Written by: Kevin Berge
2018 has been a decent year for movies. While we're still waiting for the critical darlings to arrive for their Academy Award nominee runs, the Hollywood blockbusters have almost all already been released. Marvel had arguably its best year ever on the big screen. There have been multiple smash hits outside superheroes as well.
However, most of the movies I've seen this year fall into the middle bucket of quality as good enough to sit through but far from memorable. This next crop of movies all had me excited going in, and I already find myself forgetting what they contained.
The four movies I will be concisely reviewing are the fine action reboot The Girl in the Spider's Web, the well-acted modern western The Sisters Brothers, the overlong modern crime drama The Old Man & the Gun, and the Disney wannabe animated musical Smallfoot.
However, most of the movies I've seen this year fall into the middle bucket of quality as good enough to sit through but far from memorable. This next crop of movies all had me excited going in, and I already find myself forgetting what they contained.
The four movies I will be concisely reviewing are the fine action reboot The Girl in the Spider's Web, the well-acted modern western The Sisters Brothers, the overlong modern crime drama The Old Man & the Gun, and the Disney wannabe animated musical Smallfoot.
Claire Foy seems to be taking her removal from The Crown well. (Image Courtesy of: cnet.com)
The Girl in the Spider's Web
I was never a big fan of David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I always thought it was a shame that Rooney Mara would not get more chances to play a character she completely inhabited. She's brilliant in the lead role in a way even Noomi Rapace could not match even though she had the first crack at the character.
Replacing Mara with Claire Foy (The Crown) was not strictly a downgrade as both are excellent actresses, but it was the first of many moves that make The Girl in the Spider's Web the weakest movie in this constantly in turmoil franchise.
This film tries to return to the character of Lisbeth Salander and make her out to be a cyber hacker vigilante. This is almost a superhero film in the way Lisbeth is framed, and it gives a new air to the franchise. Unfortunately, the writing and direction do not fully embrace this turn.
This is a fairly dreary movie that tries too hard to be both a dramatic thriller and a straight action flick with Lisbeth never fully explored as a character. Foy brings what she can to an underwritten role, but she can't make Lisbeth stand out as more than action vehicle to the film.
There's some great moments in this movie. Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) brings a fun air to proceedings. Most of the characters have a vague air of likability. There's just not enough here. Director Fede Álvarez does not seem to have a firm grasp on anything in this film, hoping the acting talent rise above it all.
They can't though. While the movie is perfectly fine, this is a story about family and sexual abuse that does not understand its own ideas. Stieg Larsson's books are let down by a studio that just does not a firm grasp of what to do with the impactful material.
Replacing Mara with Claire Foy (The Crown) was not strictly a downgrade as both are excellent actresses, but it was the first of many moves that make The Girl in the Spider's Web the weakest movie in this constantly in turmoil franchise.
This film tries to return to the character of Lisbeth Salander and make her out to be a cyber hacker vigilante. This is almost a superhero film in the way Lisbeth is framed, and it gives a new air to the franchise. Unfortunately, the writing and direction do not fully embrace this turn.
This is a fairly dreary movie that tries too hard to be both a dramatic thriller and a straight action flick with Lisbeth never fully explored as a character. Foy brings what she can to an underwritten role, but she can't make Lisbeth stand out as more than action vehicle to the film.
There's some great moments in this movie. Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) brings a fun air to proceedings. Most of the characters have a vague air of likability. There's just not enough here. Director Fede Álvarez does not seem to have a firm grasp on anything in this film, hoping the acting talent rise above it all.
They can't though. While the movie is perfectly fine, this is a story about family and sexual abuse that does not understand its own ideas. Stieg Larsson's books are let down by a studio that just does not a firm grasp of what to do with the impactful material.
Grade: C
The sequel to Step Brothers, The Sisters Brothers, seems to have taken a rather odd turn. (Image Courtesy of: nerdist.com)
The Sisters Brothers
While knowing almost nothing about it going in, there were few movies in 2018 I was more excited about than The Sisters Brothers. This mainly came down to the cast. Joaquin Phoenix (Her) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) have been on incredible streaks of great acting performances for the past few years.
John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) and Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) have been clearly rising up the ranks as dramatic leads. Unfortunately, this modern western stands as a firm reminder that westerns died years ago for a reason with few braving the genre successfully since.
Director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) has crafted a perfectly fine movie about two brothers hunting a scientist that takes some surprising turns along the way. In some aspects, this feels like a film about westerns, exploring the genre and subverting it, but The Sisters Brothers forgets to ever be interesting.
The quartet of lead performances bring enough to the table to make this worth watching. It also does a great job exploring how violence and corruption can shape an entire culture while promoting the worst impulses of those involved.
Unfortunately, it leads to too little. There's not much emotional weight to latch onto. This story is based on the novel by Patrick deWitt and comes off as a thought-provoking novel that never needed to be adapted to the big screen. Such think-pieces rarely translate well to film.
The Sisters Brothers comes off like most Cormac McCarthy novel adaptations. It takes a powerful framework but cannot adapt it as it was best left to words on the page. In many ways, it is reminiscent of No Country for Old Men but lacks the deft and focused adaptation of The Coen Brothers to make it all work.
John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) and Riz Ahmed (Four Lions) have been clearly rising up the ranks as dramatic leads. Unfortunately, this modern western stands as a firm reminder that westerns died years ago for a reason with few braving the genre successfully since.
Director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) has crafted a perfectly fine movie about two brothers hunting a scientist that takes some surprising turns along the way. In some aspects, this feels like a film about westerns, exploring the genre and subverting it, but The Sisters Brothers forgets to ever be interesting.
The quartet of lead performances bring enough to the table to make this worth watching. It also does a great job exploring how violence and corruption can shape an entire culture while promoting the worst impulses of those involved.
Unfortunately, it leads to too little. There's not much emotional weight to latch onto. This story is based on the novel by Patrick deWitt and comes off as a thought-provoking novel that never needed to be adapted to the big screen. Such think-pieces rarely translate well to film.
The Sisters Brothers comes off like most Cormac McCarthy novel adaptations. It takes a powerful framework but cannot adapt it as it was best left to words on the page. In many ways, it is reminiscent of No Country for Old Men but lacks the deft and focused adaptation of The Coen Brothers to make it all work.
Grade: B-
Robert Redford has transcended filmmaking so clearly that he can even convince you his hand is a gun. (Image Courtesy of: philly.com)
The Old Man & the Gun
The Old Man & the Gun is an excellent short film, a contained tale of how any passion (even an illegal one) can define a whole life. Unfortunately, it tries to be a feature length film, and it's so obvious when this story is being stretched thin just to hit the 90 minute required run time.
This film serves as a swan song to the career of Robert Redford (The Natural), one of the greatest Hollywood legends, and it's a great last act for the actor. He is in top form with a smile on his face that makes it hard not to like the smooth career criminal Forrest Tucker.
Beyond him and his quiet adventures, there's not much here. Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone) has a completely unnecessary role in the film as the cop chasing down Tucker that tries to play out like the classic cop vs. criminal dynamic in crime films but is far too dry to matter.
Tucker also has a simple romance with Jewel (Sissy Spacek) that never comes off as a genuine diversion from Tucker's true passion. The two are good together, but the movie tries to sell the idea that the lead will throw away everything for this relationship.
The movie shines when it's just Tucker and his buddies (played by Donald Glover and Tom Waits) robbing banks. There's a beautiful simplicity to the way the film frames these heists, occasionally only exploring the fallout rather than the actual act.
There's a moment about 20 minutes before the end of the film that felt just right to end the film. While it still had unnecessary extra plots, it came as a poetic western-inspired finish to the story. Instead, the film pushes on, and it was the final moment that proves this story was always only going to be good and never great.
This film serves as a swan song to the career of Robert Redford (The Natural), one of the greatest Hollywood legends, and it's a great last act for the actor. He is in top form with a smile on his face that makes it hard not to like the smooth career criminal Forrest Tucker.
Beyond him and his quiet adventures, there's not much here. Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone) has a completely unnecessary role in the film as the cop chasing down Tucker that tries to play out like the classic cop vs. criminal dynamic in crime films but is far too dry to matter.
Tucker also has a simple romance with Jewel (Sissy Spacek) that never comes off as a genuine diversion from Tucker's true passion. The two are good together, but the movie tries to sell the idea that the lead will throw away everything for this relationship.
The movie shines when it's just Tucker and his buddies (played by Donald Glover and Tom Waits) robbing banks. There's a beautiful simplicity to the way the film frames these heists, occasionally only exploring the fallout rather than the actual act.
There's a moment about 20 minutes before the end of the film that felt just right to end the film. While it still had unnecessary extra plots, it came as a poetic western-inspired finish to the story. Instead, the film pushes on, and it was the final moment that proves this story was always only going to be good and never great.
Grade: B
There's no way anyone could be scared of yetis if they were this colorful. (Image Courtesy of: variety.com)
Smallfoot
Every animation studio has strived to be like Disney at one point or another even Disney itself. The formula the Golden Age established is still the most impressive and successful run of animated movies ever, defining the entire format more than anyone else including far more consistently excellent studios like Studio Ghibli or Pixar.
It is rare though you see a modern animated movie try so hard to be a 90s Disney movie to its own detriment. Smallfoot is a well-crafted enjoyable animated film that is bogged down by the need to also be a musical. It has a whole soundtrack of original tracks that do not remotely work.
Warner Animation Group has largely been a surprise success since its founding particularly thanks to The Lego Movie, a film that worked by coming off as a modern animated movie. However, this movie doesn't have Lord and Miller at the helm instead created by new studio Zaftig and directed by Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run).
Smallfoot is the tale of Migo (Channing Tatum) who is a Yeti living in the Himalayan mountains and focuses on how he is slowly introduced to the idea that his world view is the whole truth. There's some great commentary here about how easy it can be to rely on a false world view.
If not for the terrible music breaks, this would have been a solid animated flick for 2018, but it is bogged down by the bad decisions that make it a largely forgettable experience. It will likely still be ranked among the better animated movies this year, just not truly competing with The Incredibles 2 or Teen Titans Go! to the Movies.
While I think most kids will enjoy this film and that's what really matters, it's a shame that the creators had so many strong ideas to work with and managed to miss the mark when this could have been the breakthrough Warner Animation Group needed to be more than the Lego movie studio.
It is rare though you see a modern animated movie try so hard to be a 90s Disney movie to its own detriment. Smallfoot is a well-crafted enjoyable animated film that is bogged down by the need to also be a musical. It has a whole soundtrack of original tracks that do not remotely work.
Warner Animation Group has largely been a surprise success since its founding particularly thanks to The Lego Movie, a film that worked by coming off as a modern animated movie. However, this movie doesn't have Lord and Miller at the helm instead created by new studio Zaftig and directed by Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run).
Smallfoot is the tale of Migo (Channing Tatum) who is a Yeti living in the Himalayan mountains and focuses on how he is slowly introduced to the idea that his world view is the whole truth. There's some great commentary here about how easy it can be to rely on a false world view.
If not for the terrible music breaks, this would have been a solid animated flick for 2018, but it is bogged down by the bad decisions that make it a largely forgettable experience. It will likely still be ranked among the better animated movies this year, just not truly competing with The Incredibles 2 or Teen Titans Go! to the Movies.
While I think most kids will enjoy this film and that's what really matters, it's a shame that the creators had so many strong ideas to work with and managed to miss the mark when this could have been the breakthrough Warner Animation Group needed to be more than the Lego movie studio.
