Cindy Prascik's Holiday Wrap-up Part I: The Matrix Resurrections & The Power of the Dog

 

My dear reader(s), following another lengthy absence, I've managed to squeeze a few movie screenings into my holiday break. Here in part one, I shall tackle a couple non-seasonal films: The Matrix Resurrections and The Power of the Dog. In part two, we'll have a peek at some Christmas offerings.

Spoiler level will be mild, nothing you won't have learned from trailers and advertisements.

First on my agenda: The Matrix Resurrections. 

New and familiar faces fight for reality...but what is the real reality?

It's fair to say science fiction and I are taking a break. We definitely don't love each other like we used to, and I'm not sure we ever will again. I elected to give the Matrix Resurrections a try anyway, based on: a.) my love of Keanu Reeves, and b.) being able to watch without leaving the house. If it's not as bad as I thought it was, I'm pretty sure it's not good, either.

Keanu has made a career of locking into roles ideally suited to his acting style. That's a backhanded compliment, but know I offer it with great affection. Carrie-Anne Moss is an inspiration, an action hero a mere year younger than I am. (Note: That's "old" in most people's books!) Despite my aversion to anything with the stink of Glee on it, Jonathan Groff is a pleasant surprise. Always. In everything. Effects are about 50/50, decent and comically bad. Callbacks to previous installments might be entertaining if this one didn't insist on pointing out each one so explicitly. Action is repetitive and gets old quickly, and — at nearly two and a half hours — the picture is extremely bloated. Anymore I'm never sure if social and political undertones are really present, or if I just see them everywhere because I so desperately want to avoid them for a hot minute, but I found them here...and I was well and truly bored before the halfway point.

The Matrix Resurrections clocks in at a whopping 148 minutes, and is rated R for "violence and some language."

If you're deeply invested in the Matrix series, you'll probably love the Matrix Resurrections; otherwise, you can give it a pass and rest assured you won't miss it. Of a possible nine Weasleys, the Matrix Resurrections gets three.

The Matrix Resurrections is currently playing in cinemas worldwide, and streaming on HBO Max through January 21.

Fangirl points: Freema Agyeman!

Next on the docket: The Power of the Dog.

Exploring the contentious relationships among a contrary cowboy, his more agreeable brother, and the brother's wife and son.

The Power of the Dog is a deliberately-paced western that's in no real hurry to get anywhere. Benedict Cumberbatch carries the film with a mighty turn that may well win him his first Academy Award. Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee are all terrific in support. Dusty western settings and a gloomy score reinforce the movie's uneasy atmosphere. The film tells an interesting enough tale, but I can't say it's one I'm glad I watched. Oh, and if you're an animal lover, maybe take a pass. Too many ugly moments to get past in that regard.

The Power of the Dog runs 126 minutes and is rated R for "brief sexual content and full nudity."

The Power of the Dog is a miserable little film, but worth checking out for some exceptional performances. Of a possible nine Weasleys, the Power of the Dog gets five.

The Power of the Dog is now streaming on Netflix.

Fangirl points: Keith Carradine!

Stay tuned for some cinematic Christmas cheer!!

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

 

To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he's learned anything, it's that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of -- or into -- the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn't yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.

Director: Lana Wachowski

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci

Release Date: December 22, 2021

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Rated R for violence and some language

Runtime: 2h 28m

Review:

The first two sequels to the Matrix were a prime example of the law of diminishing returns.  Each entry became more entrenched in philosophical musings and mythology that ultimately weighed them down.  Eighteen years later Lana Wachowski revives the franchise with a more meta approach, echoing what Wes Craven did with Freddy Kruger in 1994's A New Nightmare, in the first half of her film.  It's a fun and fascinating take that sure to set a lot of fans off kilter initially.  This approach gives the story and franchise a spark of life it desperately needed in order to warrant another sequel.  There are plenty of story threads that could have been explored from that vantage point but Wachowski just can't pull the trigger before falling into what the previous sequels did before them.  The film hits some very familiar beats from the original film before moving into more standard sci-fi fare which isn't nearly as engaging.  The action is plentiful if rather uninspired mainly due to the fact that the film turns into a slog due to it's unnecessarily long runtime.  The back half of the film is a pseudo love story between the franchises main two characters.  It's undeniably fun to see Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss slip back into their iconic roles especially when they do it with such ease.  Reeves, deservedly, gets the lion share of the screen time but Moss and her inherent strength and ferocity shine through in her limited screen time.  The newcomers to the franchise are a mixed bag with Jessica Henwick making the best impression.  Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is solid as Morpheus 2.0 but he can't quite capture Fishburn's sage cyber sensei the same way. Jonathan Groff does the best he can as the new Agent Smith but like Abdul-Mateen II he doesn't bring the same energy of his predecessor.  Neil Patrick Harris and Jada Pinkett Smith, in some embarrassingly terrible old people make up, are shockingly bad with their turns leaving you wonder if they were in a different movie all together.  The Matrix Resurrections had the chance to trying something riskier and more engaging but it ultimately falls back on it's safety net which isn't terribly innovative and groundbreaking.

C+

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of 3 Days to Kill & Pompeii

Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to the pictures for a pair of too-late-for-awards-season/too-early-for-summer-blockbuster-season throwaways, 3 Days to Kill and Pompeii.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
First on my agenda was Kevin Costner's unlikely action thriller 3 Days to Kill.

A terminally ill CIA agent is persuaded to take one final job in exchange for an experimental treatment that could extend his life.

Oh, dear Blog, where do I even start? I guess I should start by saying the fact that this is a terrible movie in no way diminished my enjoyment of it; on the contrary, I quite liked it. BUT...........

Beginning at the beginning, nobody is buying Amber Heard in her role as a top CIA agent. She has neither the years nor the bearing to pull it off. It's not a poor performance, by any means, she's just entirely unsuitable for the part. Having said that, ain't nobody complainin' about looking at Amber Heard for two hours, either!

Kevin Costner is just...Kevin Costner. What else can I say? I like the guy, I do, but he's about as emotive as Joan Rivers' terminally botoxed face. He gets away with it here, as he always does, by being just that likable. I'm sitting there thinking, "God, that was bad.......but, you know what, I actually don't mind." And there's Kevin Costner for ya.

The movie itself provides so much backstory on Costner's character that it's really more like two movies. I want some depth, some rationale for the characters' situations and choices, but TWO hokey subplots that never really tie into the actual story? It's a bit much. The humor is lowbrow and predictable--but I laughed anyway--and the songs the director (McG) plops here and there are poor choices, terribly timed, or both. Maybe I'm just spoiled because nobody's as good at that as Edgar Wright, but I can't be the only one who was creeped out by an old dude like Costner slow-dancing with his teenage onscreen daughter to Bread's Make it With You...even if it is supposed to be her mother's favorite song. The action is solid, though, the characters mostly sympathetic, and there's a small, decent twist that I did not see coming for one minute.

3 Days to Kill runs 113 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality, and language."

3 Days to Kill provides a couple hours of forgettable fun. Even during awards season, that's not a crime.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, 3 Days to Kill gets five.

Rounding out yesterday's double-header was Paul W.S. Anderson's latest bit of eye candy, Pompeii.

Do we really need a synopsis for this one? Volcano goes "boom," and even Kit Harington's spectacular abs can't save the day for the doomed city of Pompeii.

In addition to the volcano, this version of Pompeii offers its own forbidden love story, in the form of Harington's slave/gladiator, who falls for a princess (Emily Browning), unwillingly betrothed to a Roman senator (Kiefer Sutherland). Though he enjoys top billing, Harington has the fewest lines of any of the main cast, and is mostly called on to stand around looking fit while casting longing looks at the princess or withering looks at the Senator and his thugs. Sutherland spends 90 minutes falling in and out of the same half-assed English accent he used in 1993's The Three Musketeers, and, surprisingly, is the worst thing about a movie that's pretty resoundingly terrible. What little challenge this script provides isn't beyond most of the cast, but nobody does anything in particular to elevate it, either. In the most backhanded of backhanded compliments, I suppose Sasha Roiz and Jared Harris made me cringe the least.

Pompeii's effects strictly adhere to the "go big or go home" credo, with plenty of flying fireballs and crumbling buildings. Sadly, the costumes and set pieces look like something out of a high-school production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and I was not impressed with the overall look of the movie. Having said that, I'm a woman of simple tastes, and if you give me a couple hours of big explosions, hot, shirtless dudes in tiny skirts, and a few glorious 3D shots of one lady-in-waiting's bodacious bosom, well, I'm probably not going to complain too much.

Pompeii clocks in at a quick 98 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense battle sequences, disaster-related action, and brief sexual content."

As with 3 Days to Kill, the fact that Pompeii isn't a very good movie didn't stop me having a good time with it, so I'll say for the final time this season: if you're looking for a break from all the uber-serious awards bait, Pompeii just might be the movie for you.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Pompeii also gets five.

Until next time...

Wait...what was I saying??

MOVIE REVIEW: POMPEII

Paul W.S. Anderson directs this period disaster film centered on the story of a Pompeii gladiator who races to save his true love as Mount Vesuvius prepares to erupt in A.D. 79. After rising out of slavery to become a gladiator, Milo (Kit Harrington) falls for radiant merchant's daughter Cassia (Emily Browning), who is being coerced into marrying a nefarious Roman Senator. Meanwhile, as the lava starts to flow, Milo must escape the arena and rescue Cassia before they are both turned to ash. CarrieAnne Moss, Adewa Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jared Harris, and Kiefer Sutherland co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast: Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris

Release Date: Feb 21, 2014

Rated: PG-13 for intense battle sequences, disaster-related action and brief sexual content

Runtime: 1 hr. 38 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

It should probably tell you something about a film if the biggest compliment I can give it is that it’s not as horrible as I expected it to be. Paul W.S. Anderson’s film is filled with things unashamedly lifted from other better films throughout. Logic has no place here so just know that going in. Volcanic eruption, who cares we have plenty of time for a sword fight. Characters just met a few days ago but they are suddenly the most important thing in the world and worth losing your life for, sure why not. It’s dreck but it’s also kind of watchable once you get past the snooze inducing first act. The other two acts can be described simply as Gladiator knockoff and Vesuvius Finally Blows up. Those 2 acts are fairly watchable even though there are some unintentionally funny sequences that pop up from time to time. The acting is passable at best. Kit “You know nothing Jon Snow” Harington sleep walks through the roll which isn’t surprising to be honest since his love interest is Emily Browning and her unnaturally pouty lips. A horribly miscast Kiefer Sutherland keeps a smirk on throughout the entire film probably because he knows he’s just stealing money. Jared Harris and Carrie-Anne Moss make an appearance and collect checks since they aren’t asked to do anything but be cannon fodder. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje appears to be the only one having any fun in this campy silliness. The funny thing is that it’s probably one of Paul W.S. Anderson’s better films since Event Horizon.

C