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BROOKLYN NINE-NINE | 2.10

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THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021) dir. David Lowery

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No one likes to feel someone else messing around in their mind.

INCEPTION (2010) dir. Christopher Nolan

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The Suicide Squad (2021) Directed by James Gunn

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🎄25 DAYS OF THE FESTIVE SEASON: DAY 17🎄 ↳ Die Hard (1988) dir. John McTiernan

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Welp, after years of people telling Hollywood for ages that they should make a movie out of Wicked, they finally did it.

And then they split it into two movies.

Hm.

Wicked, Part One, based off of the first act of the Broadway musical, itself based off of the Gregory McGuire novel (very much not for kids, that book!), tells the story of Elphaba, the green girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, the green villain made infamous in The Wizard of Oz. Having grown up ostracized due to being born green, and having uncontrollable magic powers, she’s suddenly forced into Shiz University, where she unexpectedly finds herself roommates with the popular, spoiled Galinda. Despite hating each other on sight, the two form an unexpected bond. But something is happening throughout Oz to the talking Animal population, and barely anyone is doing anything about it.

Alright, not gonna lie–I kind of loved this? I haven’t read the book or seen the musical on stage, though I have heard the music before. So while I’m not super-familiar with the story, I know several of the main beats.

Cynthia Erivo is a fantastic Elphaba! Elphaba has to be more than just someone who faced prejudice her entire life because of her skin; she has to be someone who is actively pushing back against that. She also has to be incredibly sympathetic, as she’s what’s carrying the movie–we have to identify with her. The audience needs to understand that Elphaba has had to put up with BS her entire life over her skin color, and side with her. Erivo does this very well. And I can’t really compare too heavily to other performances, because again, I haven’t seen the stage version, but the impression I’ve gotten from the soundtrack is that her delivery is a lot drier than, say, Menzel’s. All of this is also why it’s so rewarding in the scenes where we see Elphaba actually happy.

Ariana Grande is pretty darn good as Galinda. She’s also a tricky character! She has to be both oblivious and spoiled, but we have to like her before we reach the end, and find her entertaining to watch. She’s clearly having a ball, playing a brat who can’t see past what she wants. And she manages to play the character that you do want her friendship with Elphaba to work.

Also? I don’t actually like Grande’s music that much, so I watched this movie and said to myself, “Oh yeah, she has a really good voice, doesn’t she? I had forgotten.”

There’s a lot of practical effects here. Obviously, not all of it–Dr. Dillamond is not going to be a practical effect, given he’s a talking goat. The monkey guards are CGI, too. But quite a lot of the sets are constructed. I remember seeing a review claiming that it still doesn’t look real, as in lived-in, which is maybe true, but I think it’s not meant to. It’s Oz–a fairy tale-esque world which doesn’t quite fit with how our world looks. Of course it doesn’t look as worn-down as stuff of our world would. 

And that adds to the problems, doesn’t it? It looks like a fairy tale, but there’s really something very wrong going on behind the scenes. It’s supposed to look shiny and fantasyish, and when you get to the behind-the-scenes, like the Wizard’s storage tower, or the meeting where the talking Animals discuss what’s going on–those look much more ‘used’ than the sheen of Shiz University or the Emerald City.

The numbers are fantastic; several of them keep getting stuck in my head. A complaint I’ve seen, though, and I sympathize with, is that because it’s a movie that can do more with more elaborate sets and scenes, the numbers are drawn out more. “Defying Gravity” is the biggest offender–the momentum of the song is broken a lot as more things happen. It feels less like a song and more like a dramatic scene with short, musical interludes. 

A lot was made of how this, despite being an adaptation of Act 1, was longer than the entire stage show, but it doesn’t feel too long. I didn’t find myself squirming and asking how much longer it would go. So I feel like the length isn’t a problem.

If you like musicals (and especially if you like this musical), you should check this movie out. If you’ve been wondering what the hype is about, it’s not a bad way to be introduced to the story. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty great, and let’s be real, a cinematic adaptation is long-overdue. I had fun, I think you probably will, too.

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NOSFERATU — 2024, dir. Robert Eggers

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) dir. Matt Reeves

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Gladiator (2000)

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Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro BALLERINA 2025 — dir. Len Wiseman

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THE BATMAN (2022) dir. Matt Reeves

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What are you guys even doing?

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Over twenty years after the original, and the “resurrect Maximus and make him immortal” script was thrown out, Scott finally directed a sequel to Gladiator, set a generation after the events of the first movie.

Yay?

Lucius, the kid from the first movie, is now back as an adult and going by ‘Hanno’. He left Rome for Numidia, where he lives with his wife, but when the Roman general Acasius conquers Numidia, Lucius’s wife is killed in the battle, and he’s captured to eventually become a gladiator under Macrinus, an ambitious businessman who promises to deliver him a chance at revenge. They’re taken to Rome to entertain the corrupt twin emperors of Rome–who Acasius and his wife, Lucilla (Lucius’s mother!!) hope to depose.

The general critical consensus appears to be that this movie is trying to be the first one, and only kind of succeeds. There are bits that are shout-outs to the first film; I think early one, I think there are even shots that look familiar. The problem is that while the first movie goes the way it does because of events that make sense, this one has a Plot that feels it only exists as an homage to the first movie, without the work to back it up.

Take our protagonist, for instance. The first movie shows us that Maximus is an effective general, a skilled warrior, and beloved by his men. When he becomes a gladiator, we see how he survives, thrives, and leads his fellow gladiators. In this movie, Lucius has a similar character arc, but nothing is done to show how he can do all of these things. He’s a soldier in the beginning, but we have no indication that he’s a particularly good one, nor is he much of a leader or effective strategist. When he steps up as a leader, or gives directions to his fellow gladiators, I scratch my head and wonder where this came from.

Both Lucius and Maximus have their wives fridged, but in the first movie, Maximus is constantly thinking back to his deceased wife. Lucius? I kept forgetting that she ever existed. Neither case is very good towards female characters, but this movie’s treatment feels even less so, because it’s as if it’s only in an attempt to replay the Plot of the first movie.

Lucilla is in this movie, though the story struggles to decide what she’s here to do. There are points where she’s referred to as ‘the Queen’ which… she’s not, especially as the twin emperors have no apparent relation to her.

Gracchus is here, too. He doesn’t do anything, Scott just wants to see if we remember him from the first movie. It also just feels sad, because his presence reminds us that nothing that our heroes worked for in Gladiator were ever accomplished. The Senate has none of the power, corrupt emperors are still running Rome into the ground, and the people are still voiceless and being entertained by the gladiator arena rather than being taken care of. Like, okay, given history, we know that Rome wasn’t given back to the people, but it wasn’t as if history is Scott’s strong suit, so you might think that in this universe, perhaps it was. Now we know it’s not.

With all of this in mind, I can’t help but think maybe this movie should have been its own thing, only loosely connected to the first. Maybe it could have been set a century or so afterward, and contained vague references to the first film, I don’t know. The attempts to tie it into the first movie, through returning characters or certain reveals (which were spoiled in the trailers?), don’t feel earned.

There are other things in the movie that bring it down. If you’re a history nut, you’ll obviously have problems with the story, though given it’s a Ridley Scott movie, and how he’s been about this lately, I can’t say it’s a surprise. The CGI animals are not great–I’ve seen everyone and their mother talk about how the baboons look, and that’s entirely fair because they look barely recognizable as baboons. The rhino was okay for the most part, but the sharks? Those looked pretty bad, too.

Another random thing that bugged me? There were random inscriptions in places that were clearly written in English instead of Latin, just so the audience can read along. The characters are reading them aloud in those scenes, too, so it’s pointless hand-holding.

The one good thing everyone can agree on with this movie, though? Denzel Washington as Macrinus. He’s clearly having a ball out-acting just about everyone else in every scene. I’ve seen some people take issue with how his character was written, especially in today’s environment–a former slave who holds a grudge against the institutional powers, framed as dangerous and untrustworthy–and I agree. Doesn’t change that this guy’s clearly the highlight of the movie.

It’s an action movie, too, I guess? The action is fine, for the most part. So if you want a historical action epic, and you’re not too picky about how the story fits together, you might have fun with this. 

Still, it’s not as if you have to see this movie for any reason. It doesn’t feel like a great or necessary follow-up to Gladiator. It doesn’t feel like that well-done of a story. It’s just… kind of there. I wouldn’t call it a bad movie, but it’s not really good, and I think there are plenty of other movies you can watch in its place.

Take it or leave it, it’s just ‘meh’.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

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You're my hero! You should be giving me lessons in kicking ass.

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BLACK FRIDAY BEFORE 2020

BLACK FRIDAY AFTER 2020