Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the right movie at the right time for Marvel. This superhero origin story meets faithful, loving homage to Hong Kong martial arts and wuxia films is the perfect foil to their massive 2021 slate that had up to this point primarily served as an infuriating showcase of the worst things about Kevin Feige's towering empire (Teases for future projects taking precedent over the story they're telling in that moment, bland villains and poorly-constructed action sequences). The story is completely focused on introducing Shang-Chi (the very magnetic Simu Liu) and why the lineage he's running from makes him so powerful, good character development and an equally imposing and quietly somber performance from Hong Kong film legend Tony Leung makes Xu Wenwu an instant top-tier MCU villain and up until the inevitable disorienting CGI bonanza at the film's climax, the action is martial arts-driven and brimming with the playful humor, dazzling stuntwork and fluid camerawork/editing of a vintage Jackie Chan project. While Awkwafina's presence as the quip-hurling best friend of Shang-Chi and the aforementioned CGI-riddled climax serve as clear reminders of its place in a broader cinematic ecosystem, Shang-Chi operates on enough of its own distinct wavelength to standout as a needed and refreshing change from the usual pace for the MCU. Here's to hoping that Eternals can achieve something similar before the multiverse onslaught starts with Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Grade: A-
Malignant: Between Saw, Aquaman and the first two Conjuring movies, James Wan has established himself as one of the most reliable Hollywood hitmakers of the past 20 years. Achieving that level of consistent financial success as a director has a tendency to open doors to secure funding for an unconventional passion project every once in a blue moon. Wan finally got to make his with Malignant and let's just say that he seized the opportunity.
For much of the film's runtime, Wan sits back and smirks like somebody who knows a secret that nobody else is privy to yet as he assembles a competent, but kind of unassuming supernatural mystery tale centered around a Seattle woman named Maddy (Anabelle Wallis) whose suddenly haunted by visions of murders being committed by a mysterious figure from her past named Gabriel (physically portrayed by Marina Mazepa and voiced by Ray Chase). There's the usual scenes where secondary characters question Maddy's mental state, some dead bodies that can be easily linked back to Maddy are discovered, etc. and plenty of the creepy atmospherics and slick visuals Wan is known for. Then courtesy of a gruesome third act reveal that reframes the entire narrative and blesses gorehounds with a bonkers 25 minute stretch of cinema that is pretty much destined to be the highlight of their respective years, the film ends up arriving at a place that is much more depraved and proudly over-the-top than anticipated. Wan is clearly having a blast mixing so many different genres (aside from the aforementioned supernatural mystery elements, Malignant touches on everything from action to nearly every horror subgenre that doesn't involve aliens or haunted houses) together and the confidence and craftsmanship he's picked up after making 10 features allows for this ambitious mixture of ingredients to seamlessly blend together to make this a delightfully trashy, sadistic B-movie buffet.
Grade: B+
Kate: Yes, Kate can be compared to a zillion other movies from John Wick to The Professional to July's Gunpowder Milkshake without stretching too hard. But I'll tell you what I wasn't thinking about while watching Netflix's latest hard-R action extravaganza: What movies it does or does not share some DNA with. Like the titular sharp-shooting, ass-kicking assassin, Kate hits every target its supposed to in order to get the job done. Mary Elizabeth Winstead shoots, stabs and smolders her way through the Yakuza-run Tokyo underworld with aplomb, the action sequences feature the level of exquisite choreography, clean editing and brutal, hard-earned kills that a David Leitch-backed production can be counted onto deliver and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan provides the proceedings with energetic direction and the underrated virtue of knowing exactly when to wrap things up. It may not be on the level of last year's standout efforts Extraction and The Old Guard, but Kate is another very successful outing that further solidifies Netflix's standing as a rising titan in the action movie space.
Grade: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment