Candyman: The foundation for a great film is on display throughout Candyman. Nia DaCosta harkens back to the days of John Carpenter's Halloween by delivering inventive, minimalist slasher kills with a modern artistic flare, the three most pivotal actors (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo) to the story give excellent performances that hauntingly explore the individual and communal trauma their characters have experienced and the cinematography in and outside of the eerie moments is dazzling (there's a long take of Abdul-Mateen's character walking through the winding halls of a luxury apartment complex about halfway through the film that is in contention for the best shot sequence of the year so far).
Despite these very strong elements, Candyman just can't quite turn that promising blueprint into something special. The script is so busy for a 90-minute movie that almost none of the ideas or pieces of social commentary it throws out receive the level of attention required to make a real impact (namely the ones involving Parris' character's past and her career as an art gallery curator) and the final act sees the pacing go from slow burn to lightning fast, resulting in a rushed conclusion that fails both its characters and larger thematic ambitions. An additional 20-30 minutes to further flesh out the retooled mythology of the titular hook-handed urban legend, tie up the loose ends present in its character arcs and show another scene or two to expand gentrification commentary to something beyond showing the interior of a bougie high rise apartment and some on-the-nose exposition about the systemic racism that fuels this all too common practice is probably all it would've taken for Candyman to reach the level of greatness that it was clearly capable of achieving.
Grade: B-
The Protégé: 2021's attempt to return to a normal theatrical content marketplace wouldn't have been complete without a generic albeit passable action flick hitting theaters during one of the final weekends of the summer. Martin Campbell's The Protégé wears this unofficial mantle in appropriately nondescript fashion. This methodical assassin/conspiracy/revenge tale about a Vietnamese refugee turned elite contract killer (Maggie Q) that's out to avenge the death of the man (Samuel L. Jackson) who took her into his home (and deadly line of work) after her family was killed is powered onto the right side of average by some decent action sequences and a couple of hammy supporting performances from the reliably engaging Jackson and Michael Keaton. While I don't have a particularly strong desire to ever watch The Protégé again, I'm thankful for what its moderate, unflashy competence represents within the landscape and I hope to never see the day where late August diversions like it disappear.
Grade: B-
Vacation Friends: Intentional or not, Vacation Friends proved to be a clear bullseye hit on the streaming content target. There's talented, familiar faces (Lil Rel Howrey, Yvonne Orji, John Cena, Meredith Hagner) in the lead roles doing good, but not great work. The laughs are pretty frequent, but rarely ever more than just a smile or brief audible chuckle. It makes for a fine enough piece of entertainment while you're watching it, but it's not overly likely to remain in your brain for longer than a few hours afterwards. Congrats again to Hulu on their algorithm-affirming success story.
Grade: B-
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