'Midsommar' Review

Synopsis: A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Runtime: 147 minutes

MPAA Rating: R (for ritualistic violence, grisly images, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language)

Who should see it? Adults who are interested in the disturbed mind of filmmaker Ari Aster.

On the heels of Hereditary, Midsommar is writer-director Ari Aster's second feature. Though Aster's approach to Midsommar differs considerably from Hereditary, the two are equally unsettling. Neither picture fits in the conventional confines of the horror genre, considering they aren't traditionally "scary." However, both films are immaculately crafted and feature sequences which many may deem peculiar and perturbing at the very least.

Contrary to Hereditary's darkened gloomy atmosphere, much of the pagan ritualism present in Midsommar transpires in broad daylight. Violence is scarce and abrupt, but gruesome nonetheless. Viewers who are easily repulsed by the sight of blood will want to avoid Midsommar, as the camera tends to linger on the grotesque injuries which I, myself, found difficult to watch at times. Aster's sophomore effort is an uncomfortable, tedious experience full of bizarre symbolism which begs to be dissected for its deeper, profound meaning. A majority of the iconography is ambiguous and left to the viewer's interpretation, but Aster occasionally lends a hand via on-the-nose expositional dialogue. 

Though I deemed the onscreen events frequently repulsive, I was persistently mesmerized by the masterful craftsmanship on display. Midsommar depicts a nine-day long Swedish festival, which certainly felt nine days long, and an uneasy ambiance is central to Aster's examination of grief and codependency. The atmospheric dread beneath the surface of a bright, flowery environment is brilliantly realized as Bobby Krlic's score eerily accompanies the picturesque imagery staged by Aster's crew (notably, director of photography Pawel Pogorzelski and production designer Henrik Svensson). I'd also be remiss to forget editor Lucian Johnson's contribution, as he incorporates seamless transitions. 

Front and center, Florence Pugh is extraordinary. Dani's an emotionally troubled individual coping with grief, trauma, codependency, and denial, which Pugh portrays wonderfully. Opposite Pugh, Jack Reynor provides a multi-faceted performance as Dani's despondent boyfriend, Christian. The relationship clearly isn't meant to be, but, understandably, these characters think otherwise. Will Poulter's a particularly pleasant source of comic relief, Vilhelm Blomgren and William Jackson Harper are solid supporting players, and the cast of Swedish villagers are ominously hospitable. 

Ari Aster made Midsommar for a specific audience, and those viewers will surely love it while others will be deeply disturbed as it unravels. I appreciate Aster's artistry, but Midsommar was too obscene and overlong for my liking.

Film Assessment: B-

'Detroit' Review

Detroit is set amidst the Detroit riots of 1967. Racial tensions are high as the Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police, and Michigan National Guard patrol the streets for crowd control and keeping the peace. Shots are heard from the Algiers Motel, so the police and guardsman search the premises for a weapon. When they are unable to find a gun, an intense police investigation unravels. The predominantly African American males residing in the hotel are then maliciously interrogated until a confession is retrieved. Those are the terrifying events depicted in Detroit.

Detroit is the latest project from the Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow and her frequent collaborative screenwriter Mark Boal. The two previously worked together on both The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, each earning a few Oscar nominations and even a win for those films in their respective categories (Both received two Oscars for Hurt Locker in the categories of Best Picture and Best Director/Best Original Screenplay). Deviating from her trajectory of war films, Bigelow thrusts audiences straight into the chaotic atmosphere of the '67 Detroit riots. 

Bigelow re-teams with Barry Ackroyd, her cinematographer from The Hurt Locker, and utilizes a handheld camera to ensure viewers feel submersed in these appalling events. Large portions of Detroit are shot in a documentary style, but the camera is maneuvered differently as it gets up-close, and personal to these actors so the viewer can distinguish beads of sweat and discern heavy breathing. This technique turns out to be incredibly effective, because audiences will be nauseated by every cruel kill and the brutal beatings will rattle viewers throughout this uncomfortable watch.

Detroit's a rude awakening to the hidden horrors of America's racist past of police brutality that is unfortunately still relevant today in some instances. Thankfully, Mark Boal knew better than to victimize all cops or dignify those in open rebellion. It's shown that some rioters were woefully ignorant as they ransacked businesses owned by blacks, and even the most virtuous enforcers fouled up by not reporting heinous acts because they didn't want to deal with all the red tape. Boal's screenplay is a dramatization of the events, but the actions occurring onscreen can't help feeling eerily realistic (with the production and costume design only adding further authenticity).

However, it's the performances on display that bring it home. John Boyega's security officer Dismukes will probably irk some viewers for his lacking support, but there's nothing he could have done in that situation when you stop and think about it. Boyega's subtle performance communicates an inner sense of unease that's drastically different from his costar's intense emotional outpours, but still impressive. Jacob Latimore, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie, Jason Mitchell, and Payton Alex Smith all accentuate fundamental fear in this startling situation and manage to extract some unexpectedly extraordinary range. Algee Smith, in particular, flexes his acting chops quite a bit over the course of the two-and-a-half hour runtime. 

Will Poulter, on the other hand, extrapolates a refined hatred as the racist cop Krauss. Viewers will find themselves so wrapped in Poulter's despicable behavior that they'll even hate his lawyer for sticking his neck out for the guy. Guess who the lawyer's played by? John Krasinski. Never in my life did I think I could possibly direct malintent towards Jim from The Office, but it happened. I would not be surprised in the slightest to see Poulter be a major contender for Best Supporting Actor this awards season. At his side, Jack Reynor and Ben O'Toole put in some solid work as accompanying policeman, but neither are anywhere near the contemptible heights Poulter reaches. 

Despite an off-kilter animated opening that took me off guard and a crawling conclusion, Detroit's a film that will definitely be joining the awards conversation this year. I will warn those intent on seeing Detroit that it's a harrowing watch, but a necessary one nonetheless. Detroit is about an event fifty years ago, but its relevance to ongoing issues today underscores this is a difficult discussion that the human race still needs to have.

Film Assessment: A-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Transformers: Age of Extinction'

Sorry for a late review but this week I'm rolling out the last of my Transformers reviews with a Throwback Thursday Review over Transformers: Age of Extinction and new Transformers: The Last Knight review in the coming days. Other reviews you can expect this week week include a Throwback Thursday Review over Despicable Me 2 and both Baby Driver and Despicable Me 3. The first few weeks of July will incorporate Throwback Thursday Reviews of The Amazing Spider-Man, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Inception, Recollection Reflection Reviews of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and reviews of new releases Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, Dunkirk, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Review

Transformers: Age of Extinction takes place five years after Dark of the Moon's Battle of Chicago. The US government has turned against the Autobots, hunting them alongside intergalactic bounty hunter bot Lockdown. Ambitious inventor and overprotective father Cade Yeagar discovers a trashed truck inside an abandoned cinema and brings it home in hopes of repairing the vehicle or scrapping it for parts, only to learn the truck is actually Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Yeagar is then tasked to help Prime reunite the remaining Autobots to protect mankind once more.

Age of Extinction is the fourth film in the franchise to be helmed by Michael Bay yet it feels more or less the same as his previous entries, only this time the Bay-isms have worn thin. The visual noise is dialed up to the max volume with no worthwhile story to tell underneath it. While I don't watch the Transformers movies with the expectation of seeing the greatest blockbuster of all time, I think it's sufficient to expect to an adequate story with reasonably entertaining action pulling things together. This is where Age of Extinction whimpers out because everything about Age of Extinction is overcrowded and unnecessary.

Bay allows similar problems to plague this project as incomprehensible action sequences come by the viewer one after the other, sprinkled in the midst of a human storyline you won't be invested in. Watching the Transformers fight one another is cool enough on its own so you don't need to obscure the action with egregious editing and frenetic shaky cam or even draw it out with superfluous slow-motion. For that matter, the Transformers need to be the shining stars of their own franchise. I understand that the effects are expensive but these things are practically guaranteed to be a hit oversees so you may as well pump a little more financial fuel into this gas tank. 

Are the effects incredible? Of course, the superb deafening sound design and vibrant visual effects are practically the only redeeming elements of the franchise at this point but none of that really matters if you can't draw audience interest into the onscreen insanity. While I understand the financial motive to extend the Transformers franchise with Age of Extinction, there really isn't a new story to be told with these characters. The end result is that Ehren Kruger's script is a repackaged version of the last three movies (Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen, and Dark of the Moon).

I could go on and on about the story semantics but the film really fails engaging me as a viewer. I consider myself a fairly avid Transformers fan so it shouldn't be that difficult to maintain interest when you have remarkably realized robots fighting one another but this installment nearly bored me to sleep both times I've seen it (when I first caught it on Netflix a year and a half ago and my second viewing for the purposes of this review). Instead, Bay decided that it'd be more worth the audiences' time and money to see Yeagar chastise his underage daughter over her awkward, inappropriate relationship with a twenty year old racer. 

Meanwhile, the performances don't offer much to elevate the entertainment. Mark Wahlberg phones it in as Cade Yeagar, providing little personality beyond his thinly sketched characterization of being an overprotective father and the writer's insistence to constantly remind you he's an inventor. Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor play Tessa Yeagar and Shane Dyson with their bland romance serving as an obnoxious plot thread. Neither actor really shines as a charismatic force to brighten things or draw attention to the monotonous action. 

Elsewhere, T.J. Miller, Stanley Tucci, and Bingbing Li playfully factor into the proceedings in varying capacities. Miller's a funny surfer bro, Tucci screams quite a bit as a tech company executive, and Li fights off some henchman with proficiency. They don't do nearly enough to save the movie but provide momentary blips of something off-kilter. 

Peter Cullen, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, Robert Foxworth, John DiMaggio, and Reno Wilson all provide sufficient voice work as Optimus Prime, Hound, Drift, Ratchet, Crosshairs, and Brains but none of these actors are really challenging themselves in any way, shape, or form considering they mostly deliver expositional dialogue. For the most part they're voicing caricatures with little personality beyond basic stereotypes. 

Frank Welker, Mark Ryan, and Kelsey Grammer fill the antagonistic camp as gruesome Galvatron, the unyielding Lockdown, and wicked government agent Harold Attinger. They make the most of the material provided but are restrained by a paper thin script. 

Transformers: Age of Extinction is indicative of everything currently destroying Hollywood, it's essentially a visual effects reel devoid of any sense of purpose other than to make money. Bay or Kruger must know this is true to some extent because there's even a line in the movie about sequels and remakes being prevalent among Hollywood these days. In summary, Age of Extinction is easily the worst Transformers movie I've seen to date simply because it's maddening to even attempt making it through the two hour forty five minute runtime without losing focus. After watching this movie, I knew one simple fact. My mind had been transformed (and not for the better). 

Film Assessment: D-

'Free Fire' Review

Free Fire follows the break-out of a fervent firefight once an arms deal goes awry. Straight from the get-go, writer-director Ben Wheatley establishes a Tarantino-esque tone, premise, and setting inhabited by tough wisecrackers who could've walked straight off the set of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction. Even though the plot and setting of Free Fire calls a few of Quentin Tarantino classics to mind, Wheatley manages to distance his film enough that it never retreads familiar ground.

Free Fire is very much it's own thing, a quirky hour and half crossfire. I'll let you know now not to expect much beyond the shoot-out and preceding set-up because there's little to no traditional plot structure in Free Fire once the insanity ensues. The constant crossfire does grow tiring in some moments but as soon as you're about to check out, you'll be brought back in by the outrageous antics these characters carry out. The cinematography employed also involves a number of cool camera tricks to make up for the lower budget and maintain the intense energy throughout the firefight.

Due to the film's smaller budget and the confines of the space allowed, there aren't any particularly memorable stunts or action beats but the captivating characters more than make up for this. The screenplay penned by Wheatley and co-writer Amy Jump doesn't explore the characters too deeply and that actually works in the film's favor because you're not quite sure who'll make it out alive when everything's all said and done.

The script quickly takes a turn towards over-the-top ridiculousness and Free Fire becomes an outright comedy when the aim of these characters is so poor that they can't hit one another from ten feet away. There's something sadistically entertaining about watching these characters confined to close-quarters conflict because the characters are charismatic scoundrels. You dislike them because who they are or what they've done, but you won't be able to help but enjoy every minute they're taunting and shooting at one another. Free Fire's got quite the arsenal in terms of its accomplished cast featuring the likes of Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Jack Reynor, Cillian Murphy, and Sharlto Copley. Everyone puts forth a commendable performance but Hammer and Copley stood out for their particular personalities as the levelheaded and kooky individuals respectively.

There's not really much else to say about Free Fire due to the simple, self-explanatory premise. If this sounds interesting to you, then I say it's worth checking out. If not, then this simply isn't for you. I'd say Free Fire took its shot and hit its mark because Free Fire turned out to be exactly what I wanted; a delightful over-the-top self-contained shoot-em-up.

Film Assessment: B

'Sing Street' Review

 

The year is 1985 and times are tough in Dublin as many Irish are emigrating to London in hopes of finding work and a better life. In Sing Street, a teenage boy makes the most out of unfortunate circumstance, forming a band to impress an enigmatic aspiring model in hopes she'll agree to be in one of their music videos. 

John Carney writes and directs to great effect, maintaining focus on fully fleshed characters, the classic coming-of-age story, and some entertaining original music inspired by various 80's hits. The film's music isn't just catchy though, each song is deeply rooted in the main characters themselves with meaningful lyrics and inventive arrangements including the synth-pop song "Riddle of the Model", the feel-good tune "Up", the melancholy love ballad"To Find You", and the infectiously up-beat "Drive It Like You Stole It" to name a few. I'd actually be hard-pressed to name a song I didn't enjoy, and hope that one or two of them garners some appreciation from the Academy. 

Carney's screenplay captures the essence of adolescence in his protagonist as we see Conor shed various identities hoping to discover himself. Carney gets that Conor is in it for the girl, grasps that music is a vessel to express one's self and that's exactly what makes Sing Street so fantastic, Carney understands the adolescent mind. One scene that comes to mind as a standout is Conor's vision of a music video the band is making and we see the depiction of his dream life; his parents are happily married, he gets the girl, and life is a smooth ride. 

The casting director should also be commended for finding such incredible inexperienced performers. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo makes his feature film debut as Conor and proves to be a very talented individual with an exceptional singing voice and solid acting chops. Lucy Boynton's Raphina is as captivating as she is mysterious and one of the film's highlight performances. Boston and Walsh-Peelo have an exuberant spark between them so you can't help but root for their relationship to work out. 

Jack Reynor plays Conor's older brother and music/romantic mentor Brendan and he runs with it. Walsh-Pello and Reynor's scenes are some of the standout moments in the film aside from the band's music videos and the moments between Conor and Raphina. Downtown Abbey's Maria Doyle Kennedy and Game of Thrones' Aidan Gillen have nice supporting roles as Conor and Brendan's squabbling parents and Don Wycherley's depiction of a despicable principal is diabolical in every sense of the word. 

The band itself is made up of of a business-smart manager and cameraman Darren, the self-reflective Eamon who can play just about any instrument, keyboardist Ngig, and wacky brothers Garry and Larry portrayed by Ben Carolan, Mark McKenna, Percy Chambruka, Karl Rice, and Conor Hamilton respectively. 

Sing Street debuted earlier this year in very limited release, but recently made the jump to the home media market so that's why I'm just now reviewing it. You can stream it on any Digital-HD provider or buy the Blu-Ray, but trust me it's well worth the investment. Sing Street is simply a film for everyone and I can say the end result is a remarkably delightful film I could't help but fall in love with.

Film Assessment: A+