Multiplex Madness
28 Years Later...
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, Alfie Williams, Jack O'Connell
To be bluntly honest, I watched the original 28 Days Later once when it first came out, and I don't remember what I thought about it, if anything. I remember vague superficial things about it, including that it was probably the first time I saw a dick in a movie, but I think that movie came out during my "Fuck yeah, zombie movie" teenager phase and unless it was something that really kicked ass or was hilariously stupid, it was unlikely to leave a full impression on me. Never saw the second one. I considered watching both leading up to 28 Years Later, but ran out of time. So, while I'm not entirely novice on this franchise, I'm not entirely versed upon it.
28 Years Later takes place, ya'know, 28 years later, after a weird "rage virus" took over a portion of Europe. It focuses on a small little refuge in the danger zone, where a young boy seeks out a doctor to diagnose his ill mother. The film's story is a very low-stakes, personal tale a kid playing in the dystopia, caring for his mother and occasionally coming across a giant screaming naked man who is hung like a horse. The evolution of the infected is something that is stumbled across, expositioning when needed to explain why some are fat, some are pregnant, and some are enormous and semi-sentient. Meanwhile, Danny Boyle gives the film an evolved style over the first film, that makes for a slightly tilted experiend. But stylish as it may be, 28 Years Later at times comes off as a dull YA spin-off of the original rather than a serious continuation. The fact that it hamfistedly sets up a sequel doesn't help shake that vibe. I understand the story Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland are trying to tell, which is that of a kid coping with the eventual fate of his mother, and it even ends on a note that's poignant enough. I even understand why this story of accepting mortality would resonate strongly with viewers. I struggle with the film dwelling too much within a story that feels like the world around them is an annoyance, meanwhile it's very clear from the symptoms on display that the chance that there will be a happy outcome to this is very slim, meanwhile the thriller elements are flavorless garnish. It thinks it's more gripping than it is, and it even devotes its climax to emotional resolution rather than a resolution to any sort of conflict. This only partially satisfying, because it feels as if the movie just kind of whiffs and wanders off, leaving me shrugging my shoulders and thinking "That was it?" But the movie reminds you before the end credits roll that 28 Years Later isn't just one sequel, but a trilogy of sequels that were all in simultanious production. That promise of "The real story is just beginning" doesn't really hit when the first movie barely had a story to tell.
Bride Hard
⭐️
Genre: Comedy, Action
Director: Simon West
Starring: Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado, Stephen Dorff, Justin Hartley, Stephanie Hsu
Rebel Wilson is a secret agent (which are six words I never thought I'd say in sequential order) in this action/comedy from the director of Con Air (though you wouldn't know it by watching it). She's also really bad at lying and keeping secrets, so I'm not sure how that works. Anyway, as you can probably guess from the title, the movie forces Wilson into a Die Hard scenario at a wedding, where a group of mercenaries take everyone hostage while Wilson stirs up trouble on the outskirts. As a high-concept vehicle for a well-liked performer like Rebel Wilson, there is probably promise somewhere within Bride Hard. I don't hate the concept of this movie. If you workshopped it a little (okay, maybe a lot), there is probably something much more enjoyable here. This movie only barely has a screenplay, seemingly wanting to coast on performer charisma. There are plenty of talented people on display, but they all are directionless in a movie that is mostly cheese and chaos. The action is okay enough for a goofball movie like this, but the comedy is hammy and performative, like an anxious child who is desperate to be liked. Da'Vine Joy Randolph comes closest to actually pulling it off, but even she succumbs to how lost the movie gets in its noise. When your biggest asset looks like she's close to throwing up her hands and leaving, that's probably a sign that your movie needs a page-one rewrite.
Elio
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction
Director: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Reny Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil
Pixar's latest sees an orphaned boy named Elio wishing to escape to the stars to get away from his pain, not unlike Starlord. Also like Starlord, he is pretty swiftly abducted by actual aliens. Unlike Starlord, Elio is mistaken for an actual leader on Earth and is sent to negotiate peace with a deadly race of warrior silkworms. One would be forgiven if it felt like Disney was trying to bury Elio because the marketing push for the film feels negligible. I'm mostly convinced this was because Disney opted for a huge campaign for Lilo & Stitch and Elio's close release date got eclipsed by it. Elio is a better movie than Lilo & Stitch but it's also one of Pixar's more humdrum releases, probably missing out on being the company's low-hanging fruit if only because The Good Dinosaur exists. Pixar has struggled to reignite the imaginative sense of wonder that has dominated its early efforts for a while now, the last to convincingly hit that note being Coco in 2017, with only a couple of bright spots since. Elio feels like it's willing to settle for being earnest and cute instead of enchanting and meaningful. The themes its playing with are obviously about familial bonds but it often overrides them for the sake of silliness. It does pick up the slack in production design, which is delightful. It also successfully stirs some emotions up at the end, typical for a Pixar film, but they're muddied in a messy conclusion which is underdeveloped and arguably unearned. The movie winds up being fine, and it's a good rental for family movie night. I can't quite get enthusiastic about it, though.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Ballerina ⭐️⭐️1/2
Bring Her Back ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Karate Kid: Legends ⭐️⭐️
The Last Rodeo ⭐️⭐️
The Life of Chuck ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lilo & Stitch ⭐️⭐️
Materialists ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Phoenician Scheme ⭐️⭐️1/2
Thunderbolts ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
The Unholy Trinity ⭐️⭐️
New To Digital
New To Physical
A Different Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!
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