Multiplex Madness
The Amateur
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Thriller
Director: James Hawes
Starring: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburn, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg
The second film adaptation of a 1981 spy thriller novel, The Amateur sees C.I.A. computer analyst Rami Malek seeking vengeance after his wife was killed in a terrorist attack. Without the support of his.government, Malek seeks the individuals responsible and tries to assassinate them, albeit without the training most would-be assassin's would have. The Amateur is a movie made strictly for those who consume a hearty diet of espionage, thriller, and revenge novels, never missing anything from Robert Ludlam and Tom Clancy while also having a hefty shelf of Jack Reacher and Alex Cross books. The question is how well it plays up to this audience, and the answer is a soft "good enough." The primary issue with this movie is how base it is, without going out of its way for detail. We trust that Malek and wife Rachel Brosnahan have a loving relationship based on fond glances over coffee. Meanwhile, Brosnahan's death is the purest definition of the writer's term called "fridging," an overused plot point where a person's lover or spouse is murdered and sets the the main character up for a vendetta. But what really kills it is that Brosnahan's role is so barren, and even her death is only shown in fragments with the actual moment she died never shown. It's weird framing, because I half-suspected the movie to end with a twist that she was alive the whole time because that's the usual rule of thumb when you never see a body. Spoiler alert: that doesn't happen. The movie is more straightforward than that. Maybe thankfully, because it doesn't insult the audience by trying to outsmart them. But as a suspense film, it's pretty okay, even if actual suspense is lacking. The movie is filmed very neutrally, depicting scenes of thrills so casually that it sucks excitement out of them. Setpieces happen suddenly and without zest, which means the only thing creating tension are the actors' determined glares. The Amateur probably would have been more exciting in the 90's when there were quite a few movies like this, but that also might just be optimistic to think it could stand out from the competition.
Drop
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Director: Christopher Landon
Starring: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Bean, Jeffery Self
Drop marks the first time Christopher Landon hasn't at least co-written the movie he's directing, which may or may not be him jumping into a hired gun project super fast after dropping out of Scream 7 amidst the nuclear fallout of that movie's production woes. Landon is best known for his tongue-in-cheek genre benders like Happy Death Day and Freaky, while also writing most of the Paranormal Activity sequels (and directing The Marked Ones). Drop is probably his least comedic movie since playing with the iconic found footage franchise, though that's probably refreshing after the minor misfire of his previous movie, We Have a Ghost, which was a rather tame attempt at a supernatural family comedy. This time, he's handed a (mostly) single-room Hitchcockian suspense film where a woman is on a date and being pressured through social media notifications to kill her date, with her son being held hostage for leverage. Landon proves very adept at leaning in a different direction than his usual fare, crafting a taut and exciting pulp mystery out of the script he's handed. The mystery is a little lax, because while the film introduces an adequate amount of red harrings, the culprit is one of the few people that the movie seems to be actively misdirecting away from and trying to make us not think about by their lack of relevance. It's probably not something most people will notice, but if you have screenplay brain, the movie's masking is more obvious than it thinks it is. It doesn't stop the movie's entertainment value. Despite several instances of strained logic that the movie doesn't keep up with, the film winds up being Landon's most well-rounded, stylish, and interesting movie. It's a fun date night movie, if only to be glad your date hasn't gone quite as wrong as the one on-screen.
Warfare
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: War, Thriller
Director: Ray Mendoza, Alex Garland
Starring: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton
Evidently, Alex Garland hammered out a pitch with his military supervisor for last year's Civil War, Ray Mendoza, and the two opted to co-direct a feature offering a realistic look at a pinned down military group during the Iraq War. The film is based on a first-hand experience that he had during combat, opting to be a genuine depiction of what it's like to be in a seemingly hopeless situation where they're cornered, taking casualties, and with limited options. As such, Warfare isn't a story. It's ambitions are heavier, as it wants to throw the viewer into the experience of active warfare. It's both a simple movie and a complicated movie in that respect, succeeding at its goals even if it never tries to surpass them. It's admirable that they achieved what is quite possibly the most realistic depiction of military duty I've ever seen on film, but there is also little to say about it except "Oh, wow."
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Death of a Unicorn ⭐⭐1/2
The Friend ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hell of a Summer ⭐️⭐️1/2
The Luckiest Man in America ⭐️⭐️1/2
A Minecraft Movie ⭐️⭐️
Snow White ⭐️⭐️
New To Digital
In the Lost Lands ⭐️⭐️
Magazine Dreams ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mickey 17 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Novocane ⭐️⭐️1/2
Coming Soon!
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