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Red Notice (2021)
Worst movie I've ever seen, would watch again.
I just finished watching Red Notice and as the final shot panned over the Heros' next job, I had to project the drastic thought weighing on my mind: "This is the worst movie I have ever seen."
Of course, this was a hyperbolic expression of my frustrations. The final shot itself looked gorgeous; a beautiful sunset, as a crane panned over the glass pyramids of the Louvre Museum. Of course this isn't be the worst movie ever made. Everything looks sleek, professional, and generally just aesthetically pleasing. It can't be the worst movie ever made. Maybe the stupidest. Maybe even that's an exaggeration, but my feelings towards the film, while exaggerated and humorously vindictive, were not disingenuous.
I was appalled, outraged, and often couldn't stop myself pausing the film to outwardly express my baffled and perplexed questioning of how the film was so comfortable being stupid. Stupid in the sense that it just did not care about anything between the broad strokes of the story. Character actions, intentions, wants, and needs were crystal clear, but it was not in the interest of the film to leave space to ponder if they made much sense.
To call the film unrealistic would of course be ridiculous. It is an action-adventure comedy after all. But as the film kept up a snazzy pace, bombarding forward in big, bold, cavalier steps, however clear, brash, and successful a currier of story and character information, I felt I had to put my foot down, pause the apple TV and scream "This is a cartoon!". I never actually did this. But after the credits had rolled, this was the thought lingering on my mind. The logic of the film was more cartoon-like than film.
I've heard this criticism frequently and generally you get what it's trying to say. But I promise man, the movie is like a cartoon. In the same way watching a cartoon doesn't always require you to question the details of what's going on. It eases your ability to suspend disbelief. You're watching drawings giving the illusion of a world beyond the screen. Because it's a cartoon, an exaggerated, stylized, version of the familiar, you don't have to question the minutia of how a character's watch operates. Film props similarly take advantage of this as well, but in a cartoon it's simply a drawn representation of a watch. A drawing that implies the inner machinations within; ones that you don't need to see. You accept this drawn representation as a symbol and take it at face value. You recognize the symbols, tropes, and broad strokes a cartoon can imply, but you don't place the practicality, probability and feasibility of its world and characters under the same microscope you would use on reality. These fantastical worlds can create rules and machinations of their own; some unique and some that mirror, reflect, and pay lip-service to those found in the one we know all too well. To put these two worlds under the same microscope would of course defeat the whole purpose.
Maybe this is the trap I fell into by allowing the world of "Red Notice" to affect me the way it did. Of course we understand the "Hollywood" representation of the world to be a fantastical one. Some films choose to faithfully depict reality, and some choose to "Hollywood-ize" it. Give it the pinch and dash of unique fantasy and heightened reality a "Hollywood" picture can offer its audience. Maybe I'm wrong to place expectations that clearly differ with the ones the film presents. And my outrage is simply as meaningful as battling windmills.
Well, I reject your reality and substitute my own.
The film does exactly what it sets out to do. It offers us likable, charismatic performances from a trio of two impossibly good-looking people and Ryan Reynolds. It casts this exaggerated team of "best-at-what-they-do" thieves and special agents on a fun globe-trotting adventure; with plenty of quick-witted banter and emotional character-informing scenes along the way. It generally looks very pleasing, with world-spanning locations, sexy costumes and a generous helping of golden beams, bathing and highlighting the sense of grandeur and adventure.
It's a fun comedy action-adventure movie!
But it's stupid! It's silly, it's ridiculous!
It may look pleasing but always phony. Not real. Consistently sleek, well-designed, live-action cartoon fluff. I guess you could make this accusation against a lot of big-budget studio productions, but... no but. It's a fun ride with charismatic characters that depend on the charisma of the actors. As overly dependent on the stars as they are on their function in the story.
I don't think it holds all that much weight.
I want to compare it to another action-adventure comedy from what is now two decades back: Saharah. The one starring Mathew McConoughey, in a high budget, start-driven adventure production. Also globe-trotting. To be fair, you could cast a lot of similar accusations against this film. Criticisms about the substance of the characters and the tropes it indulges. But I recall this adventure with far more fondness and tangibility than I think a kid watching "Red Notice" would in two decades from now. Maybe not a perfect story or comparison and one that's seasoned with a big dash of childhood fondness and nostalgia, but a story that feels a lot more real than the quick-witted, sleek, phony facade this film puts up.
Joker (2019)
''Joker (2019) Review
''Joker (2019)
Review
Walking out of Joker I knew I had seen a well-crafted film, but was unsure of my feelings regarding the direction the film had taken. I was surprised to find out that Todd Philips and his collaborator Scott Silver had written a film far more concerned with studying the titular character as an ordinary man troubled by mental illness than any previous cinematic incarnation up to that point. The decision to make the film a character driven study of the iconic character offers viewers a welcome fresh perspective.
From the opening scenes, the film establishes Gotham as an oppressively bleak, grimy city, nosily chugging along despite itself. The way Todd Philips and Cinematographer Lawrence Sher film the city evokes the many rat-infested alleyways of late 70's crime films; an era from which the film derives quite a lot of inspiration. In many ways, Gotham's depiction also reminded me of the City from Se7en. Both are dauntingly bleak and offer no glimpse of sunshine amongst their vast skylines. Had I not been reminded of the fact that the city on display was Gotham, I would have been completely content with the setting being a timeless unnamed metropolitan. While maybe a fitting setting for a cautionary tale tackling universal themes, the way Todd Phillips weaves comic book mythology so seamlessly with his distinct vision makes for some of the most captivating aspects of Joker.
While the city may be a character in and of itself, it plays a supporting role to Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Arthur Fleck. His performance allows the viewers to simultaneously sympathize with the character's struggles as well as dread his eventual transformation. While I found certain aspects of the social commentary direct and underdeveloped, much like the mob of protestors swarming the police vehicle, it ultimately acts as a stage for the character's transformation into the iconic villain.