Running Time: 1 hr. and 40 min.
This was the worst movie I have seen in a long time. I was somewhat enthused about seeing this movie because of last year’s Happy Death Day. I went into Happy Death Day expecting a terrible horror movie, but got an enthusiastic, funny, parody of horror movie tropes in a horror movie version of Groundhog Day. Blumhouse also produced Get Out and while I was not expecting this movie to Get Out I was expecting a certain level of quality.
Instead of something witty or interesting or horrifying or…anything we get something singularly and uniquely bad. Olivia Barron (Lucy Hale) is a college student that gets roped into going to Mexico on spring break. While there her and her friends go up to an abandoned church where something bad has happened. They join in a game of truth or dare with a stranger and get sucked into its devilish world. The game becomes real and they either need to follow the rules of the game or die. The only character that is remotely funny or in any way redeeming is Ronnie and the rest of them are just boring as hell. He dies first.
The drama that results from the game is incredibly stupid. They share stupid secrets about who likes who, they sleep around, they come out of the closet, etc. You would think the teenage drama displayed by these *cough* intelligent college students *cough* would be dissipated by the fact that supernatural factors are compelling them to do it. It doesn’t. The story rapidly becomes preposterous with various subplots and the explanation for the game itself is hilariously bad. The ending is laughable.
Along the way it is possible to enjoy yourself by pondering how such a movie was created in the first place and to laugh at it uncontrollably. That will get you through the first half hour. After that, you’re on your own.
Truth or dare? The truth is you should skip it.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 41 min.
Isle of Dogs is a witty and visually engaging movie that is slightly outside of Wes Anderson’s wheelhouse. The city of Megasaki has a problem. The dogs in the city are overpopulated and carrying diseases that threaten to cross species. The mayor also has a thousand year old feud with dogs because of his clans preference for cats. In order to solve this conundrum the dogs are deported to Trash Island where they are expected to eek out an existence or die trying.
Atari, the estranged nephew of the current mayor, wants his dog bad. Spots was the first dog deported and he was Atari’s bodyguard and companion. He sets out in a prop plane to find his missing companion. The voice acting is great and the main group of dogs have the most hilarious roles in the movie. The group features Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and Jeff Goldblum. Was that noise I just heard you knocking over furniture to go see it? Well, it should have been. Chief (Bryan Cranston) is a lifelong stray who is leery of people and the story is about his quest for survival. They undertake a journey to get back to the mainland and help Atari find his lost companion. Along the way they run into a variety of characters who are mostly interesting and thought out.
The movie does suffer from some flaws namely repetition. Some of the gags get recycled a little too quickly and are not nearly as interesting the second, third, or fourth time you see them. The movie is also a little too dark at times and lacking humor in those moments. Typically Wes Anderson movies are dark, but paired with levity. The levity is at times too light in Isle of Dogs.
It is a fun, interesting, original movie. See it.