Written by Tyrone BruinsmaAustralia's iconic filmography is extensive. From franchises like Mad Max, Happy Feet, Crocodile Dundee and Babe, classics like Picnic at Hanging Rock, Muriel's Wedding and Moulin Rouge!, and genre works like Wolf Creek. But within this majesty of culture, are often some forgotten works that while known to the few-are beloved. Here are 10 Underappreciated Australian films you absolutely should seek out. 10. Razorback [Dir. Russell Mulcahy]The most well-known film on this list (eliciting praise from Quinten Tarantino), Razorback is essentially and Australian version of Jaws with a giant pig. Directed by music video director Russell Mulcahy (future director of Highlander and Resident Evil: Extinction), Razorback is a visually stylish horror and creature feature experience set in the wild Aussie outback. After an American journalist covering kangaroo slaughter goes missing, her New Yorker husband comes looking for her and instead finds madness and monsters of all kinds. While the animatronic pig has been criticized, it's still an impressive beast to see perform feats like smashing through a house or tears the side of a building off. The cast is delightfully colorful and/or deranged, but its Mulcahy's visuals that stand the test of time. From the first scene, Razorback's visuals evoke a dark, surrealist dreamlike atmosphere straight out of a Salvador Dali painting. While the film isn't scary on an "edge of your sit" thriller way, it is visceral and intense with some gruesome moment. It's an absolute must-see for lovers of Ozsploitation cinema or great creature features. (Note: avoid the similar 2018 film Boar) Further viewing: Exploring Razorback - The Best Looking Movie About a Killer Pig (youtube.com) 9. Mary and Max [Dir. Adam Elliot]Australian animation (whether tv or film) ranges from obscure oddities like 'Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers' or The Magic Pudding, to global hits like Bluey and Happy Feet. Mary and Max is a dramedy about the respective characters Mary (A young girl in Australia) and Max (and older Jewish man in New York City) and their unusual friendship as penpals. Produced in gorgeous and expressive stop motion by Adam Elliot, the film explores issues of mental health, societal problems and philosophical beliefs through its well-developed characters. Whilst the film contains Aussie icons like Barry Humphries, Toni Collette, Eric Bana and Ian "Molly" Meldrum-its best voice actor is that of the late and legendary Philip Seymour Hoffman in his only animated movie performance. The movie is touching, emotional, deeply human and while it is acclaimed, not well-known enough as it should be. 8. Rogue [Dir. Greg McLean]After directing the globally recognized Wolf Creek, Greg McLean was given a bigger budget for a more ambitious Australian horror film that's sadly not as well-known as Wolf Creek. While many killer crocodile films existed before Rogue like Lake Placid, Alligator and Australia's own Dark Age-Rogue is the absolute best of the sub-genre. From its genuinely haunting music that incorporates Aboriginal vocal and instruments, numerous name actors like Sam Worthington, Radha Mitchell, John Jarratt and Mia Wasikowska; and its expert use of its big monster crocodile. It genuinely does the best job at emulating Steven Spielberg's Jaws with minimal use of the beast until the thriller conclusion. Sadly, it was a box office bomb back in 2007-but if you can watch this film anywhere, you're in for a treat. 7. Turkey Shoot [Dir. Brian Trenchard-Smith]Director Brian Trenchard-Smith is mostly known (depending on the country) either for directing The Man from Hong Kong and Nicole Kidman's first big film BMX Bandits, or Leprechaun 3 and Leprechaun 4: In Space. But, one of his best films that's often forgotten about is his sci-fi action survival Ozsploitation film Turkey Shoot (or Escape 2000 in the US and Blood Camp Thatcher in the UK). The film is about a totalitarian authority that rule over Australia and disobedient citizens are imprisoned to be "re-educated" and also used as sport for rich elites. The film is essentially The Most Dangerous Game combined with political jabs at the likes of right-wing political entities like Maragret Thatcher, considering one of the villains is named after her. Steven Railsback and Olivia Hussey are great as the designated Hollywood leads, while the Australian team create some fun visuals, action scenes and a nutty climax. Absolutely recommend for loves of genre films and exploitation cinema. 6. Dying Breed [Dir. Jody Dwyer]Dying Breed is essentially an Australian mix between Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes as a redneck/backwater horror film in Tasmania. What makes this film more unique is that this film is inspired by not only the extinct Tasmanian Tiger, but a real convict criminal from Australia's settler days who was rumored to be a cannibal. The film is this tense, often voyeuristic experience where you're just not sure what's going to happen, who its going to happen to or who/what is doing it. Sure, it's feeding a bit of the popularized torture porn genre Saw and Hostel established, but considering Saw actor/screenwriter Leigh Whannel is in this film-I'm not surprised. It wasn't particularly well liked by Aussie critics when it first released, but it's worth seeking out if you love horror. Also, honorable mention to the much better (and more well known) The Nightingale by Jennifer Kent which covers a more historically accurate setting of this story. 5. Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan [Dir. Kriv Stenders]Krvi Stenders is best known for his family friendly Australian classic Red Dog released in 2011, but I'd argue his best and more impactful film is this story of Australian soldiers in Vietnam. While Vietnam War films have been made in America basically since the war began, Australia's role in that brutal conflict is rarely depicted. Australian soldiers and American soldiers had completely different tactics, and so capturing that on screen is a joy to watch. Starring Aussie acting royalty like Travis Fimmel, Richard Roxburgh and Lincoln Lewis-the film ignore Hollywood level spectacle and bravado for a purely human story of the titular battle that is engaging, heartbreaking and thriller. While it lacks the iconic scenes of Platoon, The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now and We Were Soldiers-it absolutely deserves to a part of that pantheon and Stenders' directorial abilities shine here. 4. Carnifex [Dir. Sean Lahiff]The most recent film on this list is no less deserving of a place as it's a classically made, terrifyingly executed most film by Aussies that not enough have seen. To explaining the threat of the film would give the game away as you really should go in blind, but let's just say it plays on Australian prehistoric megafauna and turns what's often a joke in Australian terms into a terrifying beast. The film is seriously well done in terms of production, kills and performances so you really should just see it. 3. Wake in Fright [Dir. Ted Kotcheff]This is the only film on this list that isn't directed by an Aussie, instead directed by Canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff-known more for the British drama Life at the Top, the original Fun with Dick and Jane, action films like Uncommon Valor and First Blood, and the iconic comedy Weekend at Burnie's. Wake in Fright is arguably the most Australian film ever made by a non-Australian as it captures the behavior and environment of our nation-while contextualizing it from a foreign perspective. The film is a surreal, dream-like experience that honestly resembles the Silent Hill video game franchise or David Lynch's Twin Peaks more so than typical Aussie films. It deals heavily with themselves of masculinity and alienation, things Australians are still dealing with to this day. While acclaimed, the film was actually lost for some time until being restored in the 2000's and now remains a beloved Australian cult-classic. 2. The Boys [Dir. Roman Woods]In recent years, Australian filmmakers have become very fixated on real life crime incidents; with works like Snowtown, Nitram, The Stranger or the entire Underbelly franchise leaving an (not-always regarded) impact. But in 1998, Rowan Woods beat them all with a genuinely uncomfortable and all too real crime story based on the perpetrator behind the murder of Anita Cobby in 1986. The film has no glorification, with its camera merely an observer of some incredibly disturbing, bad sadly human people before and after they do something horrible. David Wenham might be known better for his roles in Hollywood films like The Lord of the Rings films, Van Helsing, 300 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales-but he plays his best role as a human monster here. And Toni Collete makes herself one of the rare bright sparks in this dark film. The Boys is a truly excellent film that won't kindle joy in your heart, but is arguably the best in Australia's true crime film pantheon. 1. Lake Mungo [Dir. Joel Anderson]While Australia has had found footage works like The Tunnel and There's Something in the Pilliga, none have been so beloved and acclaimed like Lake Mungo. While much of the found footage genre capitalized either on supernatural jump scares like Paranormal Activity and Grave Encounters or shock value like Cannibal Holocaust and The Poughkeepsie Tapes-Lake Mungo attempts neither. Instead, the film genuinely feels like a real documentary about grief and tragedy, rather than feeling just like random footage recorded by idiots. The film covers a family dealing with the loss of their daughter, who supposedly see the spirit of their daughter in eerie photos. I won't delve further because this movie knows how to tell horror through drama, mystery and escalation in a small scope. What I find so compelling about the film is how the story evolves throughout and gives layers to very human feeling characters before giving us one of the most existentially horrifying moments ever put on screen.
I consider it Australia's most underappreciated film as due to its execution, it's not the most accessible film and the fact that its director Joel Anderson has rarely done more work for the industry. While he was a script-editor on the Netflix mini-series Clickbait and an executive producer on Late Night with the Devil that's currently doing the rounds in cinemas, that's work he did a decade after he released this small masterpiece. You'd think any film company would see the brilliance of Anderson and let him make something more commercial, but apparently not. The film's traction has largely been due to YouTube creators like Ryan Hollinger, Chris Stuckmann, Dead Meat and other lovers of Horror giving it attention. Further viewing: The Saddest Horror Movie You've Never Seen (youtube.com) Lake Mungo - Movie Review (youtube.com) Lake Mungo (Dead Meat Podcast #131) (youtube.com) Even if you're not a lover of the horror or found footage genre, I HIGHLY recommend this movie as it is an emotional journey of film similar to that of the original Dark Water or The Exorcist as far as raw human feeling. And in my option-it is not only the most underappreciated Aussie film, but one of the BEST Australian horror films I've ever seen.
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Written by Tyrone BruinsmaBriefly - Australian Cinema HistoryAustralia's place in film is undeniably crucial. Australia was the first country to have a feature length narrative film in the form of The Story of the Kelly Gang by Charles Tait, while the 70s produced influential masterworks like Mad Max and Picnic at Hanging Rock. In the following decades, directors like George Miller, Peter Weir, Philip Noyce, Bruce Beresford, Alex Proyas, Baz Luhrman and Roger Donaldson became some of the most in-demand filmmakers in Hollywood. And it could be argued Australia's biggest export is its iconic actors including Mel Gibson, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie and countless more. But from the 2000s onwards, Australia's global film presence was lessened due to Hollywood's dominating output and the industry's often insular storytelling. Whilst films like Mad Max could be global icons and inspire the post-apocalyptic genre (in multiple mediums) for decades to come, many works focused so much on Australian characters and issues that they were barely seen by the world. While some rarities would break the mold and gain international attention like Crocodile Dundee, Wolf Creek, Happy Feet, The Babadook and Mad Max: Fury Road, msot of our output remains unseen. With multiple countries showing that Hollywood and American cinema is not the only dominating presence in the cinematic arts, where's Australia's place in this new world? China - Push for Global Cinema ControlTo get a sense of the biggest push a country has made to rival Hollywood, take China in the mid-late 2010s. While Chinese cinema has a storied history and many acclaimed works and filmmakers, the state-run film productions have pushed to be seen as global blockbusters. While many are inarguably state produced propaganda films, promoting the values of the Chinese Communist Party - other attempts have been broader. The biggest push was the release and production of The Great Wall. Directed by Zhang Yimou (director of Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower) and starring Hollywood A-listers like Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal and Willem Da Foe alongside many big Chinese stars, it's effectively a historical fiction monster movie. While visually impressive and entertainingly goofy, the film's $150 million budget only earned around $334 Million globally and resulted in a loss due to a big media push. Since then, China's film market has turned to producing Chinese focused blockbusters like Operation Red Sea and The Wandering Earth, whilst investing and producing popular American blockbuster franchise films like Kong: Skull Island, The Meg, Fast X and plenty more. China failed in one film's attempt to just be Hollywood, and so turned to a two-pronged effort in gaining cultural ground. The Chinese government's desire to influence the global stage and their treatment of human rights/free speech is its own issue to be discussed, but it cannot be denied that China is producing films that make money and is helping fund many popular global films. Parasite - Korean Cinema and Cultural PopularityTurning to another part of Asia, Korean New Wave in the early 2000s gained popularity with films like Oldboy and Memories of Murder, with the country consistently putting out great films like The Host, I Saw the Devil and Snowpiercer. A spike in the country's cinematic popularity came in 2016 with the impressive zombie action horror Train to Busan, whilst global audiences popularized Korean drama tv series, and K-Pop music from bands like BTS and BlackPink. It culminated in the release of 2019's Parasite by Bong Joon-ho. The darkly comedic thriller focused on classism manages to earn over $260 million (USD) worldwide, critical acclaim, Oscars for Best International Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Feature Film. The film's winning feat was impressive as it managed to beat out favorites like Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, Quinten Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Todd Phillips' Joker, becoming the first non-English film to win Best Picture of all time. Since then, Korean music, films, television and media as a whole has continued to thrive as one of the most potent of artistic talent in the world. Recent popular Korean films have included the historical thriller Escape from Mogadishu and crime thriller Decision to Leave, showcasing that the country's output is not slowing down. Covid/2020 - The Year an Anime Film Dominated the Global Box OfficeAnd then in 2020, the Covid pandemic struck the world hard. Million died, many have not recovered and cinemas were forced to close (some permanently). While films still released, big attempts at blockbusters like Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 bombed at the domestic box office. While pre-Covid Hollywood films like Sonic the Hedgehog and Bad Boys for Life did decently well and China's World War 2 film The Eight Hundred had success-the biggest film of 2020 was the first Demon Slayer film. Japanese cinema has been popular for years, with anime being one of the country's biggest cultural exports (both in film and television). Demon Slayer Mugen Train made over $500 Million (USD) at the global box office, beating out other anime films like Spirited Away, Your Name, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo. Subsequent anime films have also been global hits like Suzume, The First Slam Dunk, One Piece Film: Red, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and The Boy and the Heron. In 2023, Godzilla: Minus One released as a box office smash and critical darling-earning a Best Visual Effects Oscar, beating out mega budget Hollywood films like The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 and Oppenheimer. The film's success and domination of cultural discussions around film continue to show that America is not the only or most important voice at the cinematic table. RRR - Indian CinemaWhen it comes to Indian Cinema (not just exclusively Bollywood), the country's works have largely been seen as insular-known for their rapid genre/tone shifts and 3+ hour runtimes. Indian audiences view their cinema with serious cultural and artistic importance and very rarely has anyone within India tried to make it work for a global audience. Aabra Ka Daabra from 2004 was a notorious failure that attempted to replicate the success of Harry Potter and 2013's Dhoom 3 aped Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (to the point of filming and setting the film in Chicago) to better results. However, global audiences continued to largely treat Indian Cinema as a curiosity. That was until 2022, when the Telugu film RRR was released. The film was the most expensive Indian film to date, but a massive hit at the box office (the 3rd Highest Grossing Indian film of all time) and became a globally beloved film. The film's narrative, visuals, emotions, action and music hit the hearts of audiences all over the globe. While the film was not nominated for Best International Feature at the Oscars (Last Film Show was the country's entry), the film's popular song Naatu Naatu won Best Original song (becoming the first Indian Film to win an Oscar) RRR continues to be a beloved film for many people, and arguably one of the most important films of the past few years for visual and emotional storytelling-as well as exposing people to global cinema. Talk to Me - Current Australian Cinema and its FutureAnd now we come to Australian cinema. Whilst countries like China, Korean, Japan and India have soared with big bold works-Australian films have largely languished. While there are interesting works like The Dressmaker produced, we often get largely disappointing horror films like Red Billabong, Boar, Black Water: Abyss and The Reef: Stalked. And sometimes Australian filmmakers have attempted big budget genre hits, but they end up being Gods of Egypt or Interceptor and failing.
The most successful recent Australian made films have largely been Hollywood co-productions like Baz Luhrman's Elvis and Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge. While engaging and artistically outstanding works like The Nightingale, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Boy Erased and The Dry are made - they're seen less. Part of the problem is Australia has less resources to make major films than America (or even just Los Angeles itself) and American studios are happy to use Australia's resources to film big budget films for cheaper here. In the past decade or so-Thor Ragnarök, Kong: Skull Island, Pirates of the Carribean; Dead Men Tell No Tales, Alien: Covenant, Dora the Explorer, Trouble in Paradise, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Elvis, Godzilla V.S Kong, The Invisible Man, Mortal Kombat, Anyone by You, The Fall Guy, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire have all filmed here, with Mortal Kombat 2 currently filming. This is not a bad thing, Hollywood films have been made lovingly in Australia like The Thin Red Line, The Matrix and at one point a Justice League film by George Miller was set to be made here. The worry is if Australia's cinematic artform will be driven less by making our own films and more by what next $200 Million dollar franchise film can be made here. Australia is a country overflowing with amazing actors, writers, directors, crew and audiences in Australia are craving good content. However, more needs to be done to enable more films to be made and not just for tax purposes from foreign countries. And Australian filmmakers should broaden their horizons to make films less about "the Aussie battler" and instead universal stories. Parasite was a film about the innate toxicity of classicism, while RRR was a film about confronting colonialism and oppression. Both may have been products of their countries and tied into some specific aspects, but were largely broad and very easy to engage. Since the days of Greek theatre-the measure of a successful storyteller is how many people can hear and understand your story. It's why films like Independence Day, Titanic, Black Panther and Barbie impacted so many. And luckily for Australia, there is hope. Many independent filmmakers have avoided studios and begun developing/producing quality films, with every genre at play. Australia's most popular export at the moment is the globally accessible and beloved cartoon Bluey. The show is both deeply Australian, but completely universal for children and adults. In 2023, one of the most popular and talked about horror films in that stacked year was Talk to Me. Directed by Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou (popularly known on YouTube as RakkaRakka), the film was made on a modest $4.5 Million before being picked up for distribution by A24 (the company that released The Lighthouse, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale and Hazbin Hotel). The film garnered critical acclaim and made $92 Million worldwide. The energic and accessible film has already been guaranteed a sequel, whilst both filmmakers are in talks to direct a Street Fighter film adaptation. It's a show that you can make something easy to digest like a supernatural horror film, but with an Australian charm and energy-and make it work as a hit. And later this year will see George Miller return to the Mad Max world again with a direct prequel to Fury Road, with Anya Taylor-Joy playing a young Furiosa and Chris Hemsworth playing the villain. Hopefully this film will bring with it the same global acclaim and box office results the prior film did as it looks to share much of that film's perfection. Australia still has a film industry, with talented people working their hardest. But it's up to creators, investors, supporters, studios and audiences to continue to fight for the biggest, best and most unique visions for our country. The Aussie underdog spirit won't allow these people to give up. Australia will grow as audiences across the planet are demanding the newest and best films, not content with mediocre garbage anymore. And Australia MUST deliver. Written by Tyrone BruinsmaI don't think I've ever felt a stronger disconnect with emotional resonance of my generation than when I saw tearfully mournful sadness by a huge swath of the internet at the announcement of MatPat retiring from YouTube. So many people were genuinely sad...and I didn't get it. I read people saying that he was their childhood and I get that media personalities you watch from adolescence to adulthood can mean a lot but...I just didn't feel. But then again, maybe that's because I've issues with MatPat for some time and feel like the bearer of bad news whenever I mention his failings. Don't get me wrong, MatPat isn't a bad person and I've got no personal issues with him. He doesn't have disturbing allegations against him or have some record of scamming his audience, and it's clear he loves his audience and work. Even in the media/cultural commentary space he's not the worst like the right-wing outrage merchant grifter mobs who spam 10 videos a day. It's just that there's been a lot of his content I have issues and feel he may have inadvertently lead to a lesser media literacy landscape. If you don't know, MatPat was the YouTube host for YouTube channels like Game Theory and Film Theory where he'd examine a piece of media either based on uncovering a real-world relevance to the material or looking for protentional hidden secrets. This famously started with figuring out "How Fast is Sonic the Hedgehog?" before going into much more elaborate topics. And I do have to give praise for the editing of these videos, the research he and his writers do and the general quality of the videos. And some videos of his I still find engaging like figuring out "How Rich is Scrooge McDuck?" But then there's videos that feel really bad. While he's got embarrassing older works like trying to superficially figure out the gender and sexuality of The Pyro from Team Fortress 2, which weirdly ends in him saying "Bi-Sexual Men are often schizophrenic" which is deeply problematic. My bigger issues lie in how he approaches piece of media as problems to be solved or connected to other media. Five Nights at Freddy'sLet's start with the franchise that MatPat became a huge player in, Five Nights at Freddy's (FNAF). A 2014 horror game by Scott Cawthon that played at a security cam watcher avoiding Chuck E Cheese style animatronics, the game instantly grew popular on YouTube thanks to lets players and theory videos. MatPat's initial video on the game was examining real life parallels to a crime that occurred in a similar venue was interesting. However, the framing of the videos quickly changed to theories about lore, characters and the backstory for everything. While popular and entertaining, this would (in my opinion) create a boomerang effect on the game series and videos. While the sequels would add in more details and hints, MatPat would have his theories presented and it created a feedback loop for the developer, audience and MatPat. This eventually culminated in the 4th game, where MatPat basically theorized the developer's desired conclusion...and didn't like that. This essentially resulted in a rare instance where someone else wrote the story into a corner. The FNAF games seemed to be leading into a point where the entire story were dreams by a child, but because MatPat and audiences didn't like that as an end result-Scott Cawthon had to put in more and more work in future games and books to try and pull something else. I really stopped caring about the series and theories after Sister Location, because it was clear that nothing was ever going to satisfy fans and thus satisfy its developer. What initially was one scary game, because one of the msot popular horror game franchises ever, to the point its 2023 film adaptation made nearly $300 Million at the global box office. Now, part of the problem with MatPat's constant dissections and guess work is that it just tried to fit all the pieces of the FNAF story into a safe, comfortable and easy to understand timeline. But stories (especially horror ones) aren't meant to always to do that. Fan theories (and "plot holes" we'll get to that later) are meant to be a nerd's parlor game to be an amusing conversation. Digging into something so much to the point you declare a media author's intent wrong and inadvertently making them change it is less a parlor game and more fanfiction. Also, all of this ignores elements like themes, characters arcs and more interesting ideas than simply "who became this robot?" I also feel that MatPat basically doing the work in uncovering secrets and easter eggs gave certain developers of games the confidence in doing less work for the same praise. Games like Doki Doki Literature Club and Duck Season (games MatPat did videos on) seem designed to have some sparing background details to imply a far more interesting story than what players are given. Rule of storytelling: "Is this the most interesting part of your character's life? If not, why aren't you showing us that?" Having random details and file names that the average player won't see to imply a better story than what you're actually telling feels lazy and far too many games have done that of late. Cineamtic Storytellinghe more pervasive problem is that eventually, MatPat's work just seemed to fundamentally either pretend that humans didn't make these works or that sometimes creative decisions were not made perfect. Two minor instances of this are videos in which he suggests Dory from Finding Nemo is actually just a liar based on some creative dialogue or that the Ouija movies are in the same universe as The Exorcist films based on genre cliches The Exorcist established. part of the problem is MatPat's videos do have to play to the algorithm of YouTube, so imagine creating videos based on trending films at the time like Finding Dory and Ouija Origin of Evil in 2016 was hard. But, it doesn't excuse poorly thought-out videos wherein you take a few liens of dialogue and horror genre cliches as "proof" of said ridiculous claims. For me, 2017 was the year I finally checked out based on two things. Firstly, MatPat expressed immense dissatisfaction in his theories for the Star Wars films (namely theories he had for The Force Awakens and Rogue One films to "pay off" in The Last Jedi) after Episode 8. Now, this was troubling to me because it felt like he (and his fans) had absorbed some belief that they were correct, as well as misunderstood that Star Wars was not the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and not respecting the creative new decisions Rian Johnson put into The Last Jedi. It was the equivalent of believing your own hype, or in fan community circles: getting mad that your believed head canon wasn't "actual canon". But for me, the worst act of failing to understand media came from his video on 2017's Wonder Woman. The video is primarily a "call out" of a "plot hole" that states that Diana and Steve could never make it from Greece to London in the time the movie says so. Aside from the fact that plot holes are largely a nerd's parlor game (again), this was the least of the film's problems. A lot of film critic/cultural commentator channels use plot holes as cheap critique fodder when it's often just wasting time and not talk about more relevant things. Channels like Your Movie Sucks, CinemaSins and The Nostalgia Critic all do this to some annoying degree wherein they take everything literally/at face value, don't understand something or just straight up ignore the information the film provides. There's plenty of videos that call this out and I'll link some below. SHUT UP ABOUT PLOT HOLES (youtube.com) Sustaining Stupidity - Why CinemaSins is Terrible (youtube.com) CinemaSins is (Still) Terrible (youtube.com) If you enjoy these channels or like discussing plot holes, that's fine. But treating "plot holes" (which has become so warped and vague because people now seem to just constantly ask questions about films even if they're answers) as genuine criticism is a sign that you don't have the ability to formulate better ways to express your dislike of a film. So aside from this being a dumb plot hole to try an invalidate a good movie's existence to complain about for over 10 minutes, there's another more pressing problem. See MatPat didn't attribute this "plot hole" to Diana or Steve or an in-universe character like he normally does, he attributed the full blame to Zack Snyder. While Snyder at the time "technically" the DC Extended Universe architect and helped produce David Ayer's Suicide Squad, James Wan's Aquaman and Patty Jenkins' WOnder Woman-he was not the lead creative on those. In regards to Wonder Woman, he served merely as a producer and credited story writer-which was more to keep the film in line with his planned Justice League film (see Zack Snyder's Justice League for that). Plus, Snyder wrote the story with Jason Fuchs and Allan Heinberg (who wrote the final script) and was overseen by director Patty Jenkins. Blaming Snyder for a story plot point that likely NO ONE ELSE in the production of this film cared about is beyond silly. It really feels like either MatPat who the writer(s) of this episode were riding on the Snyder hate-train after the disappointment of Batman V Superman. But that's not how story writing in Hollywood works. At the time Film Theory released its video (September 2017), Snyder actually wasn't handling the finishing of Justice League that would be released later that year. Snyder had stepped down from directing the final version of Justice League in May of 2017 (with rumors speculating that Warner Brothers wanted to fire him before this) because...Snyder had tragically lost his daughter to suicide. Now, this was not recent news or private information. Snyder stepped away from the film to be with his family. So, imagine Snyder not only losing his vision for his film, but more importantly losing his daughter...and MatPat felt comfortable laying into him as the sole pause of an insignificant plot hole. I don't know if MatPat/his team didn't know, didn't care or thought 4 months was enough time to solely blame a mourning father for something that doesn't matter. This has been my biggest grievance against MatPat, because aside from having a massive amount of respect for Zack Snyder...that just seems awfully cruel, mean-spirited and against MatPat's usual positive outlook. And ultimately, this plot hole and lore fixation in much of MatPat's work leads into the negative effect I feel he has had on media literacy as a whole. As I've stated, MatPat largely ignores themes or recognizing stories as emotional journeys for characters. It comes back to old staples of cinema "plot holes" like Indiana Jones being an unnecessary character in Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jack and Rose totally could've fit on that door in Titanic. Those (and other plot holes) ignore the fact that THESE ARE NOT THE POINTS OF THOSE FILMS! Raiders of the Lost Ark is not about the mechanics of the Nazis digging up a relic, it's about Indiana Jones gaining more respect for those artifacts and rekindling a love (even though that last one is problematic due to her age). It's lead to an online culture where people go into movies and games looking for things to find "wrong" with them and treat that as some kind of bragging rights "gotcha". It's like how the stupidest kind of people only recently discover things like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol is a metaphor for "money doesn't bring happiness". For a better idea of this, I recommend Dan Olsen's video on Annihilation that breaks down this frustration further: Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor (youtube.com) Wrapping UpMedia Literacy is in a place where some of the loudest voices in film/game/media/narrative discussions are some of the stupidest, most bigoted and proudly anti-intellectual grifters around. While I don't put MatPat in that category, I worry if MatPat's decade long work has led people to either find ways to prove a story "couldn't happen" or is secretly part of some other universe. MatPat's work might have affected a whole generation of kids and teens who are now adults...but has that made them better storytellers or analysts or media? Considering how much blatant media literacy is out there and how so many new young storytellers obsess over building finely, intricately connected lore instead of story arcs...I'm worried. Stories are not about literal events and 2000 yearlong info-dumps, they're about characters going on a journey and changing them-giving us an emotional reaction.
They're not about realistic gun physics, the reality of travelling across the ocean, or if some random detail means an entire film series exists in another fictious universe - it's about telling an emotional experience that hopefully makes the audience better for it. MatPat has clearly had a large, profound effect on people to where him retiring has given people a massive emotional reaction. I'm not writing this out of anger, rage or contempt-but frustration in not knowing if the body of work MatPat has left behind has been a negative. Frustration at feeling like I'm the only person in the room wanting to speak about the issues of this body of work. As a writer, filmmaker and storyteller - I want these mediums to not just continue to have great works, but for people to engage them with the emotional maturity to handle it well. I don't want new storytellers who make an impactful story bogged down by legions of people harping on an insignificant plot inconsistency or obsessive fans ignoring the work to just slot it into another creative work that it's unconnected to. I hope I'm wrong. I hope the people who grew up with MatPat do know the art of storytelling and don't let concerns over "plot holes" get them down or write a 10'000-page backstory to a story without a plot and instead know that good media engages the heart and mind equally. I wish MatPat, his partner and their loved ones all the best in the future. And to those still reeling from this, his content isn't going anywhere. Written by Tyrone BruinsmaIn the various genres of anime (Harem, Shonen, Isekai etc) comes the "Magical Girl Anime". Popularized by the likes of Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew (Mew Mew Power in the US), and given deconstructionist takes by the likes of Madoka Magica - the genre remains one of the most popular genres globally and is especially adored by female audiences. The genre's influences can be felt in similar western works like Winx Club, though American live action shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and even The Flying Nun also reflect this desire in audience's joy in magical female heroines. Released alongside Tokyo Mew Mew from 2002 to 2003 (Co-currently with a manga adaptation), Princess Tutu starts out as initially a fairy tale version of the Magical Girl formula before transcending into something more. What at first breaks down the cliches of Magical Girl animes instead turns its attention to the concepts of authorship, character motivation, and ultimately the purpose of conflict in stories. The premise of the anime is this: the story takes place in a magical town where a girl named Duck is pining for the affections of an emotionally muted boy named Mythos (pronounced Muto for some reason) at a dance school. But (because there always a "but" in anime) Duck is actually a literal duck who was turned into a human by a dead author named Drosselmeyer to restore pieces of Mythos heart that was shattered into shards. To do this, she'll have to "fight" persons and humanoid animals with emotional problems who have those heart shards within themselves, by turning herself into Princess Tutu. Also, if she makes duck noises as a human, she turns into a duck; but can make herself human again with water. And if that "simple" premise hurts your head-don't worry it's fairly self-explanatory in experiencing the series. If the name Drosselmeyer wasn't a hint for you, Drosselmeyer is the name of a character from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's adaptation of The Nutcracker and appeared in versions like the 2001 Barbie in the Nutcracker adaption. And through the use of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, it's very clear that this work is a love letter and ode to not only those works, but classic fairytales in general. The bonkers premise and its world operate on a dream like quality similar to Alice in Wonderland where the questions of fiction and reality are largely unimportant...until they are. See, Princess Tutu's trick is that the first half of the first season largely plays out in a Sailor Moon plot structure wherein Duck encounters a character with emotional problems, turns into Princess Tutu and dances with them to heal them of their pain and thus regain a piece of Mythos' heart. But over the course of the story, more and more depth is added in. For instance, while there are comedic characters like Duck's best friends Pike and Lilie, and her dance teacher Mr. Cat; even they get some depth going forward. The two most interesting characters are Rue (Mytho's betrothed girlfriend) and Fakir (Mytho's best friend who acts like a bodyguard). At first Rue seems like a perfect girl and Fakir like a jerk, but the story slowly unravels into more and more layers while the author Drosselmeyer constantly craves conflict-directly speaking to us as the audience. And unfortunately, I can't explain the complexities or intricacies of that depth without spoiling the entire series: so if you want to not be spoiled - please go watch it now. If you've seen it or are ok with spoilers, we'll proceed. SPOILED SECTIONSo, for the first half of Princess Tutu's first season-there's no overarching villain. Drosselmeyer acts more as a narrative foil than anything - pushing the story to where it needs to be. We learn elements like how Duck really was just a duck who fell in love with Mythos as prince, or that if Duck ever proclaims her love for Mythos-she'll vanish into light, which don't come out of the ordinary. But then, Rue turns out to be our seeming villain-as she transforms herself into the villainous Princess Kraehe who doesn't wish for Mytho's heart to be restored.
This adds a sense of my immediate conflict seeing as how Princess Tutu's "fights" are little more than dances of understanding. We also learn that Fakir has been acting akin to a knight to protect Mythos, even to the point where he would willingly shatter Mytho's heart. See, the interesting conflict revolves around emotional fulfilment. If Duck proclaims her love to Mythos (the thing that she craves more than anything and is her driving motivation) she will die. If Mythos regains his heart (and thus his emotions)...well something bad will happen. The first season concludes in a unique showdown where Kraehe/Rue kidnaps Mythos and forces Princess Tutu/Duck to either make herself vanish or she'll shatter the part of Mytho's heart that represents love. This conflict ends in a 'dance fight' of sorts between Princess Tutu and Princess Kraehe, with Princess Tutu winning and freeing Mythos. And while that seems like a happy ending, season 2 gets more complex and more in depth. Because the two big reveals at first are that Kraehe poisoned Mytho's heart shard which taints his soul with that of Kaehe's father...The Raven. See, before he died - Drosselmeyer was writing a story about Prince's battle with a giant Raven that wanted to eat his heart. To prevent this, the Prince carved out his own heart. See where this is going? Because it turns out Drosselmeyer's stories were coming to life and so was this tale...before he was killed. And we haven't even gotten to the truly emotionally piercing stuff. While season follows a similar pace to the first, the new element is Kraehe attempting to feed people's heart to her Raven father and that's who Princess Tutu ends up saving. But more pieces come into play, like how not only did Fakir dedicate himself to protect Prince Mytho since he was a small boy...but he's a descendant of Drosselmeyer with the ability to rewrite stories/reality. We learn that Drosselmeyer may or may not be in as much control of the story as we thought. We learn that there's a secret cult society that seeks to control this town by ensuring Drosselmeyer's power ceases as he's trapepd them in this fictious world. We even learn that Kraehe's abusive Raven father isn't even her real father...but that he kidnapped her as a baby during one of his attacks on the town and she loved the Prince from a young age. Now, if you can process all that-you might be asking "Where's Duck/Princess Tutu?" Well that's this anime's first big meta story trick. Drosselmeyer makes it very clear that Princess Tutu is an entirely new character to help end his unfinished tale. As a writer myself, this is actually a really neat trick as it shows that: 1. Your main character may not seem like the most important cog in the machine, but they are unto themselves. 2. Conflict drives the story. Too many films in the post JJ Abrams era have forgotten this. This will only be a small tangent, but JJ Abrams as a writer made a name for himself by helping bring up writer colleagues like Damon Lindeloff, Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman and "The Mystery Box". The Mystery Box isn't really relevant here, but what is how many of these writers have applied a systemic formula to their scripts that makes them problematic. For instance, Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman's screenplays on films like Transformers, Cowboys and Aliens and the 2017 reboot of The Mummy all suffer from bland lead protagonists with very little conflict, involvement or engagement-but just happen to have/be walking MacGuffins of importance to the plot no one cares about. They barely have arcs and rarely affect the story. Princess Tutu (despite coming out before those) defies that by making the seemingly unimportant main character not only interesting, not only engaging through their motivation and conflict, but by her entry into the story making the characters change for the better. She restores Mytho's heart shards and gives him a personality, she break's Fakir's steely aggressive resolve into a kinder soul, and she even appeals to Rue's heart that becomes essential to the story by the end. The ending climax sees Rue/Kraehe reject her father's goals of eating the Prince's heart and professing her love for him, Fakir accepting his lineage's gift to rewrite this story (even after it's established the raven kill his parents for trying this as a child), and Duck as Princess Tutu reject's Drosselmeyer's attempts to interfere with the story. In the end: Duck, Mytho, Rue and Fakir all work together to destroy The Raven once and for all, finish this story and free the town from this fictious pocket dimension. Despite Duck and Mytho seeming to be destined to fall in love as post 80s fairytale's would, it's actual Rue and Mytho who go on to live on as the happily ever after Princess and Prince. While Duck turns into a duck permanently, living with Fakir who has come to love her. The town reverts into a place in the real world, and Drosselmeyer goes on to maybe write another story as a ghost once more. The main theme that comes through with Princess Tutu is not conflict, or even characters breaking free of their bonds - it's love. Not in a pining, romantic love - but a universal love of humanity. While there have been other stories and series that have attempted this to mixed results (ie. Steven Universe having a protagonist who would try to reason with genocidal monsters) Princess Tutu does it the best. Princess Tutu as a story and character is about how underneath people's unfulfilled goals and struggles is a heart that can be reached. It's an unselfish love as Princess Tutu seeks to repair Mytho's heart without really asking for anything in return, understand Fakir, and just be friend with Rue-even when she knows Rue is the villain. She doesn't fight anyone because she's trying to understand and heal those who are in in pain, that's why this isn't really an action series even if there are scene of that. There's lots of things I didn't cover, like how Mr Cat is a hilarious character with his constant threats to make failing students marry him (with the show giving him depth and even a nice ending), or how there's supporting characters like Miss Adel or Uzura that are delightful. Or that the comedy is seriously gold, with the English voice cast doing an outstanding job. While not as popularized and well known as Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, One Piece, Bleach, My Hero Academia or Demon Slayer - Princess Tutu maintains a hardcore fanbase to the point in recent years a dedicate team has been producing a fully animated and voiced unofficial 3rd season that you can watch online called Princess Tutu Zwei. It's a good series, one I recommend to fans of Sailor Moon/magical girl animes, fairytales or those who love to engage in dream logic stories that engage in the nature of reality. It's also a really cute, really sweet and really funny series. Its subverted my expectations and view of the characters multiple times-with my favorite being Rue/Kraehe as I feel she's the most complex and truly tragic character of this story. You don't say that about a nothing story where it's boring. It's well paced, avoids some of the worst cliches in anime and is a masterclass in emotionally engaging with stories and characters. Written by Tyrone BruinsmaAfter earning attention by the petty stupid bigots of the planet for casting a black actress as Ariel in this remake-The Little Mermaid ends up as one of the better Disney remakes.
Following the original 1989 film, but deviating in some nice ways-this remake follows Ariel's journey to fall in love with her human crush Eric and the conflicts that arise. So, for one, this movie does look gorgeous and it's clear a lot of that effort in the CGI was why this took so long. Sure, some of the CGI sea creatures who talk look a little odd at first-but you get over it like Will Smith's Genie or the eyes in Alita Battle Angel. Halle Bailey as Ariel is wonderful, exuding the same charm as our original red headed animated princess. If there's an improvement in this version, it's that it characters both Ariel and Eric as giant nerds who just want to be together and enjoy their passions. Largely the film does improve the characterizations of characters like Triton, Ursula, Scuttle and adds in new characters to give us a better understanding of the world and these characters. The music is great, even if some of the new songs aren't quite as good as classics like Part of Your World, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Under the Sea or Kiss the Girl. These sequences are largely great, while not as visually spectacular as their animated counterpart. While Rob Marshall's never been one of my favorite directors, this is probably his best overall film thanks to the original material and Disney's money to make it look the best it can be. It's not going to surpass the original, but it's a nice alternative for young girls to be reminded that anyone can be a mermaid. And seriously, if you're one of the stupid adults who were having a hissy fit over a black mermaid and trying to rationalize why that's wrong...cry harder because you're more immature than a child. 7/10 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaAnother year, another attempt by Netflix to make their own crowd pleasing blockbuster that kind of fails. While they've tried with big star-studded films like The Gray Man and Red Notice-Heart of Stone is another middling attempt at this filmmaking. Heart of Stone is an attempt at Netflix crafting their own James Bond/Mission Impossible spy franchise with Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot as the lead and The Aeronauts director Tom Harper at the helm. Sadly though, it's such a boring and cleanly crafted slog of a film.
The premise is that Gal Gadot works for this ultra secret agency that covertly operates within other agencies and uses a supercomputer to achieve their goals. Things are complicated when this computer's software is stolen by and old friend of Gadot's and they need to retrieve it. Sadly, it's really just boring. Despite a somewhat fun sequence inspired by On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the film's eventual plot twists start unravelling from there and the action scenes become less and less engaging as the movie goes on. The writing is mediocre, with more attention put into the premise than the dialogue or progression. I could actually spot an eventual betrayal coming from a mile away, and I'm not sure if it was the actor's performance, the writing or direction (or all 3) but I wasn't happy that it was so obvious. While Tom Harper has solid direction, grasp of geography and visual abilities-there's no inventiveness or creativity in the action scenes. They're all the same generic grab bag of action movie cliches, shot and edited with no flair. Considering how good the truly best action films this year have been, Heart of Stone really needed to step up its game. Extraction 2 came out from Netflix the same year and that was such a gold standard for making action films. Heart of Stone has solid acting and direction, but a bad story, weak action and no originality that this review can only be so long. 4/10 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaAfter getting announced almost a decade ago, being re-worked through multiple DC film leadership changes, at one point set up to be a big reset button, suffering bad publicity from its lead actor's internal crime spree, COVID and several delays-The Flash finally came out. And, it was a gigantic box office bomb (likely losing Warner Brothers $200+ Million) and receiving mixed reception at best. To some, it's a fun ride, while many consider it a messy failure. Honestly, I'm somewhere in between because this might be the first time I have a film be on my best AND worst list of a year. This is gonna need unpacking.
After WB let Zack Snyder set about making his version of the DC Universe, a Flash film was greenlit with no clear story. After multiple directors and writers were attached and the project made to be a Flashpoint Paradox light adaptation, it's clear we were gonna get something in the form of an in-universe reset/restart/soft-reboot. But by the time this was in the can, too much money had been spent and James Gunn was set to officially reboot, so while I was personally excited for The Flash-I realize many audiences probably didn't care. It's especially tragic that this film ended up coming out after Into the Spider-Verse, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness all came out to varying success, plus it came out in the wake of Across the Spider-Verse being a massive critical, box office and cultural hit tapping into similar ideas in a better way than this film. So yeah, I can understand why many people hate it and those enjoy it. But if anyone tries to posit that The Flash is better than Across the Spider-Verse...that's just bait or fan boy posturing. The plot of this film is that Berry Allen/The Flash is a little tired of helping everyone except his father and dead mother, but one day discovers (or re-discovers from the Justice League films) that he can go back in time. He decides to go back in time to prevent his mother's death, but in the process is attacked by a time monster that knocks him into 2013 where his mother is alive and another him has no powers. After a series of accidents, Barry and Barry must team up Michael Keaton's Batman and Sasha Calle's Supergirl to takedown Man of Steel's Zod. So, I will try to get all the praise I can for this out of the way before delving into my (and other's) big issues. First of all, Andy Muschietti's direction is great. His prior horror filmography was solid with Mama being a good spooky story, the 2017 adaptation of It being masterful and It: Chapter 2...ok was a mess but his direction was solid. From a color, direction, action, visual ideas, cinematography standpoint-Muschietti's handling of The Flash is great. He also handles Batman well, with the action scenes involving Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton's Batman heroes being handled very well. Even simple pan back and forth shots establishing police arriving on the scene in the opening action beat showcasing a thought-out way to handle things. Seeing Ben Affleck for (presumably) the last time is fun and witnessing Michael Keaton return as Batman to mess up dudes royally thanks to modern effects is the stuff from my childhood. Luckily, both actors do more than many would expect. Sasha Calle's Supergirl is criminally underused despite her being great in action scenes and emotions. The action in general is awesome, even if it's largely only 3 scenes across nearly 2.5 hours. The opening hospital save/Bat-cycle chase scene is great with a fun ending, the rescue scene in a Russian base is a great showcase for Keaton's Batman and the final scene with all our heroes fighting Zod's army is fun stuff. I can also give praise to Benjamin Wallfisch's score and Henry Braham's cinematography, especially since he's also shot James Gunn's last 3 films-he's a great modern DOP. But now we gotta get onto the more problematic stuff. Upfront, yes Ezra Miller's crime spree of assaults, weapon possession and child endangerment is more than enough reason for anyone to not want to watch this film. And while I would've liked it if they could've reshot him with a new actor-the price of this VERY expensive movie would've likely become astronomical. Plus, due to Ezra putting themselves in therapy before its release-Screen Actors Guild rules state that they cannot be fired. And what's sad is that Ezra isn't terrible in this film, but exemplifies that they probably shouldn't have been asked to carry the lead. When another actor is helping carry the scene, Ezra's energy has the right balance. But because most of the film is present and past Barrys talking to each other-it really shows that Miller has always been a limited talent and renders the film lagging in the middle. The film either needed to be shorter or actually longer. If shorter, it needed to get to Batman and Supergirl faster or if longer, explore more of the esoteric ideas revolving around changing the timeline. Unfortunately, the middle part of the film where we just have two Barrys to interact with is the weakest part, with a scene involving Barry "comedically" trying to find other heroes being just a wash in lazy humor. Another issue that I don't know is just a missed creative attempt or genuine bad execution in quality are the visual effects. Most of the CGI, green screen and visuals are great-however the CGI for babies in one scene and the CGI element for Barrys time travel look really bad. I get the visual idea and if this were a 2D animated film or comic book-would be incredibly impressive. But I'm more than willing to bet these sequences were undermined by a lack of time, money or changes to the project. It's just a lacking element for such an expensive film when so much of it does look impressive. And lastly, without trying to spoil-the climactic ending sequence involves both some pretty bad CGI cameos in an artificial way as well as finalizing the narrative on kind of a negative note. Many people have read the film as to mean "Don't let your tragedy define who you are" (as literally said by Ben Affleck), while just as many have read it as more "Stop trying to fix the world and improve your life, you'll wreck everything" and I can see both and neither true. I think the problem is that The Flash was started back in 2013 after Man of Steel, had no clear direction for story and was being changed constantly in the franchise's changes, creative shifts and even during its filming and production. I don't even think the filmmakers ultimately know the final meaning of the narrative. I can say that while the climactic resolution is dumb...at least it's not the dumbest version that I worried was going to happen. Ultimately, The Flash is a mess similar to Black Adam or 2016's Suicide Squad-but probably the best of those 3 films. They're all still entertaining in their own way and have some quality of craft to them, but pale in comparison to the better installments of the DC films or rival features. I'll probably continue to watch The Flash as a guilty pleasure I find a lot of joy in, but I look forward to when someone under James Gunn creates a truly definitive Flash film. 7/10 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaWhen I first saw the trailer for Elemental, I (like many others) dismissed it as almost Pixar self-parody. The reviews at first weren't overly positive and the film wasn't an instant smash. But after audiences took more time to watch it, the film eventually got better reviews and managed to make more money that blockbuster franchises like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Flash or Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
What was seemingly pitched as "elements come to life" is actually a really well-done version of an immigrant storyline realized through the motif of "Elements don't mix". It's clear director Peter Sohn was touching on his personal background much in the same way Domee Shi did for Turning Red last year. This is obviously not the first time an animated kid's film has dealt with this subject matter, as An American Tail from Don Bluth back in 1986 in a more overt manner. Where Elemental succeeds over An American Tail from not lagging in the middle and not giving into post-Civil Rights Neo-Liberalism, is that Elemental is actually a love story. The story follows Ember, a 2nd generation fire immigrant in Elemental city who must save her family's shop (and entire neighborhood) with the help of water city inspector Wade. Overtime they learn more about each other, their backgrounds and grow closer together despite the prejudices. Whereas a film like Zootopia could be a bit on the nose with its prejudice allegory, Elemental is smarter and more subtle in scenes like Wade's father making a micro-aggressive comment about Ember's ability to speak. One could argue that the film could've been made with entirely human characters and just have the Asian coded fire nation be exactly drawn from Sohn's family life. But I will say the elemental nature allows for more visual creativity, comedy and moments that would've been silly to replicate without the fantastic element. The movie if very well crafted, with it featuring amazing visuals and creativity thanks to the elements-but also the somewhat grounded nature of the city. The writing is also good, willing to give into earnest heartfelt moments and over the top comedic moments when needed. It helps that the cast is really good, Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World: Dominion) is amazing as Wade, one of the most emotionally potent and loveable characters in a feature film ever made. And Leah Lewis gets the more emotionally and narratively complex character of Ember, a character torn between raised prejudices, love for her family, self struggles and desire to be more to the degree she's commonly displayed with anger issues. It's a really tough role, with the writing, voice work and script crafting a great protagonist. The supporting cast is great, making the world feel lived in. This film has 3 great scenes I love, 2 of which are spoilers so I'll briefly cover them. One is a romantic scene that feels realistic in its flow and emphasizes that connection and understanding can override "chemical" differences, while another is a generational bond of respecting tradition and the future. The one scene I can show here (YouTube) is this adorable date scene with Wade and Ember to the original song "Steal the Show" and is largely dialogue free, reminding me of the best romantic moments from 90s films. Elemental is now out on Disney +, so if you have it, it's absolutely worth watching for kids, families and adults. If you yourself are from a family of immigrants it may hit very hard. It's not likely going to be considered one of Pixar's masterpieces like Up-but may very well end up being some people's favourite. 8/10 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaBack in 2019, Godzilla: King of the Monsters came out and it was my favorite cinema going experience of that year and one of my favorite films of all time. Come to find out most critics detested it and labeled it as nothing more than a bad/stupid monster film. I got flashbacks to that sensation watching Meg 2: The Trench and coming to find most film critics have dismissed this film. Seriously, I do not know what some of you critics want when you go see a movie called Meg 2: The Trench. And if any of you say "A good film" in that snarky response, I hope you stub your toe. After 20 years of low-grade z tier Megalodon films like Shark Attack 3, Megalodon (2004/2018), the Mega Shark V.S franchise or The Black Demon from earlier this year...how anyone could look at 2018's The Meg and its superior sequel to say "these are bad" is beyond me.
Seriously, watch this trailer and if you're not sold...why are you here? MEG 2: THE TRENCH - OFFICIAL TRAILER - YouTube Jumping back for context, in 1997-novelist Steve Alten released "Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror" about Megalodons being discovered in the deep ocean. The book (especially coming out in the success of the Jurassic Park films and just before Deep Blue Sea) became a hot commodity in Hollywood but languished in development hell for 20 years). Jan De Bont (Speed, Twister), Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pacific Rim) and El Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) were all attached at various points until it was picked up by Warner Brothers as a Chinese co-production. China's involvement likely stemmed from both a need to offset costs and China's obsession/interest in undersea movies for increased box office returns. For director, workman director Jon Turteltaub (Cool Runnings, National Treasure) was chosen with Jason Statham leading an all-star cast. The film ended up earning over half a billion at the global box office ($530 Million) and positive enough reviews. So, a sequel was greenlit...but COVID-19 halted production for some time. For the sequel (after dropping out of the sequel to 2018's Tomb Raider) British filmmaker Ben Wheatley was tasked with directing. I was instantly excited as I'm a fan of the director's off beat genre work and his last mainstream attempt in the Netflix version of Rebecca wasn't so good. So, when you tell me the director of Kill List, A Field in England, High Rise, Free Fire and In the Earth directed a $100 million + giant shark movie-I'm sold. Set 5 years after the first film, Jason Statham's Jonas has gone from a Deepsea rescue diver to now a celebrity diver, pro-eco whistleblower and lone stepfather to a now 14-year-old Meiying after marrying her mother (played by Li Bingbing in the first film) who passed away 2 years prior to this film. Jonas continues to work alongside his friends played by Cliff Curtis and Page Kennedy, while also working alongside Meiying's uncle played by Chinese megastar Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior, The Wandering Earth) who has a young female Megalodon in captivity. They've also discovered their team is not the only one entering the Megalodon infested Trench and there's a conspiracy afoot. The film has clearly taken a lot from the Meg sequel novels; including a juvenile Megalodon in captivity, Megalodon mating calls, a cold opening that directly recalls the opening scene in the first book (if scientifically inaccurate) and more deep-sea beasties. They've added more to the story for the purposes of variety in set pieces and sequences. Deep-sea dive mech suits, 3 Megalodons instead of one, amphibious monsters, a giant octopus and bad guys to fight all keep the action moving. The first film was great, but only really had two kinds of action/horror scenes with "Submarines vs Megalodon" or "Open water with Megalodon", while this had more variety. And thanks to Ben Whatley, he brings more colorful and unique visuals to the table in terms of execution. He uses a variety of colors, classic use of tension, jump scares, humor, subversion and reversals in the set pieces and even creative ways on how to display carnage. One of my favourite parts is him showing the inside of of a Megalodon's mouth while it casually swallows people. It reminds me a lot of that one shot in 1997's Anaconda, which does remind me that a lot of this film takes inspiration from some of the better monster movies. There are moments and scenes that call back to Jaws 1 and 2, Anaconda, Deepstar Six, Underwater, The Lost World Jurassic Park and Deep Blue Sea. Hell, this movie even takes ideas from bad shark films like Deep Blue Sea 2 and Mega Shark V.S Giant Octopus and makes them good. It does somewhat replicate the pace of the first film with the first being half tinged in horror and suspence, while the second half is a balls out action rollercoaster. The cast does a lot of great work with Statham making his character work in comedy, action and dramatic moments-especially the 3rd act which sees him tackle multiple Megs at once in stunning fashion. Page Kennedy gets a lot more comedy and action, and I'll always root for him ever since I discovered him as a Vine star as a teenager. Shuya Sophia Cai having grown up since the first film continues to be a winning emotional core and comic relief so I hope we see more of her in sequels and other films. And while the rest of the cast (especially the juicy bad guys) do well, it's Wu Jing that steals the show as the co-lead. He's been a Chinese action star for years, with this one feeling like he's auditioning to become the new Jackie Chan as an action star who can balance comedy, fight scenes and taking hits. If Hollywood is watching, they'll bring this guy on for John Wick 5 or Shang Chi 2. Honestly, I don't know what else to tell you if you're not already sold. It's a fun B-Movie creature feature with lots of new to add to from the solid original. The score by returning composer Harry Gregson-Williams is great, frequent Kenneth Branagh cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos builds from the first and I had a really fun time. If you're not sold on a giant killer shark film made to Hollywood perfection, then this ain't for you. I'm just extremely happily this got made and I'm hoping it does well enough at the box office for more sequels. Maybe the next film can give us Mosasaurs, Dunkleoteus, Livyatan, Brygmophyseter or some new creatures. But if this bombs or the reviews convince the studios to not make more...you're all gonna pay for this. I want more Legendary MonsterVerse films, more Jurassic Park installments, more Alien films and in general-more big budget monster movies. I like giant monster movies made with millions of dollars and by talented filmmakers, deal with it. 10/10 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaIf you're familiar with Ari Aster's prior films Hereditary and Midsommar (which you should) then you'll be more than prepared for the mad stream of sub consciousness Beau is Afraid has to offer. While Aster's previous films were lavish horror films with Hereditary being a classy trickster version of an Italian Giallo film, and Midsommar being an overly bright take on The Wicker Man cult premise. Both films eventually revealed their thematic core with Hereditary becoming a twisted take on the Oedipus myth while Midsommar said "yeah, trauma is a lot but don't give into psychotic groups pretending to understand your pain so they can use you to perpetuate their dark society". And for Aster, he has decided to make what for now might be considered his Magnum Opus in the form of a 3-hour surrealist horror comedy in what the director himself describes as "a Jewish Lord of the Rings, but Beau's just going to his mom's house".
So yeah, this is certainly a divisive film by design-but clearly more so looking at the audience response. The reviews range from overwhelming praise to complete hatred, and despite being A24's most expensive film at $35 Million budget (at least $10 Million more than the budget for Everything Everywhere All at Once) only managed to earn about $11 million at the box office. This is a film you'll love or hate, or to put it better-a film you will or won't watch. Personally, I was going to watch this film no matter what people said as I'm fully invested in Aster as a visionary talent. While many have decried the film as self-indulgent and pretentious, I will take a director's uncompromised vision over a sanitized or studio mandated product. Because for me, Beau is Afraid is one of the best films of the year. The premise here is that Joaquin Phoenix plays the titular Beau, an anxiety riddled paranoid shlub of a man who is supposed to see his mother, but...things start happening. And to describe anymore direct details would spoil the fun. See, Beau is Afraid exists in a surreal heightened reality that's clearly meant to emulate the extremes of anxiety. The streets where Beau lives are infested with freaks and savage criminals, he seems to read messages and words from people and thinks everything bad is going to happen from the tiniest things. As someone who is diagnosed with anxiety, it feels like a perfect visual realization of that negative instance at its worse. And that's just the starting point. Because the film examines everything from anxiety, medication, familial difficulties, masculine insecurities, relationships between mother and son, and even a commentary on how people read themselves in stories as a kind meta/selfish reflection. There's a lot going on here and while many will (and have) detest the 3-hour runtime, I feel it's valuable to getting us firmly into the world. It's a film that feels epic despite the fact that when you look back at it-there's really only 4 or 5 main locations. It's a journey in the sense of an experience, but not in some ground globe-trotting way. There aren't not many films that resemble it from today's modern film landscape. Two films it shares a closer tone/format to would be the 70s surrealist works The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie by Luis Buñuel and The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky himself is likely an influence, with other more recent similar works being Tarsem Singh's The Fall, Denis Villeneuve's Enemy and Tyler Cornack's Butt Boy. If you're familiar with surrealist works-you'll be prepared for the experience, but those less accustomed will likely be flabbergasted. Getting away from the more esoteric questions for a moment, the film is incredibly well made. Phoenix is an amazing actor as usual, with this feeling like a more extreme and emotional version of his Joker performance. He has to commit to being this weak man with many issues and his emotional peaks really hit me. While he honestly deserves an Oscar nod for his performance here, his upcoming role as Napoleon in Ridley Scott's biopic will likely dominate that debate. Reliable character actors like Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Richard Kind and Stephen McKinley Henderson show up to give very nuanced performances-with Amy Ryan and Richard King in particular being very cutting. Zoe Lister-Jones, Parker Posey and Julia Antonelli also do great work. Kylie Rogers is a new surprise and gives a really interesting character, while stage icon Patti LuPone dominates the last act of the film and I genuinely hope people debate her getting a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The film on a technical level is awe inspiring. For Aster and his production team to make a meticulously lived in world with subtle details within the chaos is fantastic. Aster's repeated collaborator in cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski does awe inspiring work with camera moves and framing that just amaze you when you realize "wait, there's no cutting". The editing itself for a 3-hour film is great through the use of insert shorts, perspective shifts and overall flow. The visuals and effect work are great, with a semi-animated sequence being one of the many highlights of this film. Oh, and while I won't spoil exactly what it is, let's just say there's a practical effect in the 3rd act that if I told you what it was...you wouldn't believe me. In the end, I think Beau is Afraid is a great film because while it is a dense, 3-Hour purist artist vision: it's also rich in details and themes that will resonate differently to everyone. It's not something I can honestly recommend to anyone because not everyone would willing sit through a film like this for this long, but if you have any desire, interest or curiosity-try it. I can't guarantee you'll like it, but I guarantee you won't forget it. Ari Aster really is an invaluable talent and I can't wait to see what he does next. Apparently, he's going to be producing a tv adaptation of the Junji Ito manga Uzumaki so...that should be fun. 9/10 |
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