The Matrix: Resurrections - Cheap Thoughts

It’s not often a director is cornered and forced to make a movie that it comes out well. The studio was set on making a 4^th Matrix film despite the definitive ending of the last one, and Lana Wachowski coming onboard to try and make something of it is hardly the ideal circumstances you’d want, and yet…

Lana Wachowski has yet again proven her talents for visually enchanting films and the stubbornly anti-subtle messaging all her prior films are known for, and no that second point is not an insult, subtlety is optional, not necessary to telling a good story. The Matrix Resurrections is at times a bitter film, a film that wishes it did not exist and is very adamant that you-the audience-know that. It is critical of the production, the fanbase and even its own creators. It stares into the abyss of “content creation” and just before it falls into it, the film is saved, much like how Neo is saved, by reminding them what they stand for. Wachowski refuses to fall into that pit, she loves these characters, and she loves this franchise, she would never corrode them with the cynicism of Hollywood.

While the prior films became obsessed with their own mythology, the wisdom that comes with age and separation reminds you of what’s important. Neo & Trinity, not just symbols, not just roles, but two people who love each other, who fight for each other above all else. Yes, true love does in fact save the day, and if you find that too corny or on the nose then good god what franchise were you watching? This is a series that has embraced sincerity and style since day one, in the past that may have been aimed towards philosophy, these days they’ve changed direction to be entirely about love. The romance of Neo & Trinity was never the strongest element of the original trilogy, it was mostly side-lined to allow the world-building to take over, but looking back, a decent portion of Reloaded and Revolutions was showing that these two view each other as more important than any war, any philosophy or any duty, this film just allows that element to take centre-stage, and with the beauty that is Keanu Reeves and Carrie Ann-Moss – Two people who have aged like the finest of wines – we have the most emotionally expressive film in the series.

All of this is with barely touching upon the visual component, and that’s what Wachowski is best known for. At this point in her career making stylish & comprehensive action scenes are her bread and butter, she makes it look easy. One of the best living directors to put their money to good use in making gorgeous blockbusters where everyone has unique looks under gorgeous lighting with badass action, making everyone look like the coolest person on the planet.

Resurrections is not a subtle movie, nor does it want to be, it refuses to compromise, to withdraw or to change itself for your sake. It is a visual delight and earnest down to its bones. It is aware of its past and what is has to prove and yet it does not care, it would throw all that away for the two people it loves and will not apologise for it.

-Danny

Spider-Man: No Way Home - Cheap Thoughts

Spider-Man is important to me. Let’s clear that up straight away, because to discuss this film without knowing my connection to the character feels like leaving out important context. I love Spider-Man, he might be the first fictional character I ever loved, all the way back to the 90s animated series and the original Raimi films. Heck, I’m a big defender of the Webb films, always have been, always will be, and yet I am one of the spoilsports who has to say I have never enjoyed the MCU Spider-Man films, on almost any level, they are poorly produced, bland looking and bad adaptations. So now we’ve reached a point where all these adaptations are clashing together and to break it down is still somewhat a behemoth of a task, let alone avoiding spoilers, but these are the cards we are dealt.

Spider-Man No Way Home is the first time I have ever truly seen Tom Holland as Spider-Man, as a person who puts others before himself, who has to make great sacrifices expecting nothing in return, who certainly stumbles and faulters but always gets back up and always does the right thing. This is no longer Iron Man Jr who inherits wealth, technology and prosperity from others, but one who has to fight and save others using only what he has to offer. He is put through the emotional ringer, but this is a story of Spider-Man trying to save everyone, and do the right thing, to understand the moral with great power must also come great responsibility.

If you’re aware of the returning characters from other films then you’ll be happy to know they are all wonderfully handled, it never feels like pure fanservice, but instead to offer a chance of closure to those who never had it before. Both the Raimi films and Webb films ended on disappointing notes but they also weren’t meant to be where those stories ended, this is where those characters get to finally have the proper goodbyes they always deserved. Even as I attempt to be a cynical critic, I can’t help but feel joy from what this film offers me.

Course that still won’t stop me from being said cynical critic, because boy does this film still look bad! Watts as a director has certainly improved his visual sense with each passing film, and there are certainly big special effects moments where the pre-vis team developed some entertaining and creative choreography mixing characters with different powers fighting each other, the conveyor belt release schedule of these films means the CGI just becomes worse and worse, no effect looking complete, everyone is rubbery and weightless, they move as fast or as slow as a computer tells them to with no consistency. It’s amazing that it’s reached a point where they achieve an uncanny valley effect on basic backgrounds because it’s all shot on greenscreens and never real locations. Even worse when it comes to the more intimate fight scenes Watts has no sense of editing or where to place the camera. When it’s real, you can’t get a good view of it and when it’s not real, it’s never felt hollower.

Glad I got that out of my system, but truth be told I enjoyed this movie, it’s the first of the MCU Spidey films that I enjoyed while watching it, and I am genuinely excited about where they’ll take this character in the future. I may be a cynic but even I couldn’t stop my heart growing three times while watching it. Tis the season.

-Danny

West Side Story - Cheap Thoughts

How does he do it? How does Spielberg make it look this easy? It’s hard to say West Side Story is doing much new - after all it is an adaptation of a 1961 movie based on a 1957 stage show based on a 16^th century play – And yet, somehow it feels like we now have the perfected version of that story, future versions can rest before they try, they’ll never make a version this visually beautiful, perfectly cast or tonally impeccable. It’s times like this where the obvious flaw of trying to discuss a visual medium via text is totally inept, as just saying every single frame is truly a painting is not something that can be easily backed up, you just have to take in on faith, but it’s true, this might be the best looking film of the year, each shot made to look as beautiful as can be, exploding with colour, depth and movement.

None of this is to say the original film was lacking in this, but it is hard to compliment this film without slightly feeling like a back-handed compliment to the original, so consider this review a glowing recommendation for both films, they’re great. Though that being said (Here we go) there are some areas of the original that had clear room for improvement, the main one being a predominately white cast in a film about the racial tensions between a white gang and a Puerto Rican gang, anyone who argues that’s not an issue with the original is being intentionally ignorant. Secondly is the tone the films strive for, it’s not an easy balance to hit, trying to be a story about violent gangs who metaphorically express themselves through ballet, it can come across as silly, and while your mileage may vary on the original, don’t be surprised if some find it tonally confused, this one strikes a much finer balance between the two. It never feels jarring when it goes from bloody assault in poverty drenched streets to colourful dance numbers is seamless, again, it’s baffling how easy Spielberg makes it happen.

Aside from that there’s not that much more to discuss, most of what was good in the original is still present here, the songs are wonderfully varied, catchy and poignant. The story is layered and one of social injustice, dealing with racial discrimination as well as the abandonment of the disenfranchised with two sides of victims being manipulated into viewing each other as the enemy rather than the system as a whole. It even carries over the same flaws of the original, though to be fair it’s more of a burden from the original Romeo & Juliet than it is the musical, that being the big climactic fight happens and then you realise there’s still 30-40 minutes left of the film and that third act can drag in contrast.

If there’s still some ambiguity from this review on whether or not you should see this film? Once more to make it clear: Go see this film!

-Danny

Encanto - Cheap Thoughts

Not to turn this into a recurring theme of Disney films being stifled under their corporate overlords, but between this and Eternals there is certainly a pattern forming across these reviews. Encanto’s heart is a story of people wanting to break the mould of what is expected of them. A family of people with unique super powers all with the purpose of helping the community around them. This leads to them all having certain roles to fulfil in that society and in a fun turn of events we now have a film of a lead protagonist wishing to change themselves to fit the mould while the supporting cast around them tries to break free. Two of the songs in this musical are about the protagonist’s sisters wishing to change their own narrative, Luisa the strong one who can carry any burden and Isabela, the perfect child who can do no wrong, and yet in secret the two are crumbling from the expectations of others and feel unallowed to live the lives they wish to.

This may be one of the most fleshed out supporting casts in a Disney film in recent years, and yet because it is a Disney film, there is only so far they are allowed to break free. The Mouse is the mould, and the characters can only break free as far as The Mouse is willing to let them. They still have to be appealing to audiences, marketable as toys and admirable to children. The fact the creators had to fight to have Luisa be muscular due to corporate fear that might make her less appealing says enough. It hollows out the film as while the characters may cheer about change, it’s all corporate approved change, there is no actual rebelling against the system, mere illusion. It’s not just with these examples, but in the film’s very DNA, everything is designed to be easy to understand, squeaky clean and unthreatening, with nothing too extreme in its subject matter that would alienate even a single audience member. Sometimes the film is able to move itself in favour of this, for example having Lin-Manuel Miranda write the music, naturally you can imagine he was chosen as he is a talented musician with a history of embedding his Hispanic heritage into his work – and it was very much the right choice because this music is the best part of the film - but at the same time there was someone in marketing who approved of him because he’s popular and could be used as a selling point. Sometimes you get the best of both world elements like this, but there are other times it shows how limited the film was in its options.

It’s hard to say where Encanto will land in the Disney legacy, it is definitely a big step in terms of representation and because the formula has been perfected there is certainly a level of quality storytelling to entertain general audiences, but will it fall into the category of modern classics like Moana or Frozen? Don’t bet the house (Watch as this ages like milk).

-Danny

Tick, Tick...Boom! - Cheap Thoughts

There’s always this fine line when it comes to telling the story of a struggling artist. It’s an easy lifestyle to romanticise and glorify, creating this unhealthy ideal that for someone to succeed as an artist they have to be poor, depressed or socially exiled. Tick Tick…Boom loves to play on that line like it’s the string to a violin and yet never trips over to the other side thanks to some delicate decisions within the script. It’s safe to say a decent amount of credit to this can be given to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s own personal struggles in building his career as a theatre icon. Mind you, that’s is a blatant guess, having done no research into Miranda’s own history, it could entirely be that his career was an easy and fluid transition, in which case even further kudos can be given to him accurately being able to represent the struggle of trying to create art while trying to survive in an overwhelming money ridden corporate world. There’s a particular scene at Larson’s daytime job working the brunch rush at a diner that hits very close to home for anyone who’s worked in customer service.

For a directorial debut while Miranda may have played it safe with the story and choosing a tale he is no doubt very familiar with, he doesn’t play it safe with his camera. TTB is a musical adaptation of the life of Jonathan Larson (Played by Andrew Garfield) and Miranda clearly has enough experience in front of the camera to understand the power it can hold in elevating a film versus a staged production where his origins lie. There is such an energy and purpose to his shots, giving them life and emotion, while there is no big show-stopper production with flashy effects and bombastic dance numbers, each sequence is filmed appropriately to convey the emotions present in the song.

Above that he knows to give the majority focus to Garfield, the stand-out performance within the film. He provides such charisma and purposeful decisions behind every movement and facial expression. He is a character with such an explosive energy it leaks out constantly even in the humblest of moments and so when the film allows for him to fully express himself through the musical numbers and dramatic moments, he alleviates himself by giving everything to it. There is already much talk about a potential Oscar nomination for this performance which he certainly deserves and would definitely be preferred over self-indulgent dramatic performances full of nihilism and rage that usually takes hold of the Oscar voters. If there is one emotion that charges Garfield’s performance, it’s love.

There was another paragraph meant to discuss Larson’s real-life career and legacy, specifically that of his most famous work Rent but it felt mostly tangential and critical of external work. It didn’t feel right to harp on about it, but it also didn’t feel right to ignore it entirely as this whole film is a build up to his big break with Rent as his magnum opus and yet it feels disingenuous considering the reputation of Rent has only lessened over the years. It’s understandable the film wouldn’t address this, arguably it never needed to, especially when that’s not in Miranda’s style to analyse the complications of a person and instead focus on the legacy they left as a whole. Yes this is another Lin-Manuel Miranda piece about legacy what were you expecting?

-Danny

The French Dispatch - Cheap Thoughts

In someways this might be the “Most Wes Anderson” movie he has made, your mileage may very on whether that is a positive or a negative, but it does feel astute. Wes Anderson as a filmmaker is so comfortable in his style and in it’s hard to fault him for it, while it’s absolutely understandable if he’s not your preferred cup of tea, there’s a prescence to him that is hard to replicate despite what some may believe. It’s not just a matter of being simetrical, but his films have a comfort to them. 

They are stylistic and quirky, sometimes funny but never laugh out loud funny, and above all charming. He creates environments you want to spend time in, characters you enjoy listening to, though the narratives are often what lets him down and where his weaker aspects as a writer begin to divide audiences. Strange a description as that may seem, even contradictory consider the film’s clear love of the written word, and for writers and storytellers of all forms.

The French Dispatch structure as an anthology film helps to hide most of these, designing itself as a visual component to a fictional magazine, each piece emphasises character and style above all else, most of which are told to the audience through Anderson’s frequent collaborators. In a sense this then leads to the film falling into the faults of the anthology structure itself rather than Anderson’s own, mainly being you walk away having your preferences, some stories are weaker than others and when the time is divided unevenly you risk the lesser of the stories taking up the majority screentime.

In truth there is little that needs to be discussed about The French Dispatch, it is simply another Anderson picture. If you are already a fan, you will enjoy this one all the same, if you are not, it is certainly not the piece to convince you otherwise, and if you have never seen an Anderson picture before, do not start with this one. Anderson & Co have finessed their formula down to the perfect detail with little desire to deviate, and in an age where the average audience’s diet consists of grey-goo like blockbusters with little subtance or presentation, if you have a delicious meal that succeeds in both why would you wish to deviate? No it is not going to be a dish for everyone, but frankly that’s not a bad thing. Anderson & Co will keep on creating work that appeals to them and if it appeals to you along the way then good for you, if not, keep on moving, you’ll find your dish eventually, just don’t ask them to change their’s to match your preferences.

-Danny

Eternals - Cheap Thoughts

Without a doubt, best Power Rangers film there is. That’s only partially a joke. Eternals genuinely has more in common with that franchise than it does The Avengers. A group of diverse super powered beings united by the power of a godlike being instructing them to protect Earth from alien monsters, even down to their human clothes being consistent to the colour scheme of their superhero outfits. Of course the only thing that’s missing if the over the top comedic nature of Power Rangers, which yes, is ironic to say for an MCU film though not entirely unwelcomed.

Eternals is certainly the least like an MCU film we’ve had in a while and has very minimal to do with the franchise outside of an odd reference here or there, and yet it’s in an interesting placement as it could not exist without it, and not just because it’s the 26^th film in the franchise. Eternals being well aware of where film audiences stand with superhero stories allows it to skip through the majority of the origin and simply show audiences the highlights, even jokingly showing that these immortal demi-gods will have no desire to hide their secrets depending on the person because they live in a world with superheroes, it’s just the status quo at this point.

Where it gets more interesting is when it delves deeper into the philosophy of these beings. A dozen beings who were brought to Earth with specific purposes in mind and yet naturally their time there will change them, make them question their orders, their history, their relationships. What are these people willing to sacrifice and what do they gain from being here? They all go on to live very different lives and have different experiences, they are not always going to agree and when the film sits down to talk about it is when it becomes the most interesting, and not just because the fight scenes are all so very boring.

This is where the whip of Marvel comes striking down because when the film needs to fold into this suffocating mould the film is dull, aiming for the most obvious jokes, the least compelling fight scenes and ending with some of the most obvious, unnatural and annoying sequel bait this franchise might have ever seen. If a film with absolutely zero connections to the rest of this universe can’t escape this overbearing desire for consistency and force every film to look like the same grey indistinguishable blob from one another then what hope does any other film have?

The film’s biggest flaws are not unto its own shoulders, but the family of which it finds itself connected to, which is rather fitting for a film about characters who are being forced to fulfil certain roles for the sake of an all-knowing all powerful being, and if the film could escape that shadow much like the characters attempt to, they might have had something here.