So this late entry to the annual review catchup comes at a stage when I've kind of become tired with keeping tabs of all the newer releases and yet somehow I still feel the need to push forward. Which is kind of appropriate since all of these are sequels, with some starting to feel unwarranted. Some are definitely more tired and embarrassing than others. They're all follow ups to releases that I've enjoyed which fuels a certain level of bias but at the same time it's fair to consider how much they stand alone and work in their own right as entertainment. As someone once said it's not over 'til it's over...
While Rocky Balboa offered a nice end cap to the story with one last bout for Sly Stallone I was surprised that Creed revived the series despite it still being incredibly formulaic. It might have been trite but the execution of the story made it compelling. Creed II on the other hand starts to buckle under the weight of the franchise a little as it tries to press on with the new character developments while adding a lot of fan service that sometimes feels as silly as the earlier instalments it follows. Which is fine, I guess? But it no longer feels fresh and often comes across more like an extended epilogue than a real progression of the story.
Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) must now deal with married life and fatherhood while keeping his newly earned championship title, with Rocky becoming more reluctant than ever to be involved when new rivals appear on the scene. The challenger is of course Victor Drago son of Ivan, the robotic Russian fighting machine from the absurd noise that was Rocky IV. Surprisingly as antagonists they manage to be fairly engaging and even sympathetic as details of their training regimen in Ukraine surface and it becomes clear that their post Soviet Union life isn't all that great. It's odd but at times they come across as the true underdogs which gives mixed messages about the goals of Adonis.
Stranger yet the struggles of Adonis and his musician partner Bianca (Tessa Thompson) feel very by the numbers. They go through the motions of a troubled parenthood and a strained relationship when all the fights take their toll, and when Rocky inevitable steps down (until he doesn't). Stallone himself is still the most likeable presence even when the dialogue clichés pile up around him in a sea of muddle motivational quotes. Ultimately it's not really a revenge story but it's not really a story about taking a stand against unlikely odds, it's just all a bit creaky. Even the slick visuals of Creed have been changed out for less effective green screens and a less realistic colour palette. It's still entertaining but it should be a lot more focused.
3/5
Sicario was a taught, sleek thrill ride boasting some incredibly stark cinematography. It was attention grabbing both dramatically and visually. Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado is not. From the unwieldy title to the baggy plot it all just comes across and unnecessary and unearned, repeating some character beats but often feeling disconnected. Maybe this was just a re-purposed script somebody had lying around? Being different isn't always a bad thing, and many great sequels do of course stand alone. But here it's just distracting to see a few similar characters in a story that is tonally separate from what came before. It's also pretty dull in places when it's not busy being strangely silly.
Often this all feels more like a direct to video follow up to Zero Dark Thirty than anything else as the shady government agents deploy a lot of questionable tactics and high-tech gadgetry. However, while the story is concerned with real life tragedies the results are oddly unrealistic. Maybe it's because they depict both sides of the battle against Mexican Cartels as being so diabolical, or maybe it's just because some of the most advanced military technology is explained away so casually. Listening to phone calls from space and using drones to target the family members of low level thugs might be possible. But there's something about it here that constantly feels implausible.
Maybe it's just that this dark and gritty depiction of espionage and war centres around a predictable child in peril storyline. For all it's sudden shocks and unpredictable set pieces the narrative is never likely to veer far from a certain path, as sanctioned hitman Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) and his CIA contact Matt (Josh Brolin) become embroiled in the a kidnap of young girl. With so much of the slow burning tension being removed it's all just a bit dull and lethargic. The lack of Emily Blunt in the roster may be a problem, but the story itself should have been able to stand by itself. Instead this is all just too drab and boring.
2/5
Last and very much least, let's talk about The Predator. A film so inept and embarrassing that I often felt myself wondering what I was watching and why. Why does this feel so long and awkward? How is this a Shane Black film? After the lack of financial success for his punchy crime thriller The Nice Guys I guess he needed this blockbuster pay-day and returned to a series that he was a small part of back in the '80s. It should have been a sure fire hit. But the sharp writing and the great characters that he's known for, along with the popcorn thrills of the original, are are utterly absent. Instead this is a film which makes the earlier efforts in this bloated series look a lot more cohesive.
After a cracking opening sequence that uses the classic 1987 logo against a flashy new outer space backdrop the movie slowly eats itself as one terrible character after another is introduced. The only thing that feels appropriate here is that title cards, which last probably less than a minute. As things progressively devolve into garbage the use of Alan Silvestri's music and Stan Winston's designs just feels like an exercise in studio mandated brand awareness; less a movie and more a mirage of what once was. Or what should have been. The rest is an attempt at a wacky ensemble film that falls totally flat as an obnoxious military team and a biologist and try to survive encounters with alien hunters and government operatives.
It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is wrong about this when almost every piece of the puzzle is so malformed. The results are a broken parody of what might have been. It's not funny or thrilling and it lacks wit and thrill power. It wants to include things like autism and Tourette's as quirky character traits (for some reason) but lacks any understanding of those conditions. It's often monstrous, but not because there are monsters in the story. Maybe it's all due to studio interference, but it's not just the weird disjointed third act that feels out of place here. Which is odd when the production values are solid and the creative minds at work should have been on top form. Instead of a last hurrah for old-school ideas it just feels like a final straw.
1/5
