Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to the cinema--or, as it's more
rightly called this weekend, "The Dev Patel Film Festival"--for a pair
of unlikely bedfellows: Chappie and The Second Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
First on the agenda, Neill Blomkamp's latest, Chappie.
In
the not-too-distant future, human police in Johannesburg have been
replaced by a robot force. A young programmer poaches a decommissioned
police droid and creates the world's first true A.I.
Chappie is no
District 9, however hard it might be trying. With that out of the way,
it's not the disaster some early notices would have you believe, either.
Starting
with the positives: The robot looks great...beautiful motion capture
work, with natural movements that should be the envy of those ridiculous
Apes movies. Sharlto Copley turns in a fantastic performance as
Chappie, completely sympathetic even when he's behaving like the world's
most annoying toddler. The story is entertaining, even though it's
never too hard to guess what's coming. As a "message" movie, it's a bit
ham-handed, but as an A.I. movie, it's waaaaaaay better than
Transcendence. (Talk about backhanded praise!) Dev Patel is his usual
wide-eyed, earnest self, perfect for a role like this, and Sigourney
Weaver...well...especially when it comes to sci-fi, I guess having
Sigourney Weaver is always better than NOT having Sigourney Weaver, and
at least she hasn't been saddled with a random weird accent (lookin' at
you, Jodie Foster!). Hans Zimmer provides a fantastic score, and the
interspersed Die Antwoord tunes are ideally suited to the movie's harsh,
ugly landscape.
On the negative side, I have to start with Hugh
Jackman. Yes, THAT Hugh Jackman, arguably one of the world's most gifted
all-around performers. Can we actually be meant to take him seriously
here, a silly one-note baddie, stomping about in a mullet and goofy
shorts, shooting the camera his best Snidely Whiplash looks?
Did he
really read this script and think it was a good idea? I can't imagine.
The movie throws a ton of screen time at Die Antwoord's Ninja and
Yo-Landi, relying heavily on viewers finding the two super cool and
awesome. In fact, they are anything but...unless you're a 14-year-old
boy who is endlessly amused by vulgar t-shirts and tattoos of tiny men
with giant penises, then, hey, they're super cool and awesome. In fact,
all the characters are essentially caricatures of what they're meant to
be, and the movie would have done well to dial everyone back a tick.
Finally, though the movie never lost my attention, there's no denying
the story is predictable and derivative, with a terribly contrived
finish that left me rolling my eyes.
Chappie clocks in at 120 minutes and is rated R for "violence, language, and brief nudity."
It's got more problems than a calculus textbook, but I still kinda liked it. Of a possible nine Weasleys,
Chappie gets five.
Next up was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
(Or, "The further adventures of Heaven's Waiting Room.")
The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a fantastic film, sweet and sincere,
with more feels than the average teenager's Tumblr.
Did it need a
sequel? Of course not.
Did it do well enough for everyone to know it was
getting a sequel? Well, hey, when this whole group is still kicking
three years later, you gotta take it as a sign, eh? There's nothing I
can say about the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel that you don't
already know, whether or not you've seen it. The movie features more
wisdom from Mrs. Donnelly, more adorableness from Mr. Ainslie, more
cougaring from Mrs. Hardcastle, and more well-intentioned shenanigans
from Sonny. The age jokes never get old (see what I did there?), and the
beautiful colors of India make it a joy to watch. If we're being
honest, of course, you could take all that away and still there'd be no
going wrong with this cast; they are the most perfectly perfect bunch of
perfect to ever grace the silver screen. Special perfection marks to
Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy; minus her deadpan delivery and his lovable
awkwardness, the movie would definitely be missing its most special
pieces.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel runs 122 minutes and is rated PG13 for "some language and suggestive comments."
The
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a charming, funny, moving film,
and, if it never takes a turn you didn't expect, maybe you never wanted
it to, anyway. Of a possible nine Weasleys, the
Second Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel gets seven.
Until next time...
I may look harmless, but I'm taking over your cinema!!