Knee-jerk review: "Weapons"

1. It's a great movie, but that is one terrible title.
2. Probably more unsettling than traditionally scary.  There are a handful of old-fashioned jump scares for the traditionalists out there, however.
3. And one truly creepy moment that gave us chills.  Okay, maybe two.
4. Josh Brolin is always great, isn't he?
5. The pop culture buzz for this movie is pretty strong.  There's certainly a risk in situations like this where the actual movie has no chance of living up to the hype; everyone's expectations are sky high. But for the most part, we were not disappointed.
6. Very clever, novelistic structure, using a series of "chapters" from different character POVs (most of the characters interconnect in some way) to slowly reveal the whole story.  The way it all comes together is pretty perfect.
7. Lots of interesting subtext (domestic violence, school shootings, addiction) simmering under the plot, which gives the story unexpected heft.  These are all pretty flawed, miserable people doing their best, which isn't always good enough.
8. Aunt Gladys.  Wow.
9. What's really happening with the missing kids isn't 100% spelled out, but there are a few throwaway background references that we think provides the answer.
10. Nothing good at all can be happening in a house with newspapers covering all of the windows from the inside.
11. "Your two o'clock is here."  Indeed.
12. Always a fun moment in a movie when someone studies a map and starts drawing lines and circles to try and Understand What Is Happening.
13. The ending is bonkers in the most completely satisfying way.
14. The citizens of Maybrook are going to need a whole lot of therapy after all of this.
15. If you're going to see it, avoid spoilers so you won't know what's coming.  100% unpredictable.

Sidebar: To the teen girls in front of us checking social media on their phone 90 minutes into the movie, at least have the common courtesy to dim your screen.
Sidebar #2: If movie theaters are going to insist on running 20 minutes of commercials (we're not talking about "coming attraction" trailers, we're talking about the endless ads for insurance and cars and soft drinks), at least have the common courtesy to not run the same spot twice.

Tweet

Knee-jerk review: "The Fantastic Four: First Steps"

1. It's definitely... okay.
2. But we were hoping for more than "okay."  The snazzy, candy-colored trailers had us pretty excited, but the movie was a let down.

3. The best part, hands down, is the retro-futuristic Space Age production design.  We want to live in that world of reel-to-reel-powered robots, clunky CRT displays, groovy magazine covers, and 1960s fashion.  But when you spend $150 million, you probably want elements other than costumes and sets to stand out.
4. To us, Vanessa Kirby always gives cold, brittle performances so casting her as a supposedly warm, maternal figure seems pretty questionable.  Joseph Quinn also feels miscast as the Human Torch. 
5. Considering how ridiculous their powers are, the Fantastic Four characters are pretty dull and flat here.  They may be freed from the shackles of 20th Century Fox movies, but this cast is not that much of an upgrade over the Ioan Gruffudd (2005) or Miles Teller (2015) teams.
6. We do wonder about Pedro Pascal and his agent.  What a time those two are having right now.  He's literally everywhere.
7. Mole Man!
8. We will stipulate that this one is certainly more polished and epic-feeling than the Fox movies, which are pretty forgettable.  But First Steps feels undercooked and weirdly slapdash in many ways (rumors of big reshoots and last-minute edits may be true).  A truly awesome movie is in there somewhere.
9. Bonus points to the Galactus climax that was pretty satisfying and also to the clever teleporter subplot.
10. Perhaps most surprising of all is that there's so little humor.  We kept wondering what James Gunn could have done with this ragtag dysfunctional family and the supposedly wisecracking characters of Ben and Johnny.  We needed more gags like the car seat bit.
11. Thunderbolts* was better.
12. Meh.  
13. Are we all just about done with these Marvel movies?  This one is the 37th MCU movie.  Holy cow.  Even the big post-credits stinger scene here with someone who appears to be Doctor Doom - setting him up as the Big Bad for yet another string of movies - feels tiresome.

Tweet