Genre: Comedy
Director: Tiwa Moeithaisong
Cast: Pittawat Pruksakit (Twopee Southside), Issara Kitnitchi (Tom), Kyutae Sim, Khunnaphat Pichetworawut (Pond), Ploypailin Thangprapaporn, Day Thaitanium
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence & Coarse language)
Released By: Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 October 2021
Synopsis: The city is overrun by competing gangs of mafia. Each of them runs a different kind of racket, and all of them are hungry for money and power. But because of BOSS, they co-exist in a sort of peaceful agreement: Boss collects dirty money from every gang, manages it for everyone's interest, and finds a balance between law and lawlessness. TEE, KID, SIM and TUEK have come from anonymous background, but they're Boss's closest aides. The game changing point arrives when Boss dies unexpectedly, and the four of them now want to take over his rule. They decide to keep Boss's death a secret and continue to run the rackets as he did. By pretending that Boss is still alive and using his name to collect money from other gangs, the four friends find themselves in a more dangerous situation. Their plan to deceive others is double crossed, and when they think they're the hunters, they end up being hunted themselves. Will their secret be safe from the outlaws as well as the law enforcers?
Movie Review:
If this movie was made in Hong Kong, you’d expect plenty of stylistic violence, many exhilarating gunfight sequences and guys dressed in cool (but not very practical) trench coats. But a Hong Kongmafia movie this is not. Directed by Tiwa Moeithaisong, this action comedy is set in Thailandand you can expect a bit of everything in this adequately entertaining popcorn flick.
We are introduced to the movie’s four lead characters Tee, Kid, Sim and Tuek as they carry out somewhat of a mini heist when a group of rich hotel guests check in. It is a fun sequence, and we begin looking forward to what the movie has in store. Then we are told that the four guys are aides to a character simply known as Boss. The backdrop of the story is a messy one, with different mafia gangs running the show. Things are kept in check by Boss, who dies suddenly (and funnily, in our opinion). The four guys then step up to assume Boss’s identity, and as you’d expect, things become amok.
The movie tries its hand at everything. Being a Thai production, there is what you’d expect from a Thai comedy, but it doesn’t go all out because essentially, this is still a story about gangsters and violence. There are some gritty moments filled with violence (hence the NC16 rating), complete with trippy cinematography inspired by British mafia movies. There is even a scene involving drugs that reminds us of Trainspotting (1996). And what’s a movie without some romance? There is a side plot about one of the guys falling in love with the antagonist’s sister – cue sappy sequences featuring motorcycle rides, ice cream and a sandy beach.
The actors do a fine job with the roles they are given. Pittawat Pruksakit’s Tee is the suave one oozing with charisma, Issara Kitnitchi’s Kid is the cool one who gets to showcase an attitude while sucking on a lollipop, while Kyutae Sim’s Sim and Khunnaphat Pichetworawut’s Tuek are the goofy ones in charge of generating laughs. Ploypailin Thangprapaporn’s Joy is Tee’s love interest, so you can expect her to be sweet, demure and immensely likeable. There are a few other side characters (read: the bad guys) who unfortunately do not get enough screen time for us to understand their personalities. Amidst the frenzy, they just serve as snarling villains who are out to make things difficult for the good guys.
As the 102 minute movie progresses, you can guess where the story is headed towards (the film actually begins with Tee lamenting how he got himself into a bad situation, before the tale is told as a flashback), but you don’t mind that things are being revealed in a predictable manner (complete with some radio friendly Thai tunes) because we’re all in it for entertainment, which is what we’ll get when the end credits appear.
Movie Rating:
(An entertaining popcorn flick with a bit of everything - style, violence, humour and romance)
Review by John Li
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Synnøve Karlsen
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Violence and Sexual References)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 25 November 2021
Synopsis: In acclaimed director Edgar Wright's psychological thriller, Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.
Movie Review:
If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll know Last Night in Soho is lavish in its visuals, draping vivid colours of neon red and blue against the alternate universes it sets itself in. The saturated treatment recalls titles such as The Neon Demon, except this is applied more to England than America, and as much in modern-day London as it was in the swinging 60s. These bold swathes do feel odd at times, but mostly bring us into a hyper-reality that’s as trippy as it is spooky.
In this psychological/supernatural piece, Eloise “Ellie” Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) moves to London to chase her aspirations of becoming a fashion designer. She’s immediately at odds with the city - her a mousey if sprightly figure soaked in her love of the 60s, a legacy left by her grandmother taking care of her, while most of her classmates (including a very annoying queen bee Jocasta acted by Synnove Karlsen) are your typical competitive wannabes dropping names and humble bragging.
After constant harassment in her dorm, she finds herself a cheap unit to rent from an enigmatic landlady, Ms Collins (Diana Rigg). From there, she soon regains some normalcy in her routine - including seeing her late mum in the mirror. That’s right - our protagonist has somewhat peculiar occasional episodes where she is assured by maternal appearances in reflective surfaces. Her grandmother seems to be aware of this phenomena, and constantly checks (sometimes ad nauseum) through the phone to see if Ellie’s coping. We can’t establish if this is something more mental or supernatural but the appearance of another character soon suggests it might be the latter.
Ellie finds herself spirited away every night in her room to the 60s, almost as if the space at night becomes a time-travelling portal for her. In the episodes, she starts seeing herself layered over another young lady in the mirror - an equally winsome if more self-assured lady named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). The coquettish surrogate is an aspirant like Ellie, but unlike the fashion designer, is more inclined in the performing arts, seeing herself as a rising songstress. Sandie meets Jack (Matt Smith), presumably an artiste manager, but turns out instead to be more of a pimp. It all starts turning chilling when their warped relationship turns deadly.
Forefront to director Edgar Wright’s piece is a commentary on toxic patriarchal systems, where female objectification is a means to an end. And for the modern-day Ellie, she tries desperately to change the course of events, unaware if she’s making an impact on real characters or just a fantasy. This gets revealed with the introduction of new characters, and the development of Last Night in Soho becomes concrete when Ellie has solid leads, but somehow through the layering of dimensions, the story starts to become choppy with her psychological state.
Chung-hoon Chung’s photography helps a lot to keep this dizzying spiral pretty but even that is not enough to sustain the unravelling later on in the film. It’s sometimes the sharp writing that peeks through (for example in one scene when Ellie asks her pub boss if she believes in spirits, the Irish lady retorts that they pay for her bills, referencing the bottled variety) that keeps the story going, but figures such as Ellie’s love interest, John (Michael Ajao) is awkwardly inserted as measures to provide tension.
The other point of entertainment has to be the killer soundtrack. It’s lyric-relevant and nostalgic, with entries by Dusty Springfield (Wishin’ and Hopin’) to Cilla Black (You’re My World). New arrangements give the film its necessary edge, and this works beautifully when Taylor-Joy even comes in to sing two tracks (that girl is truly a flawless multi-hyphenate). Even if it makes the film a little like an extended music video at parts, the effect certainly bolsters the thriller that lost its impact towards the end.
Movie Rating:
(A thriller that trips over itself at the end, but sends one on a beautiful and trippy visit to the swinging 60s with gusto)
Review by Morgan Awyong
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TRAILER WATCH - THE 355Posted on 08 Oct 2021 |
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LEXUS AND MARVEL STUDIOS' ETERNALSPosted on 08 Oct 2021 |
Genre: Comedy/Horror
Director: Josh Ruben
Cast: Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil, Sarah Burns, Michael Chernus, Catherine Curtin, Wayne Duvall, Harvey Guillén, Rebecca Henderson, Cheyenne Jackson, Michaela Watkins, Glenn Fleshler
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Mature Content)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 October 2021
Synopsis: After a proposed gas pipeline creates divisions within the small town of Beaverfield, and a snowstorm traps its residents together inside the local holiday lodge, newly arrived forest ranger FINN (Sam Richardson) and postal worker CECILY (Milana Vayntrub) must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that has begun terrorizing the community..
Movie Review:
We’ve never heard of the Ubisoft online game of the same name on which this movie is based, but even so, you won’t need much of a background to appreciate the quirky charms of this goofy horror comedy.
Set in the small New England town of Beaverfield, it unfolds as a whodunnit among a distrustful group of citizens whose divisions have only deepened with the arrival of a Midland Gas executive (Wayne Duvall) promising them a huge payoff if they all make way for a pipeline. Things take a peculiar turn when one of the townspeople’s pet dog gets killed by an unknown assailant, and they soon discover that the local innkeeper’s husband had suffered the same fate.
No thanks to a blizzard, these remaining individuals have little choice but to huddle together at the local inn run by Jeanine (Catherine Curtin). These include a pair of rich city slickers Devon (Cheyenne Jackson) and Joachim (Harvey Guillen), a power (gay) couple who have relocated to the country and started a yoga studio; the conservative husband-and-wife couple Pete (Michael Chernus) and Trish (Michaela Watkins), who want nothing more than to open their own quaint craft store; and the hilariously weird couple Marcus (George Basil) and Gwen (Sarah Burns), who run the town’s auto store.
Each of these characters could potentially be the lycanthrope behind the string of attacks, with the lead to that investigation falling to the new forest ranger Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson, from ‘Veep’) and the local mailperson Cecily (Milana Vayntrub). While the pair engage in some romantic tension at the start, both are quick to put away their personal issues to stop the townspeople from killing each other (we mean this literally, not just metaphorically) before even the said werewolf gets to them.
Cecily’s suspicion though is that the off-the-grid survivalist Emerson Flint (Glenn Fleshler) might be the attacker, not just because his house in the middle of the woods away from everyone else is draped in wolf pelts and all kinds of animal skeletons, but also because he so happens to have the dog’s collar on a frame in his living room. Besides Emerson, the movie also has fun raising our suspicions with environmentalist Dr Ellis (Rebecca Henderson), who spends most of the time in her inn room alone running an array of science experiments.
It should come as no surprise that the identity of the werewolf is both obvious and not-so-obvious at the same time. Indeed, you can probably guess that it would be too simple for director Josh Ruben and his screenwriter Mishna Wolff to simply assign that honour to say either Emerson or Dr Ellis; on the other hand, by the time Finn discovers who that person is, it shouldn’t also come as a shock that the filmmakers had intended for the character to be the one behind the mayhem all along.
On his part though, Ruben flirts with different genres over the duration of the movie, first in the form of political comedy by playing up the conservative-liberal divide amongst the characters, and then shifting gears by turning the proceedings into grisly comic horror as the characters turn against each other while the werewolf’s appetite deepens. Ruben has assembled an excellent ensemble to play out the comic hysteria, and even as his own direction may not be as sharp as the material demands, the cast ably pulls it off with aplomb.
Obviously operating on a limited budget, it is admirable how Ruben has made the best of his resources to deliver a juicy horror comedy with sociopolitical commentary. Like we said, prior knowledge of the Ubisoft game is really not needed for you to sink your teeth into this movie, which is probably one of the more enjoyable indie movies we’ve seen in a while. Even if its climax may come off underwhelming because of how you can see it coming, there is much fun to be had in this impressive though uneven sophomore feature from a promising young director.
Movie Rating:
(Laced with sociopolitical commentary, this horror comedy styled as a whodunnit is both witty and grisly entertainment)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Thriller/Drama
Director: Dominic Cooke
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Merab Ninidze, Jessie Buckley, Angus Wright
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 October 2021
Synopsis: THE COURIER is a true-life spy thriller, the story of an unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK's MI-6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Movie Review:
A prominent Hollywood male star once turned down a major Marvel role citing scheduling conflicts, press commitments and such. But all these issues don’t seem to bother Benedict Cumberbatch that much. Of course the British star has a recurring role in the MCU and he still finds the time to juggle between indie and studio productions to even Netflix to producing his own movies.
Talking about being picky or excellent time management.
Benedict Cumberbatch is astonishing as Greville Wynne, an ordinary salesman being roped in by MI6 and the CIA to spy on the Soviet nuclear programme during the Cold War. Unassuming in boring suit and tie and a sexy pornstache, Cumberbatch delivers an enigmatic performance equivalent of Gary Oldman in Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy. Given that one of his trademarks is playing articulated and intense characters, it’s another subtle top class performance from Cumberbatch no less.
The atmospheric thriller is based on a true story. Hollywood of course loves to do true stories. But most didn’t turned out exactly that good. The Courier however will change your mind. The chain-smoking Greville Wynne is recruited to be the contact for one of Soviet’s most decorated Colonel, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidz). Penkovsky who believes that violence and war is not a thing going forward, decides to betray his country by smuggling top military secrets to MI6 and the CIA. Acting as a capitalistic businessman, Greville will have to meet up with Penkovsky regularly in Soviet Union in order to smuggle out the secrets from Penkovsky’s hands to avert a nuclear disaster.
As any good spy thrillers tell you, there’s bound to be a mole lurking somewhere that will threatened Greville’s intelligence service. But this is not the movie that focused heavily on the rotten apple. Instead, the story is more in line with the messages of friendship and peace than notorious amount of gunfire and explosions. The screenplay by Tom O’ Connor (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) established a trusting relationship between Greville and Penkovsky. Both family men who treasured their love ones and hoping for a better future for their offspring.
While The Courier is definitely engrossing, it’s not exactly fast-paced either. As good as it is, the espionage tale offers little thrills. Some might even say a little underwhelming. The production is generally on a small scale with the exception of a lavish staging of Swan Lake, a foreboding outcome to the friendship between Greville and Penkovsky. There are scenes of prison torture towards the end which are mild compared to current TV standards. Still it’s a chance for Cumberbatch to lose a few pounds and offers a bit of nudity.
Besides Cumberbatch leading the charge, American actress Rachel Brosnahan stars as a fearless CIA officer and Irish actress Jessie Buckley plays the wife of Greville who suspects him of having an affair rather than saving the world. In a funny exchange between his wife and her friend, his “energetic” performance in bed doesn’t seem to help his wife’s distrust in him. And obviously, Georgian actor Merab Ninidz is right on top of his game as the consciously torture Penkovsky.
Directed by Dominic Cooke, The Courier is a good old classic British spy thriller that ditches pyrotechnics for some mature adult narrative. The movie ends with an archive footage of the real Greville Wynne giving interviews to the media probably after his release. Even while the world is constantly in a mess, you know deep down there will always be a Greville Wynne lurking in the dark waiting to save the world someday.
Movie Rating:
(A well-crafted good old Cold War drama delivered!)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Schrader
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Nudity)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 October 2021
Synopsis: Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER. Told with Schrader’s trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions, and features riveting performances from stars Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe.
Movie Review:
With a prestige name liked Martin Scorsese serving as executive producer, do not go into The Card Counter expecting a la The God of Gamblers. Gravity defying flying poker cards should be the last thing on your mind in this drama directed and written by legendary acclaimed screenwriter and director Paul Schrader.
Schrader’s world of scriptwriting is often filled with dark, troubled male characters. Just check out Taxi Driver, American Gigolo and Bringing Out The Dead. In The Card Counter, the character of William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is no different from Schrader’s past works. Instead of a PTSD suffering cab driver or a burned out paramedic, Tell is an ex-con, ex-veteran who now ply the casinos playing Blackjack going for small wins and staying way below the radar.
It’s not that all complicated until you see the man’s weird habits of covering his motel room with white bedsheets, sleeping in his jacket and pants and keeping a journal on his depressing thoughts and card adventures. What happened to his pyjamas? And what’s up with all the white bedsheets? Questions and more.
Clearly, William Tell or real-name Bill Tillich has an issue. His repetitive routine is however interrupted one day when a young man named Cirk (Tye Sheridan) approached him about his half-baked plan on killing a retired Army Major named John Gordo (Willem Dafoe). It turns out that Tell and Cirk’s late father has served under Gordo in the Middle East. Cirk’s dad suffered from PTSD and shot himself after his service while Tell on the other hand landed himself in jail for a decade after following Gordo’s unorthodox torturing ways. As a private contractor, Gordo was never charged for his crimes which explains the revenge part.
At this point, this sounds like an exciting layered story that is going to take audiences down the revenge route and a snide look at America’s controversial way of taking down terrorists. Perhaps we might even learnt more about Tell’s talents and expertise in counting cards. Alas, this is not the movie you expect it to be. Instead of some intense destruction on the enemy, Gordo is never seen for the most part except for a brief flashback which has Gordo doing some pep talk with Tell. What we have in the end is Tiffany Haddish playing an underdeveloped character named La Linda, an agent who recruits talented poker players and occasionally offers some comic relief. No doubt she ends up as the love interest and no doubt she is woefully miscast.
Similar to Inside Llewlyn Davis, Oscar Isaac delivers a compelling performance even if Schrader’s scripting largely undermines his onscreen presence. Tell for the most part is a quiet, moody conflicted human being. He is a guy searching for redemption and perhaps Cirk is the person he thought he could save. Then again, Schrader is one filmmaker that never make a movie that is easily understood by casual audiences. There are so much going on in The Card Counter but strangely, too much screentime is focused on the cross-country poker games that pathetically get nowhere towards the end. It’s a slow-boiler done in the style of an 80’s artsy drama even the old school opening credits told you so. You know Isaac deals a cool hand though the stakes are too low to make it worthwhile.
Movie Rating:
(So much potential and opportunities in The Card Counter but it certainly doesn’t really translate here)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Koh Chong Wu
Cast: Jayley Woo, Andie Chen, Lina Ng, Yap Hui Xin, Tasha Low, Rachel Wong, Constance Lau, Estovan Reizo Cheah, Henry Thia
Runtime: 1 hr 20 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Violence and Horror)
Released By: Clover Films and mm2 Entertainment
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/latenightridemovie
Opening Day: 28 October 2021
Synopsis: LATE NIGHT RIDE follows the separate stories of three individuals who encounter sinister happenings. They eventually cross paths and the plotlines converge. A group of social media influencers, led by Nat (Jayley Woo), decides to explore a haunted road and nearby cycling park, in an attempt to gain more viewers for their channel. Nat purposely breaks some taboo in the hopes of capturing paranormal activities and ends up being haunted. What will happen to her? Jie (Andie Chen) lost his wife in a car accident and his son, Josh, has not spoken since. The father and son end up on a late-night bus ride where all dark secrets will be unveiled. Min (Lina Ng) is a private hire driver who works day and night to earn money for her father's medical bills. Sinister happenings started to occur when she is on the roads and she needs to figure out why before the situation gets out of control.
Movie Review:
There is this group of cinema goers who like to scare themselves silly. These are the people who would buy tickets to horror movies, venture into the dark cinema theatres, then squirm in their seats (or in some instances, gasp and/or scream) when something frightening takes place on the big screen. There are foreign horror movies, then there are Singaporean ones which have an edge because they deal with matters we are familiar with.
The latest horror flick to hit our screens is this slightly overdue film helmed by Koh Chong Wu. Production began in the third quarter of 2019 and the plan was to release it in the second quarter of 2020. Well, we know what happened and like countless other movies, this one is postponed to coincide with this year’s Halloween.
The concept is interesting as we see three protagonists involved in recognisable local modes of transport – the bicycle, the ride share car and the bus, as they experience different kinds of haunting. A group of social media influencers decide to document their rides on a supposedly haunted bicycle trail. When one of them (Jayley Woo) decides to wander off on her own to get more exciting footage, things end on a terrifying note. Then there is a private hire driver (Lina Ng) who is overworking herself to make ends meet. During her journeys, she encounters sinister happenings and she may or may not be the reason why there are such strange occurrences. In the third story, a man (Andie Chen) loses his wife in a car accident and the tragedy hits their son so badly that he has not said a word every since. As they take late night bus rides, we find out what really happened on that fateful night when the accident happened.
As the 80 minute movie progresses, the seasoned horror movie fan can predict how the three stories are connected, and even see the supposed story twists coming. The story development may not be the most original you may have seen (granted there are much drearier ones than this out there), but the movie does a decent job at keeping your attention for the entire duration.
Woo is aptly cast as the eager social media influencer who would do anything to get more views on her channel. With her pretty face and the hunger in her eyes to do the unthinkable, it was a nice shock to see her in grotesque makeup in one of the sequences. Ng’s character portrayal is spot on as she dons an oversized shirt while she goes about taking on more jobs. The fatigue in her is brought out by makeup and Ng’s weary eyes. Chen may be a heartthrob with many female fans, but his character in this movie is an unlikeable one. The actor shows how unpleasant he can be, and kudos to his co star Constance Lau for delivering a heartfelt performance as his grieving wife. Other supporting characters are played by household names like Cai Ping Kai and Henry Thia.
As a serviceable local horror movie, this film does its job with jump scares, relatable themes, and most importantly, featuring sights and sounds that Singaporeans are familiar with.
Movie Rating:
(A local horror movie that features familiair sights and sounds to remind you that humans can be scarier than supernatural beings)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Chloe Zhao
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie
Runtime: 2 hrs 37 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Mature Content)
Released By: The Walt Disney Company
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 November 2021
Synopsis: Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.
Movie Review:
It bears saying right from the start that ‘Eternals’ is Marvel’s most ambitious step forward from a post-Avengers cinematic universe.
As its title implies, the Eternals are an order of divinities with names borrowed from Greek mythology who have lived incognito among humans for millennia; among them, Thena (Angelina Jolie) is a warrior goddess who fights with weapons made of cosmic energy, Ikaris (Richard Madden) can shoot destructive beams from his eyes, Sersi (Gemma Chan) can manipulate matter at will, Gilgamesh (Don Lee) has fearsome fists, and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) has a genius mind for engineering. The fact that none are as instantly recognizable as say Iron Man, Captain America or even the Hulk makes this introduction an uphill task, except for the most devout of comic book fans.
Kudos to Marvel for entrusting that mission to Academy-Award winning director Chloe Zhao, who was chosen even before she won the Oscar for ‘Nomadland’. Like many indie alumni before her chosen to helm a Marvel blockbuster, she approaches it with suitable panache; in fact, we might add that more than anyone before her, Zhao’s creative sensibilities have survived the sausage-making machine of test screening with previous MCU filmmakers as well as eternal producer Kevin Feige. Indeed, ‘Eternals’ is probably the most artistically distinct Marvel superhero epic in a long while, and we mean that both for better and for worse.
It was always an extremely tall order for any filmmaker to be able to introduce us to 10 new superheroes at one go, and Zhao is only partly successful. Together with her co-writers, Zhao struggles to weave the byzantine plotting across time, space and character into a coherent whole. Too often, the storytelling whisks us away into different points of time in history when the Eternals were tested; these include key episodes in Mesopotamia, Babylon and Hiroshima. As much as they are intended to show what has shaped these characters, they are ultimately less intriguing than distracting in the larger scheme of things.
More successful though is Zhao’s ability to inject humanity into the enterprise, especially as the Eternals grapple with the dilemma of obeying the celestial orders laid down from on high and their affinity with planet Earth’s humankind whom they have grown to love. Whilst the last two ‘Avengers’ movies grappled with questions about the worth of humanity, ‘Eternals’ poses these same questions at a much more personal level; and without giving anything away, let’s just say that it is the catalyst for not only some heartfelt moments onscreen, but also other genuinely heartbreaking turns.
That is also credit to Zhao’s ability to work with actors, which in turn reward her picture with warmth and feeling. The romance between Sersi and Ikaris brims with the palpable chemistry between Chan and Madden. Chan also shares a different kind of playful chemistry with Kit Harrington, who plays a close male friend Dane whom she reveals her identity to in present-day after the ancient evil creatures known as Deviants make a comeback. There is also surprising empathy to be found in Henry’s portrayal of the thinker Phastos, whose nice domestic life with his male partner and child has caused some controversy in more conservative parts of the world and also resulted in the uncharacteriscally mature rating for an MCU blockbuster movie here in Singapore. The fact that it works as a ensemble, with each actor taking turns to steal the scene, is testament to Zhao’s choice and skill with her performers.
Equally, ‘Eternals’ benefits from Zhao’s feel for natural landscapes, resulting in some of the most breath-taking scenery in any MCU movie. Yet these authorial touches sit awkwardly with the necessary crowd-pleasing elements of a typical MCU superhero epic. As much as she tries, the attempts at humour feel clunky and forced. Ditto the large-scale set-pieces which bring the Eternals together as well as against each other – even as the action darts quickly from flashbacks to present day, there is no one sequence that stands out for its choreography or execution, and while that may be enough for a less high-profile MCU title, it is undeniably disappointing that the superhero battles here underwhelm.
So as admirable as it may have been to choose an auteur like Zhao for a movie like this, we must say the experiment is only partially successful. Certainly, ‘Eternals’ benefits from Zhao’s preference for realism and disenfranchised characters, and thankfully, these qualities from her previous modestly scaled dramas aren’t lost here; yet at the same time, Zhao fails to fully integrate her own sensibilities with that of the usual MCU formula of irreverent banter and blockbuster-scale action. Like we said at the beginning, you can hardly argue with the ambition of entrusting “Eternals” to such a fiercely individualistic filmmaker, but we suspect the result doesn’t quite live up to the same lofty aspirations.
Movie Rating:
(A visibly ambitious attempt at taking the MCU in new directions, 'Eternals' retains its fiercely individualistic filmmaker Chloe Zhao's penchant for realism and humanity, but struggles with coherence, tone and pacing)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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TRAILER WATCH - THE BATMANPosted on 19 Oct 2021 |
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