film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Matt Conway

  • Troll: The BRWC Review

    Troll: The BRWC Review

    Troll Synopsis: Deep inside the mountain of Dovre, something gigantic awakens after being trapped for a thousand years. Destroying everything in its path, the creature is fast approaching the capital of Norway. But how do you stop something you thought only existed in Norwegian folklore?

    Ancient folklore comes to life when a mystical creature begins to wreak havoc across Norway in Troll. As someone who grew up intoxicated by the epic scale of big-budget B-movies, the modern marketplace leaves something to be desired. Campy genre films like Moonfall receive little attention compared to the high-flying heroics of superheroes, which leaves streaming as the last resort for shlock entertainment. 

    Fortunately, Netflix’s latest international production, Troll, gleefully delivers the goods. What the film lacks in narrative innovations, Troll readily makes up for in its evocative craft and sincere intentions. 

    If anything, Troll stands tall as a spotlight for director Roar Uthaug’s immense abilities. Uthaug, who found success with The Wave and 2018’s underrated Tomb Raider reboot, is a natural extension of the Roland Emmerich/Michael Bay era of filmmakers. With his long-awaited passion project, Uthaug utilizes his adoration for Norwegian folklore as an effective canvas for creating a blockbuster bursting with immersive scale and heart-pounding sequences. 

    Uthaug works brilliantly with cinematographer Jallo Faber in creating a grand event film on a shoestring budget. The duo wisely utilizes wide shots to convey the immensity of their larger-than-life subject as he stomps through the Norway countryside. As for the central Troll, Uthaug and his technical team deserve ample praise for their textured design work. Every rocky crease and expressive detail helps the troll imprint a dynamic presence even without dialogue. The infusion of creative flourishes, like well-timed slow-mo shots, also injects excitement into the frenzied action onscreen.  

    From a narrative perspective, Troll is efficient enough. Uthaug and screenwriter Espen Aukan envision your typical genre movie formula as the characters piece together a solution for the troll’s sudden arrival. Troll features a familiar gamut of goofy side characters, stirring speeches, and contrived devices. While these elements and a general lack of personality limit Troll’s creative ceiling, the film possess enough self-awareness to move things along at an economical pace. A charismatic leading performance from Ine Marie Wilmann as a confident paleontologist also helps provide a sturdy dramatic center for the narrative. 

    Watching Troll is like engulfing a cherished comfort food meal. The film’s lack of nutritional value is frankly irrelevant compared to the charming spectacle Uthaug and company cultivate. I’ll be rooting for Uthaug’s next production to get a chance to shine on the big screen. 

    Troll is now playing on Netflix. 

  • Christmas Bloody Christmas: The BRWC Review

    Christmas Bloody Christmas: The BRWC Review

    Christmas Bloody Christmas Synopsis: It’s Christmas Eve and Tori (Riley Dandy) wants to get drunk and party, but when a robotic Santa Clause at a nearby toy store goes haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through her small town, she’s forced into a battle for survival.

    An antiquated animatronic Santa morphs into a raging killing machine in the grindhouse genre film Christmas Bloody Christmas. I’ve always supported altering the Christmas spirit into something far more depraved. Vulgar comedies like Bad Santa and Violent Night took umbrage in depicting Santa Claus as an amoral anti-hero, while my favorite Christmas film, Batman Returns, cleverly flips holiday tenants of family and connection on their heads in a surprisingly melancholic manner. 

    Equally unhinged and nihilistic, Christmas Bloody Christmas is a fitting extension of that trend. Writer/director Joe Begos concocts a gore-ridden slasher bolstered by its vibrant aesthetics and spirited creativity. 

    Begos continues to be an auteur to watch for fans of the horror genre. Similar to his gruesome exploitation actioner VFW, Begos adopts an 80s synth-wave visual profile that never feels like a phony extension of the era’s filmmaking techniques. Every scene of Christmas Bloody Christmas is draped in dimly-lit neon hues, setting a dreary atmosphere where murder and bloodshed await around the corner. His lo-fi sensibilities and evocative camerawork, including several cleverly crafted POV shots, always find intriguing ways to enrich his low-budget assets into a captivating visual experience. 

    Once the animatronic Santa begins his unstoppable killing spree, Christmas Bloody Christmas morphs into an irresistible slasher. Begos is a true midnight movie master, composing an endless onslaught of creatively designed setpieces that creatively twist Yuletide cheer into murdering madness. From brutal axe massacres to a death-defying chase via a police cruiser, Begos injects dynamism in each clash while dressing his film in buckets of bloodshed. 

    Begos’ screenplay is more of a mixed bag. His sardonic comedic tone and amusingly unsentimental approach are an excellent fit for the material. Lead actress Riley Dandy also excels within the script’s approach, dispensing sharp one-liners as the narrative’s personable final goal. However, the film is easily at its weakest when setting up its one night of chaos. Begos lacks the grander social commentary or ingenious character-building to make his screenplay feel just as distinguished as his filmmaking approach. 

    Let’s be real though; Christmas Bloody Christmas isn’t vying for weighty revelations. Begos and company instead conjure a mean-and-lean, punk rock slasher that skillfully pays homage to its horror forefathers. 

    Christmas Bloody Christmas opens in theaters and on Shudder December 9th. 

  • Strange World: The BRWC Review

    Strange World: The BRWC Review

    Strange World Synopsis: Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a farmer who discovers a resource that continues to power his community. He aspires to set a strong legacy for his son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) in the aftermath of a strained relationship with his legendary adventurer father, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid). When a new threat disturbs Searcher’s prosperous community, he embarks on a quest to a strange world that boats a slew of surprises.

    If solving a world-ending crisis was not scary enough, farmer and acclaimed descendant of adventurer Jaeger Clade, Searcher, must come face-to-face with his dysfunctional family dynamics in Disney’s latest animated adventure, Strange World.

    Disney is synonymous with its history of bright, family-centric offerings that push boundaries in craft and emotional storytelling. However, while the House of Mouse continues to develop some inspired animated efforts, it’s clear that competitors, such as Dreamworks and Sony Pictures Animation, are garnering a larger slice of the crowded family film marketplace. A slew of successful recent efforts, like Dreamworks’ The Bad Guys and Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, even upstaged Disney products as those studios focused on evolving their practices rather than sticking to a well-established formula.

    With Strange World, Disney embraces tradition again with a swashbuckling family adventure set amidst a vast sci-fi landscape. The results register a solid-base hit – an agreeable yet unremarkable offering that successfully swims amidst familiar territory.

    Some aspects of Strange World provide an intoxicating dose of fresh air. Directors Don Hall and Qui Nguyen work successfully alongside their skilled animation team to create an imaginative landscape bursting with expressive textures and captivating creature designs. From the vibrant array of colors to the inventive world-building devices, the intricate animation showcases an impressive evolution of 3D-animated technology. Hall and Nguyen utilize the innovative technology to their advantage, shaping Strange World into a non-stop, 102-minute odyssey that embraces old-school, B-movie entertainment at every turn.

    Many have critiqued Strange World for its direct mirroring of pulp serial sensibilities. The film openly pays homage to well-respected adventure romps such as Journey to the Center of the Earth and John Carter – a decision that I found refreshing rather than redundant.

    Strange World transported me back to my childhood days of watching imaginative Disney tales like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet. I wouldn’t label any of these movies as classics, but their repurposing of time-honored narrative devices in sleek new packages sparks the same type of awe and wonderment achieved by their well-respected forefathers. I appreciate that Stange World does not conform to modern family film sensibilities. Where many films force dated pop culture gags and hokey melodrama, World avoids unnecessary flourishes by exhibiting trust in its material.

    Like most Disney features, Strange World also possesses an undercurrent of vital sentiments under its surface. The fractured dynamic between three generations of the Clade family offers an astute perspective on legacy and the rigid bond between father and son. Each of the three Clade men wants what’s best for one another, although peeling away at their shared vulnerabilities becomes a task more herculean than any of Jaeger’s heroic conquests. Strong voice performances from Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher, Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan, and a raspy Dennis Quaid as the patriarch Jaeger additionally aid the film’s compelling ambitions.

    Some aspects of Strange World offer a vivid source of creative inspiration. Other elements elicit nothing more than an ambivalent shrug. I appreciate the ideas Nguyen brings to the table, including another necessary reminder about climate change and preserving our planet’s ecosystem. However, Nguyen’s idealism ultimately conforms too much to the standard Disney formula. The family plights at the center of Strange World don’t receive enough time to breathe onscreen, eventually leading to simplistic conclusions that waste the film’s underlying potential.

    For a movie about traversing through unknown territories, Strange World is ironically deathly afraid of treading new waters. Every story beat and last-second plot revelation is recycled from the film’s far superior contemporaries. Even as someone who admires World’s throwback sensibilities, the film feels somewhat beige and forgettable due to the lack of innovation on display. Audiences clearly felt the same following the film’s abysmal box office performance in its opening weekend. Strange World’s financial failures are sending a necessary message to Disney that it takes more than stunning animation and an excellent concept to win over audiences.

    For what it is, I still enjoyed Strange World for its breathtaking craft and endearing spirit. Hopefully, the film’s so-so reception inspires the House of Mouse to take more risks with their material.

    Strange World is now playing in theaters.

  • She Said: The BRWC Review

    She Said: The BRWC Review

    She Said Synopsis: The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor publish a report that exposes sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The shocking story also serves as a launching pad for the #MeToo movement, shattering decades of silence around sexual assault and harassment.

    Two dedicated investigative journalists uncover the history of abuse and malpractice behind Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in She Said. The Weinstein scandal is one of the most significant junctures in modern popular culture. The developments, which jumpstarted the #MeToo movement in 2017, provided the industry and public with much-needed transparency on the problematic behaviors plaguing Hollywood and other enterprises alike. 

    The subject matter’s worthwhile virtues and raw poignancy receive the Hollywood treatment with She Said. On paper, I see the value of highlighting journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor as they descend into the broken culture that ignored problematic behaviors impacting countless victims. In execution, She Said is modest and well-intended, but the film rarely captures the enormous weight of its meaningful chapter in history. 

    It’s clear the creative team imbued significant tact in their approach. Director Maria Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz showcase a noble dedication to the cold-hard facts of their true story, thankfully ignoring the Hollywood impulse to infuse fictionalized truths onscreen. The candid approach works best when the duo digs into the extensive efforts behind Twohey and Kantor’s reporting. The journalists’ grueling, day-to-day dedication spotlights two women managing the pressures of balancing family and work as they crack the code on a malignant industry leader. 

    Intimate instances of confessional revelations from Weinstein’s victims are especially impactful. Schrader strips away any showy filmmaking device during these scenes – a choice that allows the painful reflections to conjure raw gravitas and aching vulnerabilities. She Said is also bolstered by a remarkably dedicated cast. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are naturalistic forces as two journalists steadfast in their pursuits, while Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle, and Ashley Judd offer vital supportive work as critical eyewitnesses. 

    She Said boasts worthwhile elements and unrelenting sincerity towards its subjects. Unfortunately, the final product ultimately sinks under its true story’s sobering realities. Part of the ineffectiveness derives from the overwhelming Hollywoodization impacting the narrative. Schrader is often sensitive and restrained in her filmmaking approach, but her subdued work is overblown by a full-throttle pace and a woefully ineffective score by composer extraordinaire Nicholas Britell. A gamut of cheap montages and supposedly thrilling plot beats work too hard to energize the story’s more fact-based origins. 

    The need to infuse extra tension into material that’s already bursting with evocative steaks undermines the potency of She Said’s message. Each showy choice eventually feels like an unnecessary gimmick added to garner more interest from mainstream moviegoers. Unlike the recent investigative journalist feature Spotlight, She Said does not trust its material enough to let its story speak for itself. 

    Lenkiewicz’s screenplay is equally ineffective. The screenwriter assembles the report’s facts with an earnest eye for truthful disclosures. However, the script is too undernourished for its own good. Even as the film tries to manifest meaningful mediations on corrupt workplace culture and the suppressive voices silencing dissenters, Lenkiewicz’s efforts are too streamlined in addressing how these dynamics have plagued corporate systems for decades. The narrative also would’ve benefited from more familiarity with its protagonists, often feeling distant from the hardships Megan and Jodi managed along their journey. 

    She Said is the ultimate example of commendable aspirations not always resulting in a great film. While dedicated to a critical message, the final product stumbles in its attempts to spotlight issues still lingering in our zeitgeist. 

    She Said is now playing in theaters. 

  • R.I.P.D 2 Rise of the Damned: The BRWC Review

    R.I.P.D 2 Rise of the Damned: The BRWC Review

    R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned Synopsis: When Sheriff Roy Pulsipher finds himself in the afterlife, he joins a special police force and returns to Earth to save humanity from the undead.

    In Hollywood, aspiring franchise starters represent risky rolls of the dice for studio executives. When the stars align, brands like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Conjuring Universe become household staples and nonstop money-makers. However, for every success story lies a graveyard of catastrophic failures destined for a purgatory existence in irrelevance. 

    2013’s R.I.P.D. is a picturesque example of an untimely disaster. Universal gathered two marquee actors (Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds) and dispensed more than $150 million for what they hoped could be the next Men in Black-esque sci-fi/comedy adventure franchise. Instead, the adaptation of a niche graphic novel tanked with audiences and received even worse assessments from critics. The film squandered any potential that its premise, which focuses on deceased crimefighters serving as protectors of the afterlife, presented in a sloppy and aggressively underwhelming production. 

    Out of the ether of random movie news, Universal is quietly reviving the R.I.P.D. brand with the straight-to-video prequel, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (the studio also green-lit a recent sequel for another 2013 box office bomb, 47 Ronin). It’s hard to imagine what inspired a continuation of R.I.P.D. other than some cockamamie attempt at keeping a known property with limited mainstream interest. 

    I am happy to report that Rise of the Damned marks a considerable improvement from its thankless predecessor. Unfortunately for this western-themed prequel, that distinction isn’t a glowing appraisal. 

    Credit to the creative team for at least imbuing a genuine effort into the proceedings. Director and co-screenwriter Paul Leyden maximize the most he can muster from his limited budgetary assets, infectiously adopting a series of ingenious practical effects and surprisingly-competent computer effects with technical aplomb. Leyden also embraces the western aesthetic with some success, utilizing sparse yet effective sets to establish a sense of place. It’s impressive that Rise of the Damned looks genuinely superior to its predecessor considering the significant gulf in expenses dedicated to both projects. 

    There is enough spirit and genuine goodwill elevating Rise of the Damned, including a vibrant lead performance from character actor Jeffery Donovan as an old-school, gunslinging sheriff. That said, Damned never escapes its entirely disposable design.

    It doesn’t help that Leyden and co-screenwriter Andrew Klein rarely imbue creative ideas into their screenplay. Even with a drastically different setting, Rise of the Damned sticks almost exclusively to the narrative blueprint laid out by its wayward predecessor. Moments of saccharine melodrama, lame-duck plot twists, and lackluster gags are abundant throughout as the film spends most of its runtime trying to tread entertaining waters. There’s a nugget of an engrossing idea to this prequel’s blend of histrionics and the supernatural, but the movie never embraces its unique concept with the care it deserves. 

    Rise of the Damned’s competence ends up becoming a dual-edged sword. Like most straight-to-video projects, the film is not trying all that hard to deliver anything more than forgettable fluff for viewers to digest and then quickly forget. The apparent lack of ambition and creativity morphs this prequel into just another hapless, straight-to-video product destined to take up space at the bottom of your local bargain bin. 

    Universal is likely pleased with Rise of the Damned, which quickly trended on Netflix’s Top 10 after its release. Aside from meeting the studio’s release quota, Rise of the Damned offers no discernable reason to exist. I think it’s time Universal lay to rest the rest in peace department for good. 

      R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned is now available on DVD and streaming.