Frankenstein: An adaptation of Frankenstein is the project Guillermo del Toro has been wanting to make for the entirety of his 30+ year career. Now that Netflix has given him the opportunity to make his dream a reality, it's kind of sad to say that del Toro's vision feels a little bit miscalculated. His take on Mary Shelley's classic novel is effectively a tale of two halves as the opening stretch detailing the origins of the tormented, egotistical surgeon Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and his efforts to prove that he can bring the dead back to life is too stoic to be overly compelling while the second half where the focus shifts to Frankenstein's monster (Jacob Elordi) is a harrowing, emotional tale of a being trying to find beauty in a cruel world that he's cursed to stay in for eternity. Elordi-who only landed the role after Andrew Garfield dropped out-is remarkable in the role as he embodies the complex range of emotions the creature feels as he learns about his unnatural origins and s world that has labeled him as a bloodthirsty beast without even trying to understand his true nature. If the other aspects of Frankenstein outside of the top-notch cinematography and production design del Toro delivers on all of his films were in line with Elordi's thoughtful, astonishing craftsmanship, Frankenstein would've unquestionably landed at or near the top of the legendary director's filmography instead of the merely respectable middle where it ended up residing.
Grade: B
The Running Man: A reboot of The Running Man couldn't have been timed better. Not only does Stephen King's novel take place in 2025, a dystopian world where authoritarian oligarchs control the government, media, etc. and the economy is so bad that the bottom 99% of society are willing to risk their lives for the entertainment of others in exchange for the slim chance of being able to enjoy a life where they don't have to worry about their ability to have access to medical care, food or housing isn't too far off from the reality we're currently living through. As fun as the cheesy 1987 version with Arnold Schwarzenegger is, Edgar Wright's version is an improvement across the board. The grizzled old school action-meets-blunt modern satire approach Wright uses is a great ode to the story 80's origins while taking aim at the increasingly dangerous actions of today's ruling class that are doing every they can to suppress the truth and sow division among the population so they can continue to live in blissful excess while pushing more people into poverty by the day. I'm not going to pretend that The Running Man' 25 has some masterful script, but there's still something to be said about a mainstream Hollywood movie actively confronting one of the biggest threats currently facing our world and preaching the importance of class solidarity as a means to fight it. That might not sound like much to most people but consider this: Paramount was taken over in early August by David Ellison's Skydance Media. Ellison's father Larry is the second richest person in the world and is actively seeking to help his son's company purchase Warner Brothers to further add to their family's growing media empire (they're also involved in the upcoming purchase of the American version of TikTok from Chinese company ByteDance). Would they even consider funding a movie like The Running Man? The answer is obvious and, that's why it's so awesome that Wright was able to release something serves as a giant middle finger to people like Hollywood's newest power players under the banner that now bares their company's name.
On top of its topicality, The Running Man represents a further elevation in Glen Powell's acting stock. Disgruntled everyman Ben Richards-who enters the titular game show where three contestants have the chance to win a billion dollars if they can survive 30 days while a group of elite mercenaries known as "The Hunters" (Lee Pace, Karl Glusman, James Frencheville, Joey Ansah, Alex Hoeffler, Greg Townley) attempt to kill them on live television in an attempt to pay for medical care for his sick infant daughter-provides the budding star with the ideal vessel to build out his range. Richards is a classic everyman action hero with rage issues that is also willing to do anything he can to have the backs of the people around him. Powell expertly balances the conflicting faces of Richards by knowing when he needs to be a hardened, resilient badass with a short fuse and when he has to lean into something more vulnerable or funny. The mix of his established snarky yet affable personality with something darker and meaner makes this his best performance in a blockbuster to date.
In terms of the action, it's easily the most straightforward group of setpieces Wright has ever crafted. What drove the decision to dial back on his signature stylization is a mystery (the turnaround time on this one was super tight as shooting wrapped in March), but it was kind of a bummer to see these huge chases and fights assembled in a manner that don't reflect his established sensibilities. Wright and his second unit director Darrin Prescott are such pros that these sequences still manage to be solid and propulsive (particularly the bit with Michael Cera's oddball Maine-based revolutionary character), they just all happen to be begging to be staged in a more fluid, flamboyant manner. Nitpicks over the action aside, The Running Man is another winner for Wright and one of the best blockbusters of the year.
Grade: B+
Now You See Me: Now You Don't: There's something beautiful about the Now You See Me franchise returning from a 9-year hiatus and sliding right back into its unapologetically silly groove without missing a beat. You wouldn't know that Ruben Fleischer is the third different director to take the reins of the magician heist series by how smoothly he assimilates to the series house style (heavily stylized illusions/tricks, snarky banter, absurd plot twists galore) and all of the newcomers (Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike) have a blast teaming up/squaring off against the recently reunited Horseman (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher-who returns to the fold after sitting out Now You See Me 2)-whose dynamic is just as strong now as it was in the first installment 12 years ago. By the time it's exhilaratingly dumb Abu Dhabi-set finale concluded, I was ready to break into a Cannes-worthy round of extend applause. Please let the powers that be at Lionsgate grant this franchise the opportunity to continue for as long as the creatives involved have an interest in making them.
Grade: B+
Keeper: I was on board with Keeper for the bulk of its runtime. Osgood Perkins establishes a really ominous atmosphere through eerie visuals, well-deployed jump scares and good fashioned isolation while Tatiana Maslany is solid as a woman having a really bad/weird time during a romantic getaway to her boyfriend's (Rossif Sutherland) family cabin. Then Keeper has to start providing answers to what the hell is going on in and around this cabin, and it goes from scary to silly in no time at all as it shatters the hypnotic ambiguity of its first two acts with a lengthy exposition dump that paves the way for a groan-inducing ending that stops Perkins' hot streak at Neon dead in its tracks. Perkins won't have to wait long to redeem himself for this misstep as he's currently in production on his next project The Young People-which will mark the fourth film he's made this decade.
Grade: C
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