The Creator - Review: The Future Has Arrived

 

Any kind of original film in today’s Hollywood landscape can feel like a miracle, but a two-plus-hour long, science fiction drama not based on any pre-existing material feels like an especially rare occurrence. But with Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Godzilla (2014)”) directing and co-writing with Chris Weitz (“About a Boy,” “American Pie”), and the world sitting in the middle of a hot-button discussion of AI, there’s massive potential to deliver an emotional, original science fiction epic with “The Creator.” 

Set in 2070, the film follows undercover agent Joshua Taylor, played by John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Tenet”), reeling from the death of his wife Maya Fey, played by Gemma Chan (“Eternals,” “Crazy Rich Asians”), five years prior. He’s recruited by the U.S. government to go undercover into the country of New Asia to find and destroy a weapon developed by NIRMATA to fight on the side of AI in a global war. However, after finding a young girl named Alphie, played by Madeline Yuna Voyles, instead, he takes her on the run from his handler Colonel Howell, played by Allison Janney (“I, Tonya,” “Juno”), in an attempt to save her and prevent further destruction and war. 

Washington and Voyles have fantastic familial banter with each other, quickly and easily selling the father daughter relationship the film is building. Their chemistry is the lifeblood of the film and really sells everything else that happens around them. Janney, meanwhile, gets to be a bit more forceful than in her other roles and does a good job with the material. Chan does feel painfully underutilized, as she’s fantastic when she’s onscreen but the nature of her character’s story means she isn’t there much. 

Shot in gloriously wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio, the film’s scope is immense and overwhelming, framed expertly by cinematographers Greig Fraser (“The Batman,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) and Oren Soffer (“Allswell in New York,” “A Nightmare Wakes”). Much has been made of the film’s shockingly small budget compared to similar contemporary films like it, and Edwards manages to squeeze as much detail and beauty from each shot as possible given those constraints. 

It's further bolstered by truly impressive visual effects that adhere to every small detail from water to clothing fibers. It would be an impressive display for any film, made even more so when you consider it was made for less than a third of the budget of films like “The Way of Water” or “Quantumania.” The musical score, from composer Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King,” “Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”), helps to expertly set the stage for the action and emotions, turning in one of his better scores in the recent years of his career. 

The cinematography is gorgeous, the visual effects are stunning, and the performances are great. So, what’s not to like then? Well, it's unfortunate that these elements and the potential of this story are somewhat squandered by an overly generic third act that somewhat sours the overall story. It ends up turning it all into a much more generic action movie. It's not hard to see Edwards and Weitz building to a more philosophical or complicated conclusion, as the hints are through the entire rest of the film. It's just unfortunate that it ends in such a way, almost betraying the film’s earlier most interesting aspects. What it does still manage, even within its more generic aspects, is to maintain a healthy amount of soul and heart. A lot of that comes from Washington and Voyles and their impressive chemistry, but an equal part comes from Edwards and Weitz’s commitment to, even in the familiar, establish a clear heart and soul for this world and adventure. 

Therefore, what we’re left with is a very gorgeous film that somewhat cheapens out on the end result of things. Which isn’t an indictment by any means. After so many creatively bankrupt franchise films, any kind of original action drama is appreciated, even if it does go for a more generic ending. It's still got the performances to back it up, and again it is gorgeous to watch. At the end of the day, sometimes that’s all that matters: an original, if familiar, pretty adventure. 3.5/5

Dumb Money - Review: Rage Against the Money Machine

 

Hollywood is many things, but one thing they aren’t is willing to sit on a juicy story. So, it's no surprise that just a few years after it happened, studios jumped on the bidding rights to the book “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich, the same author behind the book that inspired “The Social Network” and “Moneyball.” That book detailed the rise and fall of the GameStop stock short squeeze that occurred less than 3 years ago and the film that follows suit chronicles that tale with a spunky sense of self. 

The film follows Keith Gill aka RoaringKitty aka DeepF***ingValue, played by Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “The Batman”), a financial analyst who decides to begin short squeezing the GameStop stock in 2020. As he does this, he posts about his position and feelings via Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit and begins to attract the ire of hedge fund managers such as Gabe Plotkin, played by Seth Rogen (“Pam & Tommy,” “Pineapple Express”), who’ve been shorting the stocks, betting on the store’s failure. Gill also attracts admirers, such as nurse Jenny, College students Riri and Harmony, and GameStop employee Marcos, played by America Ferrara (“Superstore,” “Ugly Betty”), Myha'la Herrold (“Industry,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies”), Talia Ryder (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between”), and Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”) respectively, who begins following his lead and short squeezing the stock via apps like Robin Hood, run by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, played by Sebastian Stan (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” “I, Tonya”) and Baiju Bhatt (“Useless Humans,” “Never Have I Ever”) respectively. 

This is the sort of film where, while the story is true and stranger than fiction, people will turn up mostly due to the stacked cast, which also includes the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio (“Men in Black,” “Daredevil (2015)”) as Steve Cohen, Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation,” “The Last of Us (2023)”) as Ken Griffin, and Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies”) as Keith’s younger brother Kevin. Each cast member mostly does their job well, fitting snuggling into the puzzle piece of a persona that the script has carved out for them. Rogen in particular does an excellent job using his sleazy attitude to portray the hedge fund guru, and Stan turns in a particularly hilarious turn as a “saying the quiet part out loud” depiction of the kind of money hungry “prey on the weak” people trying to get into these industries. 

But much like his previous roles, Dano is the heart of it all, perfectly portraying the kind of genuine accidental everyman that he’s nailed for so long. His talent makes it so you not only believe him in the role, but you really root for him and Keith in their accidental campaign against the stock market industry. Shailene Woodley (“The Fault in Our Stars,” “Big Little Lies”) helps bolster this as Keith’s wife Caroline, giving an exceptionally nuanced performance that both supports Keith’s ambitions while also showcasing the dangers of his crusade. 

With a score from Will Bates (“Unbelievable,” “Mayfair Witches”) that’s clearly aping Reznor and Ross’s work on the 2011 Facebook drama, a script from Lauren Schuker Blum (“Orange is the New Black”) and Rebecca Angelo (“Orange is the New Black”) full of foul mouthed rapid fire dialogue, and based on a book by the same author, it’s clear that director Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya,” “Cruella”) and his team are aiming to ape “The Social Network”, but the blanket of the COVID-19 pandemic on this story ends up creating a far more interesting layer over everything. It’s clearly a tale of people isolating and feeling togetherness through the internet, and the way that Blum and Angelo zero in on this through the fictionalized parts of the tale is genius. While these specific versions are made up, people such as Jenny, Riri, Harmony, and Marcos certainly existed, and the film’s ability to tell the story of the squeeze not just through Keith and the hedge fund bros, but by showing the effects on real people playing the market is exceptionally smart. It's a touch that makes it far more than just a wannabe of this genre, both in that human level and also in how bluntly it showcases the power of the little guy. 

This isolation also adds a coldness with the film’s color palette and cinematography. It's a carryover from the period of time that will likely not work for some give how starkly it can remind of those isolating times. The film also does not benefit from its timeliness, given that much of the story is still playing out, leading to it feeling as though it ends just as it begins, leaving the juiciest results to be wrapped up simply via ending “where are they now” text. 

“Dumb Money” is certainly anything but the first half of its title, but the rush to get it into theatres prevents the film from fully exploring the scope of its material, leaving it feeling like a really good example of a tale that could’ve been really great. Regardless of that though, it's still extremely compelling and packed with an excellent cast led by a commanding and understated Dano and a script that thrives when focusing on the little guys in this stranger-than-fiction David v. Goliath tale. 4/5

A Haunting in Venice - Review: Third Time's the Charm for Branagh and Christie

 

After two middling adaptations of long beloved Agatha Christie works, director/star Kenneth Branagh (“Henry V (1989),” “Hamlet (1996)”) is back for his third adventure donning the mustache and inquisitive eye of Hercule Poirot for his most mysterious and terrifying mystery yet with “A Haunting in Venice.” The film thankfully feels far less creaky than his previous works and represents the best effort Branagh has made to not just adapt Christie’s works but create a compelling mystery in its own right. 

The film follows Branagh as Poirot, the world-famous detective who has now retired to Venice solivng petty mysteries in his free time. One evening, his friend and crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, played by Tina Fey (“30 Rock,” “Mean Girls”), invites him to come with her to a Halloween party thrown by Rowena Drake, played by Kelly Reilly (“Flight,” “Yellowstone”), where medium Joyce Reynolds, played by Michelle Yeoh (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once”), will be present. Also in attendance are housekeeper Olga, played by Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent,” “Killing Eve”), the ex-fiance of Rowena’s deceased sister Maxime Gerard, played by Kyle Allen (“The Path,” “Rosaline”), Dr. Leslie Ferrier, played by Jamie Dornan (“Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Belfast”), Dr. Leslie’s son Leopold, played by Jude Hill (“Belfast,” “Magpie Murders”), Reynolds’ assistants Nicholas and Desdemona, played by Ali Khan (“Red Rose,” “Everyone Else Burns”) and Emma Laird (“Mayor of Kingstown”) respectively, and Poirot’s bodyguard Vitale, played by Riccardo Scamarcio (“Euforia,” “John Wick: Chapter 2”). However, after Reynolds ends up dead during a seance, Poirot locks down the house, refusing to let anyone leave until the murder is solved. 

As opposed to the digital sheen draped across Branagh’s previous Christie adaptations, “Venice” has a more rustic and lived in look to its escapades. It helps that it's shot entirely inside of a dingy mansion, but the effect is still remarkably effective. It speaks to the more grounded nature of this tale, feeling like the kind of old school, “shot on location” Hollywood whodunnits from the 50s and 60s. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (“Cinderella 2015),” “Mamma Mia!”) shoots it all with fantastic Dutch angles and beautiful camerawork, delivering a fun mix of old styling and new techniques. 

There’s an old-fashioned feeling to the performances as well, with Branagh leading the charge. He lands somewhere between scenery chewing and smoothly executed professionalism, and it creates an old-school effectiveness when it comes to the performances. Fey is surprisingly good, toning down her typical jokiness for the role, and Yeoh is also great with her limited screentime. The rest of the cast is all good without anyone else really standing out from the crowd, speaking more about their uniform quality rather than anything negative about their performances. 

There’s a lot of effort that Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green (“Logan,” “Blade Runner 2049”) put into adapting this lesser-known Christie tale into a conventional three act whodunnit. Unlike his previous adaptations of her, this one wasn’t formatted in such a way as a book. It doesn’t make the film itself feel weird, but it does mean that the “grounding” of some of its more supernatural elements can come across as a bit forced. Branagh does leave enough room for some additional mystery to keep things interesting, tying up the central plot without bundling every loose thread into a neat bow. 

“A Haunting in Venice” is a deliberately paced, gorgeous whodunnit that pulls from Branagh’s strengths as a lower scale director. His performance is excellent, as is Fey’s, and the rest of the ensemble helps to fill out the mystery. It’s a lot like going for a night of good community theatre: well-worn sets and techniques, propped up by well-worn material and a game cast. In our age of overcomplicated mysteries and franchise glut (including Branagh’s own two previous Christie adaptations) what more could one ask for? 4/5