MOVIE REVIEW: JOY RIDE

 

When Audrey's business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the help of Lolo, her childhood best friend, Kat, a college friend, and Deadeye, Lolo's eccentric cousin. Their epic, no-holds-barred experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

Director: Adele Lim

Cast: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu, Ronny Chieng, Meredith Hagner, David Denman, Annie Mumolo, Timothy Simons, Daniel Dae Kim

Release Date: July 7, 2023

Genre: Comedy

Rating: R, For strong and crude sexual content, language throughout, drug content and brief graphic nudity.

Runtime: 1h 32m

Joy Ride is a raunchy ride that isn't scared to push the envelope at any point during its brisk runtime.  Adele Lim's directorial debut has a sort of chaotic energy from the outset, something she has some difficulty maintaining as the film has some noticeable peaks and valleys during its runtime.  To her credit, Lim keeps the film moving at a steady pace so that when a joke or scene doesn't land it never lingers too long before we move on to the next bit of craziness.  The sequences that work hit that sort of amplified hilarity that these kind of films crave case in point a sequence in a hotel that rotates between all four characters.  There are other moments that are just as funny, but the film's marketing decided to use them in the trailer which lessens their impact.  If you haven't had any of those sequences spoiled there are plenty of laugh out loud moment that gives its ensemble cast plenty of time to shine.  Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu make up the main foursome with each set up as a particular character type.  Park does well as the straight-laced overachiever who's story is the driving force of the film.  Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu are clearly having a great time playing the more outlandish and bawdy characters while Sabrina Wu brings an understated sweetness to socially awkward character.  The four of them bounce off each with relative ease which gives them an organic, believable dynamic that works in the film's favor especially as it hits some surprisingly emotional beats in its final act.  It’s a testament to the cast and director that those moments work as well as they do since the film plays like Road Trip or Eurotrip from the early 2000's but it sneakily creates some tangible emotional connections with the characters.  

B

MOVIE REVIEW: HELLBOY

Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.

Director: Neil Marshall

Cast: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim

Release Date: April 12, 2019

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language

Runtime: 2h 1min

Review:

Guillermo del Toro’s 2 Hellboy films were fantasy fill adventures with a strong likable star at it’s center.  It’s a shame that he never got to finish off his trilogy properly and thus resulting in this loud and unnecessary reboot.  It’s hard to figure out exactly who deserves most of the blame since there are talented people all around.  Neil Marshall is an under appreciated director who has direct some wonderful films in his time.  Here much of his style is missing, outside for a few impressive action sequences, replaced by a hodgepodge of scenes that rarely flow together as a cohesive whole.  It makes for an odd movie watching experience since the story never really flows together leaving the plot more convoluted than it needed to be.  David Harbour takes over as Hellboy and he’s solid if underwhelming throughout.  He lacks the natural charisma and presence of Ron Perlman’s version, as such the whole film is far less interesting.  The supporting cast fares slightly better with Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane faring the best overall.  Still, it’s hard to watch this lackluster, soulless reboot and not wonder what Del Toro’s film would have looked like.    

C