Barbie

★★★★1/2

Mild Spoilers

Directed by Greta Gerwig
Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

Barbie is the first film adaptation of the popular doll of the same name from toy maker Mattel. The film is basically a comedy not unlike a live-action The Lego Movie, having similar themes and humour, and there are sequences where the inhabitants of the Barbie “world” crosses into the real world, and hijinks ensue. Barbie: The Movie is clearly an endeavour with the primary goal of selling more Barbie toys and accessories. But because renown indie filmmaker Greta Gerwig was assigned the role of the film’s director, the attention of the film community including film fans were piqued, and with the alignment of the film’s premiere date with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon emerged, and the rest is history.

I thought Gerwig was going to be yet another unwitting indie director about to be disillusioned by Hollywood fortune and glory and come out of Barbie feeling betrayed and creatively curtailed, but she handled the material here with such aplomb, delivering an effective traditional entertainment while still managing to get away with some cleverness and meaningful themes. Incredibly, Mattel okayed her script that was primarily about the deconstruction (and reinvention) of Barbie, long perceived to be a regressive female role model despite numerous attempts to remedy the issues of inclusivity and body image. I disagree with many male critics who felt that the feminist messages were unsubtle; the movie worked really well per se as a fish-out-of-water comedy. Its plot isn’t about feminism per se; it just finds things to laugh (and sometimes cry) about that relates to the female experience. I actually felt that it could have gone a lot further, but it stayed within the confines of its genre. There is no leftfield, mould-breaking filmmaking or screenwriting here.

At the same time, it is also a surprisingly loving ode to all things Barbie, with many references to toy editions, popular accessories and even some funny jabs at controversial figurines that were swiftly discontinued but apparently have not yet been forgotten. Although not an expert in Barbie merch, but I get the feeling that the costume and production designs must be exceptionally accurate to the source materials. They made Barbie World such a visual delight, and despite many stuff coloured in pink here, it never felt like sensory overload. Just the sights alone are worth the price of admission.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are excellent as Barbie and Ken, and these might become the defining roles of their careers. There are two other roles played by America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt who make up the other half of the four core characters in the film. They each have their own grandstanding monologues that are highlights of the movie. I decked half a star because I think it was a mistake that their characters got a little sidelined in the final act. This is also a movie filled with many minor supporting roles occupied by familiar faces, notably Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, and Michael Cera. I cackled when I realised one of Robbie’s famous doppelgangers was in the movie, and it was also hilarious to see Nick Fury’s nemesis from Secret Invasion being so deadly serious in that one, but acting silly here. The new Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa also has a small role here, but it’s likely you’d remember him better as Eric from Netflix’s Sex Education. Also, try to guess who voiced the Narrator if you haven’t checked the cast list; it’s an easy one.

Entertaining, visually arresting, great comedic and dramatic performances, with some meaningful lessons for all and not just the ladies, plus I came out of it with my manhood intact and remained un-gay, so don’t worry you macho, macho religious men out there. I have personally tested the goods, you’ll be fine. Alternatively, you can watch Barbie and then immediately hop over to Oppenheimer next door and ogle at some bewbs to “balance it out”, and you’d have completed the Barbenheimer challenge.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

★★★1/2

Before I proceed with my assessment, there are two things that need to be mentioned.

One, with the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther 2 team, led by returning director Ryan Coogler, has an unenviable task of continuing the franchise without their star lead. Should they recast, and if not, how are they going to explain the absence of such a popular character as King T’Challa, the Black Panther? For that, I’m truly grateful of the work and effort they have done here, to honour Boseman in a movie that also needed to be popcorn entertainment.

Two, that many of us are still mourning two years after. Boseman’s friends and colleagues were probably already working on the sequel when it happened. They needed an outlet for their grief, and the film needed to reflect that in some ways, and it did. The tone of the film was more sombre and darker than the first. Grieving fans would also be expecting and appreciative of an acknowledgement of his loss in the film. The film was successful on this part.

These two components should be enough to make a great Black Panther sequel, taking into consideration the circumstances, and it has been for many people. I was saddened by what has happened, and I do feel with the rest of you. The movie is a great tribute to the star, and I am glad that everyone is loving it immensely.

So it might be irksome to hear any criticisms about the film. And I do have a few, despite my admiration and appreciation of what they have attempted to do. Apart from the great craftsmanship and work done by the crew behind the camera, the actors have all done exceptionally in front of it. Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, Florence Kasumba and many others did amazing work here. It seemed unfair that Letitia Wright had to shoulder the burden of the lead role and all the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. She is a real champ for pushing herself the way she did in this film.

But I wished Marvel would have given the team more time to come up with a tighter and more coherent story, because the end product felt like a patchwork of mismatching tones and intentions. It started off promisingly; it looked like we were getting a character exploration on Shuri, that we get to understand her as a character of her own, what makes her tick and what drives her. But then Marvel has to Marvel, so several new characters needed to be introduced and set up for future use, including comic book favorite Namor, who even got a lengthy flashback while Shuri only had brief wordless cutscenes from earlier films. Then we have Riri Williams here to promote her upcoming Ironheart series, and the return of (or a dropped-in-out-of-nowhere character if you’ve never seen The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ series) CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine because they needed people to remember who she was when the Thunderbolts movie rolls out. There are some character moments for Shuri during the Talokan scenes, but it wasn’t enough. She has always been a peripheral character in all the films she has appeared in. Wright and Boseman did a great job establishing their relationships, but it was still surface-level stuff. Shuri desperately needed a Wandavision-like backstory, or like a flashback to her childhood with T’Challa to flesh out her relationship with her brother a little more, so that her grief would be a little more understandable, relatable and impactful when it culminated close to the finale. I find it puzzling that her arc was painted in quick and broad strokes, while the fish guy got more time for nuances.

I could be wrong about this. I was wrong about films like The Batman, The Dark Knight, and a few others, where my feelings changed for the better upon second viewing. But as it stands right now, and as much as I appreciate the work of these wonderful people who poured their hearts into this film, the movie still felt bloated and uneven at least to me, and I wished they had tightened the story a little more, and find a more coherent way to inject in all the future project tie-ins, if that is even possible.

But of course, the real burning question on everybody’s mind is:

Is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever better than Thor: Love and Thunder?

Yes.

And thus ends Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Barbarian

★★★★1/2

Mild spoilers

That’s it. No more AirBnB for me.

That’s all the synopsis I’m going to reveal, because they’re right about us needing to see this one for ourselves.

So, what’s good? It’s not really about the story, which is good, but the execution was better. And it’s refreshing to see someone finding different ways to tackle the horror genre and keep it (mostly) unpredictable.

My only complaint is that it still relies on people doing stupid things, because if not the movie would have been a lot shorter. But that’s genre conventions for ya. Also, the AirBnB lady, what the hell?? Did she even know??? Plot hole!!!

Still, good stuff.

Bullet Train

★★★1/2

Mild spoilers

Brad Pitt plays a former assassin who has a simple snatch-and-grab job on a bullet train in Tokyo, but unbeknownst to him the briefcase he is supposed to retrieve is also being pursued by other assassins and mysterious figures, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Hiroyuki Sanada, Andrew Koji, Joey King and a snake*. Some actors have been left unmentioned to preserve the element of surprise for you.

The Empire Spoiler Special Podcast beat me to it by saying that the movie resembles the Joe Carnahan flick, Smokin’ Aces, where it also boasts a large ensemble featuring a cast of familiar and new faces playing killers from different factions in pursuit of a common target. It was the first thing that popped into my head once I realized what Bullet Train was going for.

Director David Leitch, known for being the co-director of John Wick 1, and the director of Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Hobbs & Shaw, brings the stunt team from Nobody to work on the action in this film, which I believe are the same guys who worked on the John Wick films also? I could be wrong, couldn’t find that information on Google for some reason. Anyway, being one-half of the directing team responsible for John Wick, I was always looking forward to his solo efforts, but thought they were well-made films that were a little uneven in the the story and acting department. I think Bullet Train is his best solo effort where the story and performances are finally part of the highlights. Taylor-Johnson and Henry are the standouts here, and gets to play with some fun Tarantino-esque banter. Hiroyuki Sanada is as regal as ever, but I wished he had been allowed some humour to dabble with, as he seemed to be given the same dour role in every major movie he has been involved in. Brad Pitt plays a vanilla lead that underuses his talents, and almost felt like a supporting actor in his own movie. Like Smokin’ Aces, the story is playful but violent, and darkly comedic.

I wished it had a stronger central villain because that would have made it a four-starrer for me, easily. The film hyped up the Keyser Soze-like bad guy a lot, but couldn’t satisfactorily deliver on that expectation when he finally appeared. Also, Bullet Train doesn’t truly have an ensemble cast, but more of a string of fleeting cameos, with really only four central characters taking up most of the screen time. There are at least two characters in the film that are guaranteed to make you go “that’s all??”

Don’t get me wrong, this is still an enjoyable watch albeit one I’m not rushing to revisit soon, and is Leitch’s best if you were a little disappointed by his past outings.

*Yes, there’s a subtle Snakes on a Plane reference in the movie by the filmmakers. But now it’s a train, geddit? Snakes on a train? LOL, snort!

The Batman (2022)

★★★★★

Mild spoilers

A huge lesson I learned from my theatrical experience of “The Batman” is not to watch a movie when you’re tired. I came out of the show not too enamored by the film, even though I did acknowledge that it had many good scenes and performances. Somehow, they didn’t coalesce into a good movie in my fatigued eyes. Many weeks later, I managed to re-watch it on a 4K Blu-Ray, and I finally realized I couldn’t be more wrong. It went from “meh” to one of my top films of the year!

As a reboot of the Batman film franchise, “The Batman” had to do something to differentiate itself from past reiterations. Roughly there had been four: goofy (West), Burtonesque, campy (Schumacher), and realistic (Nolan). They decided to give what fans have been clamoring for all these years and made this one a detective story. More precisely, a horror-tinged, serial killer detective story. It references Seven a lot; from the glisteningly grimy, rotting aesthetics of its rain-soaked world, to its crime-fighting pairing of an angsty white young man and a cool-headed older black detective with a divine voice. Said older detective even has a scene where he reads a disturbing passage from a serial killer’s journal. There’s even a scene with a head in a box. The pair are in pursuit of a serial killer known only as The Riddler, who leaves cryptic clues in each crime scene that allude to a grander purpose. Yep, it’s practically a remake of Seven!

The cast ranges from interesting to great. Colin Farrell’s Penguin was the biggest worry for me because he had to perform under a lot of latex and fat suit, but he turned out the best, most charismatic performance in the entire movie, and is easily the best onscreen Penguin by far. Zoë Kravitz had the enormous pressure of several preceding iconic Catwoman performances, but she successfully made the role her own. I also liked Jeffrey Wright’s pre-Commish Lieutenant Gordon reacting to everything like a blue-collar cop would. I didn’t think Andy Serkis’ Alfred worked on first viewing, but on subsequent re-watches I finally appreciated his nuanced take, which felt jarring because I got too used to the larger-than-life roles he usually does. And then we have Robert Pattinson. I thought his Batman/Bruce Wayne worked and I kind of liked it. Amusingly, no one seemed to notice that he was still doing his Edward Sullen man-of-few-slow-spoken-words thing. He was almost as pale-looking, and there’s even a moment where he cringes away from sunlight. Batman as an almost literal vampire is actually rather clever, but forgive me if this was already done a hundred times in the comic books. I thought John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone was an unusual casting choice but he was effectively creepy. Peter Sarsgaard was great but he has a pretty small role. Paul Dano as The Riddler was reliably great to a point, but I’ll get back to this later.

Great direction and creative choices from Matt Reeves, who I shouldn’t have doubted after really liking his Cloverfield and the “of the Apes” films. I think he only managed an ok mystery-detective story here, but as serial killer thrillers go, it’s pretty good. His visual sense? Even better! Handling of the actor’s performances? Exquisite. I was shocked at how short his filmography was when I Googled for all of his films. Hope he gets a lot more work moving forward.

My apologies to Michael Giacchino too, whom I once chastised in the comments sections for ripping off Star Wars’ The Imperial March for Batman’s theme (which funnily the IMDb trivia section for The Batman actually acknowledges) but there were other wonderful themes throughout the film too. The wailing violins gave them a pretty obvious horror vibe. They also reminded me of the brilliant Bram Stoker’s Dracula score by Wojciech Kilar. My favorite is definitely Catwoman’s theme, which first appears in the “Don’t be Voyeur With Me” track.

Now, the quibbles. Let’s come back to Dano, who always puts out fine work, until he went a little too Jim Carrey. I know the character has been telegraphed very early on as an unabashed exhibitionist, but what he did in one pivotal scene was borderline comical, and he was supposed to be frightening. Another one: “savior” Batman is a nice idea, because he certainly needed to do more than just beat up criminals, but the Gotham Reeves and his team created was so utterly nihilistic that this optimistic development in Batman’s character felt a little out of place. Lastly, I need to mention that special cameo at the end. Though tastefully done, it still reeked of interference by studio heads too eager to mimic Marvel’s M.O. of planting sequel baits, which wasn’t needed here at all. Why make a superhero movie entirely in your own style, then throw in stuff to remind your audiences about your biggest competitor?

Overall, for one of the most oft-rebooted superhero franchises, I’m glad to say that they managed to pull it off yet again. It’s a visual feast with great performances that I have been enjoyably re-watching with no signs of fatigue yet. For that, I think it’s only right that I give it a 5-star rating, even though it’s not a perfect film. I acknowledge that I was incorrect with my negative assessments in past comments, but one that I’m more than happy to be very wrong about.