) (1939 - 2021)Posted on 20 Aug 2021 |
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